meetings

Through Microsoft Outlook’s Scheduling Poll (formerly FindTime), you can select a few possible meeting times and send attendees a link to a poll that allows them to vote for what meeting time works best for them. Once a consensus is reached, you schedule the meeting for the preferred time.

• Like the Scheduling Assistant, the Scheduling Poll allows you to preview attendees’ FDU Outlook calendars (if available) so that the best possible options can be selected. This particular aspect of the feature will be less useful for attendees who…
  
  • DO NOT have FDU Outlook calendars
    
  • Have FDU Outlook calendars, but don’t keep them up-to-date
    
• The Scheduling Poll has other convenient features, including email updates, the ability to schedule a meeting automatically, and more.
  
• When using the Outlook web client, the Scheduling Poll feature is not available for emails composed in plain text. Emails must be composed in HTML.

Where can I access the Scheduling Poll feature?

You can access the Scheduling Poll via the Mail or Calendar tabs of the Outlook desktop application.

In Mail, you can access the Scheduling Poll as follows:

1. Select “Reply with Scheduling Poll” on the “Home” tab when an email is open in the reading pane

2. Launch the compose pane by either creating a new message or hitting reply/forward for an existing message. List required recipients in the “To” field and optional recipients in the “CC” field. Then, on the “Message” tab, select “New Scheduling Poll”

In Calendar, you can access the Scheduling Poll as follows:

1. Either by launching the compose form to create a new meeting event or opening an existing event in the edit form. List required attendees in the “Required” field and optional attendees in the “Optional” field. Select “New Scheduling Poll” under the “Meeting” tab

2. Start a new message or event
   
3. In the “Subject/Title” field, type what will eventually become the event’s name.
   • For example, “Team Meeting”
     
4. In the “To/Required” or Optional fields, add the people who will be attendees for this meeting. They do not all have to be from FDU. Scheduling Polls can be sent to and completed by non-FDU email addresses
   
5. Press into the body of the email and compose a message
   
6. Press into the area of the email body where you want the link to the Scheduling Poll to show up
   
7. Select the “Scheduling Poll” tab
   
8. A Scheduling Poll panel will open. From here, you can adjust your meeting duration, move between dates, and preview the availability of your attendees

9. Select times that work for as many attendees as possible, paying particular attention to the attendees whose attendance is most critical
   
10. Press “Next” to proceed to the next step
    
11. A new panel will open with the ability to delete selected times or adjust the meeting location

12. Press “Manage Poll Settings” to expand the menu. Options include:
    
    • Schedule when attendees reach consensus – Automatically schedules a meeting and sends out an invite to attendees if everyone agrees on a particular time. If multiple times work, the earliest one will be selected.
      
    • Hold selected times on my calendar – Puts a temporary hold on the scheduler’s calendar for each of the selected times. These holds are removed when the final invite is sent out.
      
    • Notify me about poll updates – Outlook will send an email update to the scheduler whenever an attendee submits their poll response.
      
    • Require attendees to verify their identity – Forces respondents to verify their identity either by logging in to their Outlook account or entering a numerical code that Microsoft sends them.
      
    • Lock poll for attendees – Prevents attendees from adding more people to the meeting or suggesting new meeting times.

13. When you’re ready, press “Create Poll”
    
14. A Scheduling Poll meeting link will be inserted into your email

You can access “Scheduling Poll” via the Mail tab on the Outlook desktop application.

1. Open the Outlook desktop application on your Mac
   
2. Start a new email message
   
3. In the “Subject” field, type what will eventually become the name of the event. For example: “Team Meeting”
   
4. In the “To” field, add the people who will be attendees for this meeting. They do not all have to be from FDU (Scheduling Polls can be sent to and completed by non-FDU email addresses)
   
5. Press into the body of the email and compose a message
   
6. Press into the area of the email body where you want the link to the Scheduling Poll to show up
   
7. Press on the “More Options” button and select “Scheduling Poll”

8. A “Scheduling Poll” panel will open. From here, you can adjust your meeting duration, move between dates, and preview your attendees’ availability

9. Select times that work for as many attendees as possible, paying particular attention to the attendees whose attendance is most critical
   
10. Click “Next” to proceed to the next step
    
11. A new panel will open with the ability to delete selected times or adjust the meeting location

12. Press on “Manage Poll Settings” to expand the menu

13. When you’re ready, press “Create Poll”
    
14. A Scheduling Poll meeting link will be inserted into your email

You can access the “Scheduling Poll” feature via the Mail or Calendar web apps.

