Note:

This tutorial uses Outlook Desktop. If you’re using Outlook Web Access or Outlook.com, these steps are identical, but you will find FreeBusy add on when you click on "New Message" and you will see FreeBusy icon in toolbar next to "Send" button.

On Desktop you can access FreeBusy add-on by clicking on "New Email" and you will see FreeBusy add-on.

Prerequisite

Install FreeBusy Outlook Add-in

How it works? If you want to have more control over when the meeting will take place - for example, in the next days - you can insert multiple meeting times and let participants vote on a common time to meet. If proposed meeting times do not work, participants can always propose other meeting times. This is an elegant way of suggesting that you want the meeting to take place in the selected time options.

See a short demo video to understand exactly what you need to do. This is for when you have multiple meeting participants, but works the same for one on one meetings, except that the meeting is automatically scheduled when the participant selects the first convenient time (so, no polling for one on one meetings - it's simpler).

What participants see & do? In this case, participants will select themselves from the list (if you have multiple participants), and vote yes or no on preferred meeting times. No extra information is needed and they don't have to vote on all suggested times. They can also come back and revise their votes (if the poll is open). When a consensus is reached, the meeting is automatically scheduled and added on everyone’s calendar.

Note:

There are two template styles that the FreeBusy Outlook add-in uses depending on the meeting participants you've invited:

1. If you only invited one external participant (whose email domain is different from your own), the add-in will insert a simple list of links. This is because only the input from the external participant is needed to determine poll consensus, i.e. the time at which the meeting should be scheduled. A meeting will be scheduled immediately when the external participant chooses one of the proposed times.

2. If you invite multiple external participants (e.g. two clients whose email domain is different from your own), then both of their inputs are required before determining the consensus meeting time. In this case, the add-in will show a "Pick Times" card. Participants are taken to the FreeBusy web app where they can see everyone else's availability (which potentially helps them decide which time to vote for).

We’ve updated FreeBusy Gmail and Outlook Add-in so you can schedule any type of meeting in just a few clicks. For more informations, please consult The ultimate guide to schedule meetings using FreeBusy Outlook Add-in.

If you have questions & feedback, feel free to use the chat button below. We're super friendly and happy to solve any scheduling challenge