Microsoft Outlook/Office 365 Integration

This document applies to: Workplace

Connect your Microsoft Office 365 account to sync the Proximity reservation calendar with your Outlook calendar. View, edit, or cancel reservations from your Outlook calendar, or reserve workspaces by creating an event in your Outlook calendar with mapped resources. This integration is only available for Workplace customers.

Configure Microsoft 365

Step 1: Set up your main calendar

This is the calendar that will display all your Proximity reservations and assignments.

  1. Log in with your Microsoft 365 admin account and navigate to Outlook (via Office 365)
  2. From the left menu, select the calendar icon to go to the Outlook calendar
  3. Click Add Calendar to pull up options for adding new calendars or edit existing ones
  4. To create a new calendar select Create blank calendar, or Edit my calendars to edit an existing calendar
  5. Add or rename an existing calendar to use as your main synced calendar, we recommend using a descriptive name like "Proximity Main Calendar"

Step 2: Create resources to map

To book Proximity workspaces through your Outlook calendar, you need to create mapped resources.

  1. Log in with your Microsoft 365 admin account, go to the Exchange Admin Center (Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Admin Centers (left-hand menu) > select Exchange)
  2. In the Exchange Admin Center, go to Resources (Recipients > Resources)
  3. Click on + Add a room resource. This will be one of your workspaces in the Proximity platform.
  4. Fill out the name and create a resource email address
  5. Fill out all the details for the resource/workspace. The following are essential to create mapped resources: 
    1. Capacity - this should match the capacity of the workspace in Proximity
    2. Location - this corresponds to Buildings in the Proximity platform
    3. Address - fill out the full address for a successful setup including Street, City, State, Zip Code, and Country
    4. Booking Options - customize or use defaults. Note: the default maximum duration for events in Outlook is 24 hours. If you want to create multi-day events and reservations you'll need to edit this option. 
    5. Delegates - select "Automatically accept/decline meeting requests" for events to sync automatically
  6. Review the resource and click Save to create
  7. Complete this process for each office and workspace that you want to sync with Proximity
  8. After the resource is created, click on the resource name to look at the summary panel
    1. Confirm the resource is not hidden from the Global Address List (GAL). This can be edited in the Exchange Settings. 

Step 3: Add resource calendars to your main calendar

For each resource to map to Proximity, you'll want to add that resource's calendar to your main calendar in Outlook. Note: it can take 24-48 hours for resource calendars to appear in Outlook after a resource is created. 

  1. In Outlook, click on Add Calendar (this can be found by expanding the "hamburger" menu next to New Event)
  2. In the Add Calendar modal, click on Add from directory
  3. Look up the name of the resource to add
  4. Select the menu you want it to appear under (this does not matter for the Proximity integration, choose what works for you)
  5. Click Add to finish
  6. You should see each resource calendar listed under your list of calendars


Connect the Microsoft 365 Integration in Proximity

To set up the Microsoft 365 Integration:

  1. Go to the Integrations page (Settings > Integrations).
  2. Select the Microsoft 365 tab.
  3. Click Connect. You'll be redirected to Microsoft's login page.
  4. Log in with your Microsoft admin account. On successful login, you'll be redirected back to Proximity.
  5. On the Proximity Integrations page, Microsoft 365 tab, enter the email address for your Microsoft admin account.
  6. Select the user and calendar to sync with. Use the calendar set up in Step 1 of Configuring Microsoft 365 above. 
  7. Click Save.

To map resources:

  1. After selecting and saving the calendar to sync to, you'll see the Mapped Resources appear.
  2. Next to each Proximity reservable resource, select the corresponding Microsoft 365 resource.
  3. Click Save.

The page will refresh and you'll receive a message indicating the integration has been connected successfully.


Syncing Reservations and Assignments from Proximity

Normal reservations and assignments created on a mapped resource in the Proximity platform will appear on your Outlook calendar. Learn more about creating normal reservations and assignments. When you create a reservation or assignment it appears on your Proximity reservation calendar (Manage Resources > Calendar). 