1. Login to the FDU Office 365 Portal

FDU Office 365 Portal

2. Create a new email or select an email to reply to

3. In the “Subject” field, type what will eventually become the name of the event. For example, “Team Meeting”
   
4. In the “To” field, add the people who will be attendees for this meeting. They do not all have to be from Fairleigh Dickinson University (Scheduling Polls can be sent to and completed by non-FDU email addresses)
   
5. Press into the body of the email and compose a message
   
6. Press into the area of the email body where you want the link to the Scheduling Poll to show up
   
7. Press on the “More Options” button and select “Scheduling Poll”

8. A “Scheduling Poll” panel will open. From here, you can adjust your meeting duration, move between dates, and preview your attendees’ availability

9. Select times that work for as many attendees as possible, paying particular attention to the attendees whose attendance is most critical
   
10. Press “Next” to proceed to the next step
    
11. A new panel will open with the ability to delete selected times or adjust the meeting location

12. Press on “Manage Poll Settings” to expand the menu
    
    • Schedule when attendees reach consensus – Automatically schedules a meeting and sends out an invite to attendees if everyone agrees on a particular time. If multiple times work, the earliest one will be selected.
      
    • Hold selected times on my calendar – Puts a temporary hold on the scheduler’s calendar for each of the selected times. These holds are removed when the final invite is sent out.
      
    • Notify me about poll updates – Outlook will send an email update to the scheduler whenever an attendee submits their poll response.
      
    • Require attendees to verify their identity – Forces respondents to verify their identity either by logging in to their Outlook account or entering a numerical code that Microsoft sends them.
      
    • Lock poll for attendees – Prevents attendees from adding more people to the meeting or suggesting new meeting times.
      
13. When you’re ready, press “Create Poll”
    
14. A Scheduling Poll meeting link will be inserted into your email

How do I finalize, vote, and manage a Scheduling Poll?

1. When a scheduling poll is sent to you via email, press “Vote”

2. If necessary, select your name from the list of attendees

3. Vote for meeting times by selecting “Preferred, Yes, or No”

4. Depending on how the poll was set up, you may be able to add more attendees or meeting times to the poll
   
5. When you’re ready, press “Vote” to submit your responses

The Scheduling Poll Dashboard allows organizers to view all the polls they have created, manage them, and change default settings for new polls.

Scheduling Poll Web Dashboard

2. Your scheduling polls will be listed. From here, you can manage polls and your default poll settings

3. Press on the name of a poll to view responses
   
4. A window will open where you can…
   
   • Send poll reminders
     
   • Cancel the poll
     
   • View attendee responses
     
   • Adjust your responses
     
   • Add/edit attendees and times
     
   • Send a meeting invite

1. Visit the FDU Office 365 Portal using any web browser

2. Sign in to the FDU Single-Sign-On (SSO) page using your FDU NetID credentials

3. In the upper left corner, click the dotted square and select All Apps

4. In the All Apps menu, choose Bookings

5. Microsoft Bookings will open. Click the Get it Now button to begin

6. The next page will ask for two pieces of information: Business name and Business type. Enter your Department name or your First and Last Name. Click Continue

7. Once your Bookings page loads, the first section you should complete is Business Information. Click  Business Information in the left menu

8. On the Business Information page, you can enter your business or department address, other contact information, upload a business logo, and set up your business hours

9. Next, set up your service offerings. Click Services from the left menu

10. Once you’re on the service-editing page, enter your service details, including name, description, and location. When you start typing an address in the default location, suggested locations will populate. Below are explanations for the other fields on the service-editing screen:
    • Duration: You can enter how long you want the duration to last in days, hours, minutes, and set a buffer time when customers cannot book.
    • Reminders: You can have the system send customers email reminders before their scheduled appointment. Click the pencil to edit the text. 
    • Leave Publishing options checked.
    • Online Scheduling Options: This is where you can manage the settings for when customers can book services.
      • You can choose to use the default scheduling policy by leaving the option checked, OR
      • You can manage the settings for your scheduling policy by unchecking the option.  If you choose this option, we recommend setting the Minimum lead time to 24 and the maximum lead time to 30 days.
    • Don’t forget to click Save at the top of the Service details page

11. Next, click Staff from the left menu. Click the pencil next to your name to edit your information. Also, you may add any staff or faculty members in your department by clicking the + Add staff button

12. On this page, you can add information about yourself, including your office or department phone number and whether to receive email notifications (we recommend keeping this option checked).  Click Save when finished

13. Next, select Booking page from the left navigation pane.
    • Booking page Status: Since this is the first time you are setting up your Bookings page, your status is set to Not published. Once you finish customizing your page and clicking Save, the status will change to Published. 
    • Customer data usage consent (optional):  Where you can customize a message for your visitors to consent to your site collecting their personal data. 
    • Scheduling Policy: Where you can set site-wide scheduling policies. We recommend the following settings:
      • Minimum lead time: 24
      • Maximum lead time: 30
    • Email Notifications: Notifies you when an appointment is made. 
    • Staff: You can allow customers to choose who they want to meet with. However, you can uncheck this option if you do not have any staff.
    • Customize your page: Choose a color theme for your bookings page.
    • Lastly, click Save and Publish

14. Once you click Save and publish, your Bookings site is now live! You can view your published page by clicking Open published page and share your page with others by copying the link