Outlook Calendar Integration - Overview

SpacetoCo’s Outlook Calendar integration allows your organisation to seamlessly connect Outlook 365 with your spaces on SpacetoCo. This two-way sync ensures bookings made in SpacetoCo appear in your Outlook calendars, while internal events created in Outlook are reflected in SpacetoCo as blocked times.

The integration helps prevent double bookings, reduces administrative workload, and keeps both staff and customers on the same page.

Personal Outlook Integration

This guide walks you through connecting a standard Outlook 365 account to SpacetoCo. It’s designed for smaller venues or teams that don’t use enterprise resource calendars. You’ll learn how to set up a dedicated non-personal account, create a new Outlook calendar, and link it with SpacetoCo so bookings sync both ways. Ideal for hosts wanting a simple way to keep their Outlook calendar in step with SpacetoCo bookings.

Enterprise Outlook Integration

This article explains how to integrate SpacetoCo with enterprise-level Outlook environments that use resource/room calendars. It covers creating a non-personal account, linking calendars via the dashboard, and mapping Outlook rooms to SpacetoCo spaces. The guide also details sync timing, permissions, and troubleshooting common issues like delegate access. This option suits councils and organisations managing multiple spaces with enterprise IT infrastructure.

Advanced Outlook Settings

This guide is aimed at IT administrators who want more control over how Outlook resource calendars handle events synced from SpacetoCo. Using PowerShell commands, you can adjust calendar processing rules—for example, keeping the original event titles visible or bypassing delegate approval for SpacetoCo bookings. It’s a technical deep-dive for tailoring the integration to your organisation’s policies.

Frequently asked questions

Q: With 2-way integration, if staff book a space directly via their Outlook calendar, will the booking go through the same approval process as it does in the SpacetoCo system?

A:No — while bookings made directly in Outlook don’t follow SpacetoCo’s approval workflow, bookings officers can use Outlook’s built-in approval workflow for internal events if required. These bookings will still be added to SpacetoCo as confirmed block-outs. Only bookings submitted via SpacetoCo itself will follow your configured SpacetoCo approval process. For more detail, see our Enterprise Outlook Integration guide.

Q: Is it possible to configure certain spaces for instant staff approval when booked by staff, bypassing the approval process?

A: Yes — this can be achieved by adjusting your Outlook resource calendar settings. Using Advanced Outlook Settings (via PowerShell), IT admins can allow specific users or groups (such as staff accounts) to bypass delegate approval in outlook while still requiring approval for external bookings. For setup instructions, see our Advanced Outlook Settings guide.

Q: When staff book a space in Outlook, will the booking appear in their personal work calendars, as well as in the calendars of any meeting invitees?

A: Yes — when staff create an event in Outlook, it behaves like any other Outlook meeting. The event will show in the organiser’s personal work calendar and will be sent to any invitees added, appearing in their calendars once accepted. The linked space calendar in SpacetoCo will also show the booking as a confirmed block. 

Q: If a venue has spaces that can be booked individually or as a combined space, and Outlook has separate calendars for the individual spaces, will bookings made in Outlook automatically sync to the combined space in SpacetoCo as well?

A: Yes — SpacetoCo’s integration can only map one Outlook calendar to one SpacetoCo space. If staff invite both Space 1 and Space 2 calendars in Outlook, those bookings will sync into SpacetoCo as individual holds on Space 1 and Space 2 respectively, both will also block out the combined space in SpacetoCo if it has been setup as a parent space of the other two. For more information on parent-child space relationships, see this article.

Q: If using the Outlook integration, do staff need a SpacetoCo account?

A: No — staff creating events directly in Outlook do not need a SpacetoCo account. Their bookings will sync into SpacetoCo as calendar blocks. However, if staff need to approve customer bookings, issue refunds, or manage spaces within SpacetoCo, they will require a SpacetoCo login with the appropriate permissions. 

Q: How often does Outlook sync with SpacetoCo?

A: The sync runs automatically at regular intervals (10minutes). Changes may take a short while to appear across both systems.

Q: Can SpacetoCo bookings overwrite existing events already in an Outlook calendar?

A: No, if a space is already blocked out in Outlook, SpacetoCo will recognise the clash and prevent a conflicting customer booking. This protects against double bookings, but it also means existing Outlook holds always take priority.

Q: Can one Outlook calendar be linked to more than one SpacetoCo space?

A: No, the integration is one-to-one. Each Outlook calendar (or room resource) can only be mapped to a single space in SpacetoCo. 

Q: Does Outlook integration support recurring bookings?

A: Yes, recurring bookings created in SpacetoCo will appear in Outlook as individual events. If staff create recurring events in Outlook, these will sync into SpacetoCo as blocked times.