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Working with Outlook

Shared mailboxes​

BlueMind has two types of mailboxes:

  • User mailboxes, which correspond to a user's mailbox: they are nominative and shared by the user himself (or a beneficiary) according to the level of rights he decides.
  • Shared mailboxes, which are not named and have no username, but function like user mailboxes: they have the same default folders, must be delegated, and have calendars, address books and to-do lists. They therefore function in client software as user boxes.
BlueMind subscription is not required to display a shared or user box in Outlook.

Using a shared mailbox​

Despite the similarities with user boxes, the procedure varies: you have to go through adding an account, using the information of the entitled user.

Sharing rights required

To add a shared mailbox in Outlook, the logged-in user must have at least "Can modify my mailbox and manage my shares" rights to it.

For further information on sharing rights see Edit shared mailboxes > Sharing and delegation. See also Resolving known issues with Outlook > I can't send messages from a shared box in case of persistent problems.

To display a shared box in Outlook:

  • from the File menu, click Add an account:
  • enter shared mailbox address and click Connect:
  • choose the Exchange type configuration:
  • then fill in the username of the user entitled to the box:

    ⚠️ Shared mailboxes don't have login details, so you need to enter the login information of a right holder here.

  • Outlook then asks you to restart, click on Terminated:

After restart, the mailbox is visible in its own tree:

In other parts of the application, the box's default elements are also added:

  • the mailbox calendar :
  • address books:
  • to-do list:

Sent emails folder​

It is not necessary to set up the "Sent messages" folder via an identity: the folder will automatically be that of the mailbox used to send messages. i.e. if an email is sent on behalf of a shared mailbox, Outlook will place it in the shared mailbox's "Sent" folder.

Modification of sharing rights​

It is not possible to manage sharing rights from Outlook by a user with rights. For further information see paragraph Modification of shared box rights.

Easy assembly​

You can also set up a shared mailbox simply by subscribing to it in BlueMind (see Subscribing to a shared mailbox), but it will then appear as a simple mailbox: the options specific to shared mailboxes will not be available (access to settings such as filters, automatic selection of the folder for sent messages, calendar display, etc.) and performance may be degraded. **It is therefore preferable to use the above procedure.

Use a box or folder shared by a user​

Shared folder

This also applies if a user has shared only certain folders in his mailbox.

For further information, see Sharing a folder.

Unlike shared boxes, user boxes are added using the add mailbox procedure.

To display a user mailbox in Outlook:

  • from the File menu, go to Account settings:
  • in the window that opens, go to "Data files" > "Parameters" > "Advanced" tab
  • using the "Add" button, search for the desired mailbox using the user's username or name:
  • back in the settings window, check that the "Use cached mode" and "Download shared folders" boxes are checked:
  • click on OK and quit the settings

The mailbox is now visible in the mail:

Corporate signatures​

If a company signature is set and applicable, it will be automatically added to the end of the email by the server after it has been sent.

Signature placement​

By default, the company signature is placed at the very end of an email, after any quotes and replies, and cannot be modified. However, if the administrator has chosen to activate the appropriate option, users can choose the placement.

This can be done by inserting placement markers.

To facilitate this insertion, the user can set the markers as the default signature in Outlook, by going to the menu File > Options > Mail > Signatures > Create a new signature:

Select the signature as default and write it surrounded by the character strings indicated in the link above:

When drafting or replying to an email, the markers are automatically placed in the message:

It is also possible to manually insert the signature in the composer if you don't want to set it by default:

tip

Even in the case of placement by Outlook, markers can still be moved manually by the user by cut/paste if he wishes to temporarily place the signature in another location.

The signature is then inserted by the server at the location of the markers:

Using a personal signature​

Unlike webmail, BlueMind cannot detect an unmarked personal signature when using Outlook. Thus, if a personal signature is used in Outlook, the company's signature will be added to it.

It is therefore advisable not to use a personal signature when a corporate signature is present, unless it provides additional relevant and desired information, or to use placement markers (see previous section) as a signature.

Shared calendars​

Entity calendars​

To display a calendar shared by a user, a shared box or a resource calendar, the procedure is the same as in classic Outlook :

  • Use the Open Calendar menu > From the address book:
  • Search the calendar in the list or use the advanced search :
  • Double-click on a calendar in the list to add it, then click OK once you've selected the calendar(s).
  • Calendars are now added to the view. Check or uncheck the corresponding box to show or hide a calendar:
    • user calendars appear under the "Shared calendars" tree structure
    • resources appear in the "Rooms" tree structure
    • if a group is added, its members appear individually in a tree structure with the group's name:

Domain calendars​

The domain calendars are special entities. To view them, you need to connect to BlueMind via a browser and subscribe to the desired calendar.

Just follow the usual subscription procedure: Creating and Editing Calendars > Subscribing to a shared calendar. Once subscribed, the calendar can be viewed in Outlook's public folders:

Videoconferencing​

The BlueMind add-in for Outlook lets you add people to meetings.

From the new meeting creation window, click "Add a video conference" and choose the desired service from those available:

Note: available services depend on the work environment, they are installed and made available to users by IT administrators

The video conference is then added to the message:

  1. A video conference room is added to the participants.
  2. A link allowing all guests, internal or external, to access the video conference is added to the description, with accompanying text if set by administrators.

For further information on videoconferencing in BlueMind, see chapter Videoconferencing.

Delegations​

The delegations set up in BlueMind are perfectly compatible with Outlook. For more information on creating and managing delegations, see Managing delegations.

outlook delegation

Delegations can also be set up from within Outlook. For more information on setting up and using delegations from Outlook, please refer to Microsoft documentation.

The rights you can set from BlueMind are identical to those in Outlook. Depending on the options chosen, the delegate:

Example

Doc Team has appointed June Osborne as a delegate with the right to "Writes on my behalf" and "Receives and responds to invitation related messages":

June Osborne thus receives the invitation sent to Doc Team on her mailbox and can respond to it:

The organizer Black Panther sees that the reply has been sent by the Doc Team delegate:

Synchronization

Settings made in BlueMind preferences are immediately reflected in Outlook, and vice versa.

Known limitations​

E-mail categories​

Outlook limits the number of colors to a choice of 24, so if a color not included in this selection is assigned to a category in BlueMind, it will appear gray in Outlook.

In addition, domain categories are not synchronized by Outlook. Domain categories assigned from BlueMind webmail are visible on the e-mails concerned, but are not visible in category management and therefore cannot be assigned from Outlook.

Mail filters and rules​

BlueMind's mail filters are applied by the server when emails arrive. Outlook rules, on the other hand, are applied locally by Outlook, when it reads the emails on the server. Consequently, filter rules created in Outlook are not visible and effective in BlueMind, and conversely filters created from webmail or the BlueMind admin console are not visible in Outlook.

For further information, see Applying sorting and action filters.

Modifying shared box rights​

It is not possible for a user with rights to manage sharing rights from Outlook: modifying rights from Outlook removes the right to "manage shares". Shared box rights must not be modified from Outlook, but only in BlueMind directly: from webmail for a user with share management rights, or by an administrator from the admin console.

For further information see:

Find out more​

Related BlueMind documentation pages

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