Cannot book resources in Outlook Web Access

When you try to book a resource like a conference room, for example, by using a resource mailbox that has been configured to automatically accept meeting requests, the meeting request is not automatically accepted. Additionally, you cannot book the resource, and you do not receive the following confirmation message:

This problem occurs because you are trying to book the resource using Microsoft Outlook Web Access. Outlook Web Access does not currently support the "direct booking" of meeting requests.

To work around this problem, use Microsoft Outlook 2002 or Microsoft Outlook 2000 to directly book meeting requests. Also, to facilitate the automatic processing of meeting requests by a resource mailbox, you can install and configure the Auto Accept Agent. This is an event sink that monitors the Inbox of a resource account mailbox and intelligently responds to meeting requests. For more information about the Auto Accept Agent, view the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

When you create an appointment in Outlook Web Access, the Resources button is available in the Untitled -- Appointment dialog box. Although the Resources button is available, you cannot use it to directly book a resource. The Resources button is also used to set a particular recipient as a resource. Outlook recognizes when a resource recipient of a meeting request is a resource that is configured for direct booking. In this scenario, Outlook directly schedules that resource, instead of sending the typical meeting invitation to it. Outlook Web Access does not currently provide this functionality.

For more information about how to configure Outlook Web Access, see the following Microsoft white paper: For more information about how to create a resource mailbox, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about how to create an online conference in Outlook Web Access, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: