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Delegating access to email, calendar and other Nexus features using Outlook 2003

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Nexus allows users to delegate management of their calendar, inbox, tasks etc. to other Nexus users. For example, you may want to allow your assistant to schedule your meetings or a colleague to send emails from an account you normally maintain (usually a non-personal email account, such as 'webmaster@unit.ox.ac.uk'). This is achieved by using Delegation.

Please note, delegation is different from Sharing, which allows others to access a particular folder or feature, but does not allow them to act on your behalf. Instructions for sharing calendars and contacts are to be found within the calendars and contacts help pages (other folders including the Inbox can be shared in a similar way).

A separate page describes how to set up permissions and access Project Accounts - non-personal accounts used by a group of people to, for example, send messages from a generic address or maintain a shared events calendar.

To add a delegate in Outlook 2003, or to act as a delegate for someone else, you will need to have Outlook set up to connect to your Nexus account. If you have not already done so, please follow the Outlook 2003 Configuration instructions.



1. Adding a delegate

From the Outlook menu, click [Tools/Options] and go to the Delegates tab:

Figure images/Delegates.png [Delegates tab shows a list of existing delegates (empty)]

Click Add...:

Figure images/ChooseDelegate.png [A list of Nexus users to choose from]

Select the person you want to add as a delegate (type in the beginning of their name to zoom), click Add to add them to the box at the bottom, and then click OK. A new screen will open, where you can set their permissions:

Figure images/DelegatePermissions.png [Individual permissions can be set for calendar, tasks, inbox, contacts, notes and journal]

Set your desired permission levels for each of the features, and click OK. You will now return to the list of delegates, with the new person showing:

Figure images/AddedDelegate.png [The list of delegates now includes the person you just added]

Click OK to complete the process. You can change their permissions at a later date by returning to this screen, clicking on their name, and then clicking Permissions or Remove.
Please note that if you are not delegating access to all your email folders, delegates may not be able to see the delegated ones unless you make the containing folder visible. To do this:
  1. Right-click on Mailbox - Your Username (top of the list of email folders in the left-hand Mail pane in Outlook). Select Sharing.
  2. When the Properties window opens, select the Permissions tab
  3. If the delegate is not in the list of names displayed, click Add and select the user from the list.
  4. Once the delegate is listed, click on their name and then tick the box saying Folder Visible

    Figure images/shareMail2.png [Permissions tab. Permissions set to Folder Visible]

  5. Click OK to complete.

The delegate can now see your list of mailboxes, but can only access (read messages, reply, etc) the one(s) for which access has been delegated.

2. Acting as a delegate

If another user has delegated access to their email or calendar (or other features) to you, then you have the authority to act on their behalf. You can send an email as if from them (on the compose screen menu, click [View/From Field] to enable the From text box, and then enter their name in that field). You can also create and edit items in their calendar, and respond to meeting requests on their behalf. Depending on the permissions and options they have chosen, you are likely to receive meeting requests sent directly to your own inbox, asking you to respond on their behalf.

If you are only responsible for managing another user's calendar, the easiest way to do so is to open their calendar. You can then create and edit calendar items, and view all existing entries in a grid just like your own calendar. When you create a meeting request by double-clicking on a date in their calendar, Outlook will automatically mark the invitations as being from Your Name on behalf of A.N. Other and the responses will come to you as well as the calendar owner (depending on the permissions and options chosen).

If you are also responsible for managing someone's email, you can open their inbox by clicking [File/Open/Other User's Folder] on the Outlook menu. However, if you intend to do this regularly, it is easier to open their Nexus mailbox alongside your own. Click [Tools/E-mail Accounts] from the Outlook 2003 menu. Choose the option View or change existing accounts and click Next.

Figure images/AddMailbox1.png [Email accounts wizard screen]

Now click on Microsoft Exchange Server and click Change...:

Figure images/AddMailbox2.png [List of email accounts including Microsoft Exchange]

This will open up the email account wizard for Nexus. Click More Settings... to open the Nexus settings screen. Go to the Advanced tab:

Figure images/AddMailbox4.png [Advanced tab contains list of additional mailboxes to be opened (empty in the example)]

Click Add... and type the name of the owner of the mailbox you want to open, into the resulting box.

Figure images/AddMailbox5.png [Box to type in the name of the user]

Click OK. If more than one user exists with the same name, or Nexus does not recognise the name you entered, you will see a screen where you can choose between suggested users:

Figure images/Disambiguate.png [List of users to choose from. In this case Stuart R was entered as the name, and Outlook offers three options from the global address book.]

Click on one and click Properties... to see further details. Unfortunately this is not very helpful but at the end of the E-mail address field, you can see their username. If you are not sure which is the correct user (e.g. where a name is shared), check this with the user or by looking at their Alias in the global address book. Once you have chosen the correct one, click OK. You will now see the user listed in the Mailboxes section:

Figure images/AddMailbox6.png [List of mailboxes now includes the one just added]

Click OK, then Next, and finally Finish to complete the process. You will now see the new mailbox listed in your Navigation Pane, and depending on which permissions you have been given, can read and send emails, create and edit calendar entries, or perform other tasks on behalf of the user.


3. Where next?

Now that you have seen how to delegate Nexus access using Outlook 2003 you may like to have a look at some other Nexus features:

If you have any problems, in the first instance you should contact your local (College or Department) IT staff. If they cannot help then please contact the OUCS Helpcentre for further assistance.

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