Outlook Plugin functionality upgrade in VQ Conference Manager 3.12 and 4.2

With VQ Conference Manager 3.12/4.2 (plug-in versions 120 and above), we’re introducing an extensive functionality upgrade to the Outlook Plug-in:

  • ‘Meet me’; inject details of a user’s Space into the Outlook Meeting invite

    • The user can select the Space they want to use for the ‘meet me’ call and can inject details for the Space into the Outlook calendar entry

    • If the Space has multiple Roles, the Role can be selected

    • The Space details are static; the PIN/passcode are those of the underlaying Space

    • ‘Meet Me’ is a better name for the functionality than “Call”. The configuration options use the “Call” naming convention.

  • Scheduled Meetings; meeting instances available for specific periods of time

    • Scheduled meetings exist for specific periods of time. They are created on CMS by VQ for the date and time defined by the Outlook Meeting.

    • They can exist on existing Spaces or Spaces created to host a meeting. In the case where a Space is created to host the meeting, the lifecycle of the Space will be managed by VQ and it will be deleted once the meeting has taken place.

    • The PIN/passcode for scheduled meetings can be One-Time with each meeting having its own PIN/passcode. Alternatively, the Meeting can use the PIN/passcode of the underlying Space.

    • Recurring Meeting sequences hosted on Spaces dynamically created to host the meeting will be locked between meeting instances. They will only be usable at the times of the meeting instances.

    • Meetings (and Recurring Meetings) hosted on an existing, known, Space take precedence over the ‘self-service’ use of a Space. So, for example, if Space 42 has a meeting scheduled on it, at the time the meeting is due to start, if any participants are in a call leading up to the start time, their meeting will be terminated, and the scheduled meeting will start. At the end of the scheduled meeting, the schedule meeting will terminate, and the Space will return to normal use and availability.

    • The user can select from the available set of Space Templates available at the User’s UX (User Experience) Level. If a Space Template has multiple Roles, the user can select the Role details to be injected into the meeting. If a Space Template only has a single Role, no Role options will be displayed, and the default Role used.

    • Please note that the available set of Space Templates are determined at Plug-in load. If additional Space Templates are added (or made available to the UX Profile) server side, the plug-in will need to be reloaded.

    • If Setup and Tear down times are required, these can be configured on the Tenant the user belongs to. Each new meeting scheduled via the plug-in will inherit these default values from the user’s Tenant.

      • At 3.12, if a meeting is scheduled to start in the very near future (less than the setup time window), the schedule request will be rejected. This behavior is planned to be fixed at 4.3 and the setup window in this scenario will automatically be reduced to the available time; the call will start at the requested time.

      • Plug-in versions 120+ are not compatible with VQ versions earlier than 3.12/4.2.

  • Highly configurable

    • Enable/Disable ‘Meet me’ (Call) functionality

    • Enable/Disable Space selection

    • Enable/Disable Scheduled Meetings/One-Time scheduling

    • Re-label Call (‘Meet me’) and Scheduled Meeting menu items

    • Provide your own icons for Call (‘Meet me’) and Scheduled Meetings

  • Works with VQ One-Button-To-Push (“OBTP”)

    • Associate Microsoft Exchange Room System Resources with Endpoints in VQ

  • Works with Outlook Scheduling Assistant and Room Finder

    • Users can use Room Finder to see when a meeting room is available

The enhanced functionality is available from VQCM 3.12/4.2 and Outlook plug-in version 3.1.120. The previous, Legacy functionality version of the plug-in, 3.1.34 version of the plug-in can still be used with VQCM 3.12/4.2.

The Outlook plug-in requires the Self-Service Application Pack option to have been licensed.