Outlook Calendar Integration Overview

This article is for Hosts who use Microsoft Outlook 365 and want to connect their room calendars with SpacetoCo.

Connecting your Outlook 365 calendar with SpacetoCo creates a two-way sync between both systems. Bookings made in SpacetoCo automatically appear in your Outlook calendars, and internal events created in Outlook automatically block out availability in SpacetoCo.

Before You Start

Ensure these three prerequisites are configured before your onboarding session:

• Room calendars created in Outlook: A room calendar (a shared resource calendar in Microsoft 365) must exist for each bookable Space.
• Dedicated system account set up: Authorise the integration using a dedicated system account rather than a personal staff account. Using a personal account causes automated booking notifications to flood that user's personal inbox and risks breaking the sync if the staff member leaves your organisation.
• IT administrator permissions configured: Review the required permissions section below.

Integration Options

Choose the setup guide that matches your organisation's Microsoft infrastructure:

• Personal Outlook Integration: For smaller venues connecting standard Microsoft 365 accounts without room resource calendars. Read the Personal Outlook Integration guide
• Enterprise Outlook Integration: For local governments and organisations using Outlook room resource calendars across multiple Spaces. Read the Enterprise Outlook Integration guide

• Advanced Outlook Settings: PowerShell configuration rules for IT administrators who need custom calendar processing and delegate permissions. Read the Advanced Outlook Settings guide

Linking and Mapping Your Spaces

Once prerequisites are set up, map your Spaces in the SpacetoCo integration dashboard:

1. Open the integration dashboard in an incognito or private browser window to avoid signing in with an incorrect Microsoft account.
2. Sign in via Microsoft Single Sign-On using your dedicated system account and authorise the connection.
3. Map your Spaces to your Outlook room calendars. Mapping is strictly one-to-one: each SpacetoCo Space links to exactly one Outlook room calendar.
4. Click Save.
5. Click Test config to verify that the sync is active.
6. Once the test succeeds, enable live sync.
   
   

Partitioned and Combined Spaces

If a venue divides into sections (for example, Hall A and Hall B combining into the Main Hall), map only the child Spaces to Outlook room calendars. Do not map the parent Space.

Staff needing to reserve the entire venue in Outlook should invite both child room calendars as locations. SpacetoCo will automatically block out the parent Space. Learn more about Parent/Child spaces, and related availability.

Permissions Your IT Administrator Needs to Configure

Approval Override for System Account

If your Outlook room calendars require approval for internal requests, your IT administrator must set an approval override for the SpacetoCo system account.

Without an override, every synced booking generates an email approval request to your approver's inbox. Approvals can remain active for all other staff users; the override applies solely to the system account. Detailed setup steps are available in the Advanced Outlook Settings guide.

Organisations with More Than 100 Rooms

The standard Microsoft API returns only the first 100 room calendars in a tenancy. If your organisation manages over 100 room calendars, an IT administrator must grant the Place.Read.All permission to display rooms beyond the initial 100 for mapping.

How the Sync Works

• Sync frequency: A full synchronization runs automatically every 10–15 minutes.
• Sync window: Each sync covers 3 months in the past through to 18 months in the future. Bookings outside this window are not synced.
• Historical bookings: When first connected, the integration imports existing Outlook events into SpacetoCo automatically.
• Conflicts: Existing Outlook events always take priority. If a conflict occurs, the Outlook event is synced into SpacetoCo so your team can resolve it internally.

Privacy and Visibility

Synced events strip Customer and booking details by default to preserve privacy on shared internal calendars. Synced entries display the system account name rather than the Customer's personal information or booking details.

IT administrators can configure room calendars to display booking titles, but this is generally not recommended for shared internal calendars to prevent exposing Customer data.

Making Internal Bookings in Outlook

Staff can reserve internal events directly in Outlook without needing a SpacetoCo account:

1. Create a new event in Outlook.
2. Add the relevant room calendar as the location (or select all child room calendars for a partitioned venue).
3. Send the invite.

Within 10–15 minutes, the event syncs to SpacetoCo as a confirmed blockout, preventing Customer bookings during that time. Bookings made directly in Outlook bypass SpacetoCo approval workflows.

Regular Customers and Existing Recurring Outlook Bookings

When migrating existing recurring Outlook bookings for Regular Customers to SpacetoCo:

1. Leave existing recurring Outlook bookings in place initially to hold venue availability.
2. Create the Regular Booking in SpacetoCo. SpacetoCo will flag any clashes with the existing Outlook recurrence for review.
3. Once the Regular Booking is confirmed in SpacetoCo, remove the recurring booking from Outlook.

Frequently Asked Questions

If staff book a Space directly in Outlook, does it follow SpacetoCo approval workflows?

No. Internal bookings created directly in Outlook bypass SpacetoCo approval processes and sync immediately as confirmed blockouts. Only bookings submitted directly by Customers via SpacetoCo follow your configured SpacetoCo approval rules.

Can we allow staff to book instantly while requiring approval for external bookings?

Yes. An IT administrator can adjust Outlook resource calendar settings via PowerShell to allow specific staff accounts to bypass delegate approval in Outlook while maintaining approvals for external requests. Refer to the Advanced Outlook Settings guide.

When staff book a Space in Outlook, does it appear on their personal work calendar?

Yes. Events created in Outlook appear on the organizer's personal calendar and send invitations to any listed attendees. The linked Space in SpacetoCo displays the booking as a confirmed block.

Do staff need a SpacetoCo account to book via Outlook?

No. Staff reserving Spaces directly via Outlook do not require a SpacetoCo account. Staff only need a SpacetoCo account if they are required to approve Customer bookings, issue refunds, or manage Space settings in SpacetoCo.

Can a SpacetoCo booking overwrite an existing Outlook event?

No. Outlook holds take priority. If a time slot is blocked in Outlook, SpacetoCo prevents Customer bookings during that period.

Can one Outlook calendar link to multiple SpacetoCo Spaces?

No. The mapping is strictly one-to-one. Each Outlook calendar or room resource links to a single Space in SpacetoCo.

If you need technical support configuring your Outlook integration, contact our team via email at info@spacetoco.com.