How do you move a meeting in Outlook from one room to another?
A few steps to relocate a meeting from one room to another
Relocating Outlook meetings from one room to another -complicated but possible
Moving meetings in Outlook is often necessary when a room is no longer available or the number of participants changes. However, this process is not always intuitive in Outlook, especially when additional services such as catering or technology have been booked.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to move a meeting in Outlook to another room:
1. Open a meeting in Outlook
- In Outlook, go to your calendar.
- Find the meeting you want to reschedule and double-click on it to open it.
2. Cancel the previous room
- In the meeting window, you can see the current room under Location or in the participant list area.
- Delete the old room by removing it from the participant list or clearing the Location field.
3. Add new room
- Click Add Rooms or the Location field to display a list of available rooms.
- Select a new room from the list. If no rooms are displayed, check room availability using the Planning Assistant.
4. Inform participants about the change
- To ensure that everyone involved is aware of the change, include a brief message in the invitation text, e.g.:
‘Please note: The meeting has been moved to room XY.’ - Outlook will automatically update the invitation, but an additional message will increase the visibility of the change.
5. Send updated invitation
- Click Send to send the modified invitation to all participants.
- Outlook will ask whether the update should be sent to everyone – confirm this.
6. Release old room
- In some cases, the old room will remain booked. If this is the case, you will need to release it manually.
- Open your calendar, locate the original room as a participant, and remove it from the meeting.
7. Check additional services (e.g. catering or technology)
- If additional services have been booked for the meeting, these must be rebooked or cancelled separately.
- Check whether the new room offers the same technical requirements (e.g. projector, video conferencing systems).
Why is changing rooms in Outlook complicated?
The process for changing a meeting room in Outlook is not particularly intuitive. There is no central function that automatically applies all changes with a single click.
Lack of clarity when changing rooms in Outlook
Moving a meeting in Outlook requires several manual steps. Especially in large companies with many meeting rooms, it can be difficult to find a free replacement room right away. Although Outlook offers an availability display, a central overview or filter functions are often missing.
Participants may also be confused if they do not notice the change in time or keep the old invitation in their calendar. As a result, it often happens that some people show up in the wrong room, which can disrupt the proceedings.
Complexity involved in reallocating rooms
In addition to simply changing the room, the organiser must ensure that all participants are informed. Outlook automatically updates the invitation, but there is a risk that some recipients will overlook the change.
Another problem is the occupancy of the old room. In many cases, it remains reserved after the change because Outlook does not automatically release the room. This creates unnecessary blockages that make it difficult for other meetings to use the room.
Challenges with additional services
It becomes particularly problematic if additional services have been booked for the meeting, such as catering, special seating or technical equipment. These reservations are often not directly linked to the room change and must be adjusted separately.
If catering has been ordered, it could still be delivered to the original room if the change is not communicated in time. Technical requirements, such as a booked projector or video conferencing equipment, must also be checked, as the new room may not have the same equipment.
An unnecessarily complicated construct
Moving a meeting in Outlook from one room to another is time-consuming and cumbersome. The process involves several manual steps, and there is no easy way to make all the relevant changes automatically.
The complexity increases significantly, especially if additional services are associated with the meeting. Organisers not only have to take care of the new room, but also ensure that catering, technology and other services are correctly transferred or adjusted.
With arbooMEET, changing rooms is child's play
Moving a meeting in Outlook is tedious, error-prone and unnecessarily time-consuming. Manually changing the room, releasing the old booking and checking additional services are cumbersome steps that make everyday work more complicated than it needs to be.
With arbooMEET, this problem is a thing of the past. Our powerful Outlook add-in allows you to change meeting rooms with just a few clicks without losing participants, booked services or technical requirements. The old room is automatically released, all booking details are updated in real time, and additional services such as catering or technology are transferred directly.
Thanks to seamless integration with Microsoft Outlook, users no longer have to click through menus or make separate requests. Everything is bundled together in a clear, centralised interface. This not only saves companies valuable time, but also avoids double bookings, misunderstandings and unnecessary costs.
With arbooMEET, managing meeting rooms is finally as easy as it should be. Arrange a live demo today and experience how straightforward meeting planning and room changes can really be!
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