After creating a normal reservation or assignment in Proximity, you'll see it appear on your Outlook 365 calendar within a few minutes. The reservation or assignment will appear in Outlook365 on the main calendar and the event will have the mapped resource listed as the location.

To cancel a normal reservation that hasn't yet started, go to the reservation calendar (Manage Resources > Calendar) and select the reservation. From the edit reservation page, click Cancel Reservation. The corresponding event in Outlook 365 will be removed on the next sync. 

Note: it can take up to 10-15 minutes for changes in Proximity to be reflected in the Outlook calendar. 


Syncing Events from Outlook 365

  1. In Outlook, click on a date to pull up the modal box to create a new event
  2. Next to the Save button, select the main calendar from the drop-down menu. Add the event to your main calendar set up in Step 1 under Configure Microsoft 365.
  3. Fill out the Title, select the date(s) and times of the event
  4. Under Location, look up and select the resource from your list of mapped resources
  5. Click Save
  6. The event will be created on your main calendar and the resource calendar
  7. The event will appear on the Proximity reservation calendar. 

Canceling an event: 

  1. Click on an event on the main calendar
  2. On the pop-up box, click Cancel
  3. Add a message (optional) and click Save
  4. The event will be removed from the main calendar and the resource calendar
  5. The event will also be removed from the Proximity reservation calendar and that resource can be booked in Proximity or Outlook.

Note: it can take up to 10-15 minutes for changes in Outlook to be reflected in the Proximity calendar.


Disconnecting the Microsoft 365 Integration

To disconnect the integration: 

  1. Go to the Integrations page (Settings > Integrations).
  2. Select the Microsoft 365 tab.
  3. Click Disconnect.

The page will refresh and you'll receive a message indicating the integration has been disconnected successfully.


FAQs

Can I edit or add workspaces after setting up the Microsoft 365 integration?  Yes, you can. If you change the name of a workspace in Proximity or a resource in Microsoft 365, those changes will appear on the Mapped Resources section of the Microsoft 365 integration setup page, but your mappings will not change. If you add a new workspace in the Proximity platform, you will need to create a corresponding resource in Microsoft 365 following the steps outlined in Step 2 under Configure Microsoft 365 above. The new workspace and resource will appear on the Mapped Resources section of the integration page after the changes sync. 

Can I change the mapping of my workspaces and resources? No, resource mappings can't be changed after the integration is set up and saved. If you need to change how Proximity workspaces are mapped to Microsoft 365 resources, then it is best to disconnect the integration and redo the setup process. 

If I edit a reservation or event after creating one, will those changes sync between Proximity and my Outlook calendars? Yes you can. When you edit an event in Outlook, you'll need to update timezone settings as the edit event box defaults to UTC time. When the date and/or time of an event is edited in Outlook, it may take some time for the corresponding event on the resource calendar to update, or these events may need to be edited separately. When editing a reservation in Proximity, the changes will be updated in Outlook after it syncs. Learn more about editing reservations in Proximity.

We have several workspaces that require manager approval to book, will these reservations sync with our Outlook calendar? Yes, they will. If a user makes a reservation on a workspace that requires manager approval, that reservation will appear as Pending in Proximity and as a Draft on your Outlook calendar. Once the manager approves the reservation, the Pending status will be removed in Proximity and so with the Draft status in Outlook. Events created in Outlook bypass manager approval because they are mapped to the space owner/manager account. 

How do I create an event in Outlook and add it to a user's account? I want all meeting attendees to have keys and wifi access. All events created in Outlook are added to the space owner/manager account. To ensure all meeting attendees have key and wifi access for that event, you'll need to add them as a guest to the reservation after it syncs to the Proximity platform. To add guests, go to the manager/owner's profile (Manage Users > User List > select space owner/manager > Resource Reservations tab), under the reservation, you'll see 0 Guests hyperlinked. Click on that link and add guests via the pop-up box.