Working Elsewhere: available or not?

Clémentine Lorotte de Banes 6 Reputation points
2022-03-30T10:44:46.333+00:00

Hello there,

Is "Working Elsewhere" event type intended to show as available while using the Scheduling Assistant?

There seems to be different behaviours depending on the client:

  • OWA: Working Elsewhere is considered available
  • Windows Outlook: Working Elsewhere is considered available
  • macOS Outlook: Working Elsewhere is considered NOT available

Which one is "right"? Are the others getting fixed any time soon?

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Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Andy David - MVP 142.2K Reputation points MVP
    2022-03-30T11:35:09.837+00:00

    Yea, this is an issue I have seen discussed before.
    What version of Exchange is this?
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/522623/working-elsewhere-calendar-status-shows-as-free-in.html

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  2. Faery Fu-MSFT 17,021 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2022-03-31T07:09:34.7+00:00

    Hi @Clémentine Lorotte de Banes ,

    Welcome to our forum!

    According to my test, when using Outlook for Windows or Outlook Web App (OWA) to access your calendar, you can set the status of your calendar items to one of five options:
    188632-1.png

    When using Outlook for Mac or any other client, you will see only four:
    188633-2.png

    Besides, based on my search, the status Working Elsewhere is only supported and recognized by Outlook for Windows and OWA. If you sync your calendar with another client/app, including any mobile apps, all items marked with that status will show as Free. This means that anyone looking at your calendar's availability from another client will not know that you are unavailable if your items are marked with Working Elsewhere.

    To work around it, it is recommended use another status.
    Hope this can help you!


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  3. Clémentine Lorotte de Banes 6 Reputation points
    2022-03-31T08:13:27+00:00

    @Andy David - MVP it's Office 365

    @Faery Fu-MSFT

    On the latest Outlook for Mac (version 16.59), I can choose "Working Elsewhere":
    188691-screenshot-2022-03-31-at-101007.png

    It seems normal to me that "Working Elsewhere" will show up as available, as it's just an additional information about my location.
    We have multiple offices in different cities and we use it to specify which one we will be working from.

    But I am not sure if that's how it is intended or not as we experience different behaviors.

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  4. Faery Fu-MSFT 17,021 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2022-04-01T03:26:37.917+00:00

    Hi @Clémentine Lorotte de Banes ,

    Thanks for your reply!

    Indeed, this option appeared when I switched outlook to the new version.

    189011-screenshot-2022-04-01-112030.jpg

    So if some one doesn't have this option in outlook for mac, it is suggested to turn on "New Outlook".

    189012-screenshot-2022-04-01-112155.jpg


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