Managing meeting spaces in today’s fast-moving business environment can be a daunting task. To streamline the process, organizations often use a resource mailbox in Exchange Online. This mailbox represents conference rooms, projectors, or other resources that can be scheduled for meetings or events. Managing resource mailboxes is important to ensure the efficient use of meeting spaces and avoid scheduling conflicts. Fortunately, PowerShell can help simplify managing resource mailboxes in Exchange Online.
What is a Resource Mailbox in Exchange Online?
A resource mailbox in Exchange Online is a particular type of mailbox representing resources that can be scheduled for meetings or events. Resource mailboxes are further classified into two categories: room mailboxes and equipment mailboxes, each serving a specific purpose. While a Room mailbox is used to reserve a meeting space, an Equipment mailbox is used to reserve equipment needed for a meeting.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the basics to manage room mailbox using PowerShell, which involves creating and configuring room mailboxes, assigning permissions, and setting up booking policies.
What is Room Mailbox in Exchange Online?
A room mailbox in Office 365 is a type of mailbox that is associated with a physical location, such as a conference room or a shared workspace. It is used to manage the scheduling and booking of the room for meetings and other events.
Room mailboxes have a calendar that can be used to schedule and manage appointments and bookings for the associated space. This allows scheduling and management of rooms in Exchange Online, making it easier for organizations to optimize the use of meeting spaces.
Manage Room Mailbox Using PowerShell
You must first install and connect to Exchange Online PowerShell using an Exchange Online administrator account to manage room mailbox using PowerShell. Managing room mailboxes can help organizations streamline the process of booking and scheduling meetings in a more efficient manner. Managing room mailboxes in Exchange Online can be simplified using PowerShell commands. Below are the operations to manage room mailboxes using PowerShell.
To create a room mailbox in Office 365 using PowerShell,you must run the following command with theappropriate parameters.
New-Mailbox -Name <RoomMailboxName> -Room
Create Multiple Room Mailboxes from CSV Using PowerShell
To create multiple room mailboxes using PowerShell, you can use a CSV file with the list of mailboxes to be created and their parameters. The CSV file should contain the following columns: RoomName, EmailAddress, andCapacity.
The following PowerShell cmdlet can be used to create multiple room mailboxes based on the CSV file.
PowerShell commands can be used to modify various mailbox properties, such as display names, email addresses, capacity, and more. Administrators can automate the process of changing room mailbox properties and ensure consistency in the configuration of multiple mailboxes using PowerShell.
Change Display Name and Capacity of a Room Mailbox
With Exchange Online PowerShell, you can change the display name, the primary SMTP address (default reply address), and the capacity of a room mailbox. Moreover,the previous reply address is kept as a proxy address.
Configuring Room Mailboxes to Allow Booking Requests During Working Hours
The following PowerShell command can configure all the room mailboxes to allow scheduling booking requests only during working hours. The “MaximumDurationInMinutes” parameter is used to set the maximum duration for meetings.
In the example below, any meeting requests exceeding 420 minutes (7 hours) in duration will be automatically declined. This can help to ensure that rooms are available for a meeting only for a maximum of 7 hours.
Enabling automatic booking for a room in Exchange Online enables the room to automatically accept meeting requests without requiring administrator approval. You can use the following cmdlet to enable automatic booking for a room mailbox.
To enable automatic booking for all room mailboxes, you can execute the following cmdlet.
Get-MailBox | Where {$_.ResourceType -eq "Room"} | Set-CalendarProcessing -AutomateProcessing:AutoAccept
Assign Room Mailbox DelegatePermissions Using PowerShell
When you assign the “Send As” delegate permission to a user for a room mailbox, the user will be able to send an email from that mailbox as if it was sent by the mailbox owner. This means that the mailbox owner’s email address will appear as the sender’s address to the recipient. To assign the “Send As” permission to a user, you can use the following PowerShell cmdlet.
This will enable the automatic booking feature for a room mailbox, allowing meetings to be scheduled for the room even if conflicting meetings are already scheduled.
Get Details About Room Mailboxes
You can retrieve and display the information related to room mailboxes in an Exchange Online environment including mailbox properties, calendar settings, permission settings, and delegate information using Exchange Online PowerShell. By obtaining details about room mailboxes, administrators can manage and configure these resources to meet the needs of their organization.
The generated output includes information on its settings, such as whether it automatically processes meeting requests, the maximum meeting duration, and who can receive meeting requests on behalf of the room.
Display Room Mailbox Calendar Permissions Using PowerShell
You can use the following PowerShell cmdlet to display the calendar permissions for a specific room mailbox.
This cmdlet will display a list of all users who have access to the calendar for the specified room mailbox, along with their level of access.
Convert User Mailbox to Room Mailbox in Exchange Online
To convert a user mailbox to a room mailbox in Exchange Online, you can use the followingPowerShell cmdlet.
Set-Mailbox <RegularMailboxName> -Type Room
You can also convert the room mailbox intoa user mailbox using the below PowerShell cmdlet.
Set-Mailbox <RoomMailboxName> -Type Regular
Room Lists in Exchange Online
Microsoft Exchange Online uses Room Lists to group related room mailboxes together. It helps users easily locate and select the desired meeting or event room. With Exchange Online PowerShell, you can create room lists and add room mailboxes to them.
Convert a Distribution Group to a Room List Using PowerShell
You can convert a distribution group to a room list with the help of the ‘Set-DistributionGroup’ cmdlet. Passing the distribution group name as the parameter to the cmdlet converts the distribution group into a room list.
Set-DistributionGroup -Identity <DistributionGroupName> -Room List
Note:Before you run the cmdlet, make sure that the distribution group contains only the room mailboxes that you want to manage as a resource.
Delete Room Mailbox Using PowerShell
To delete a room mailbox using PowerShell in Exchange Online, you can use the‘Remove-Mailbox’ cmdlet.
We hope this quick guide will help you get an overview of the essential PowerShell cmdlets to manage room mailbox using PowerShell in Exchange Online.Feel free to ask your queries in the comments section.
