Problem:
I've been asked to determine if it's possible to read the "Out Of Office" status of Outlook users. The point here is that we've got Help Desk operators using Help Desk software. They take in calls and assign technicians to handle the problem. I want to check to see if the technician they're assigning to solve the problem call has set their "Out of Office" status in Outlook to true. So in essence, if it is true, let the operator know so they can assign someone else who's actually available.
Here is what I've got so far...
Using Access2002, I've created a module and have set reference to Outlook 10.0 Object Library and Microsoft CDO 1.21 Library. I can instantiate an Outlook.Application object and an Outlook.Namespace object. With the Namespace object I can access a Logon method that accepts 4 parameters(Profile, Password, ShowDialog, NewSession). Now from what I can tell, the Profile parameter is where I get stuck. The profile defaults to the current user, so in my case this would be the Help Desk operator. Well I don't really care what their "Out Of Office" status is, they're already working. I want to be able to access the profile of everyone else in Outlook? So I've got a list of technician names which will be the same as that in Outlook. I'm just not sure how to properly use the session object to logon to their Outlook profile to get their "Out Of Office" status. Getting the status property isn't the issue, it's just accessing their profile. Any thoughts on how or if this can be done? Is this a matter of accessing Exchange to get the profiles? And if so, I'm assuming security would be an issue here. As I've no previous experience in using the Outlook object model I could really use some technical detail and suggestions.
Thanks,
I've been asked to determine if it's possible to read the "Out Of Office" status of Outlook users. The point here is that we've got Help Desk operators using Help Desk software. They take in calls and assign technicians to handle the problem. I want to check to see if the technician they're assigning to solve the problem call has set their "Out of Office" status in Outlook to true. So in essence, if it is true, let the operator know so they can assign someone else who's actually available.
Here is what I've got so far...
Using Access2002, I've created a module and have set reference to Outlook 10.0 Object Library and Microsoft CDO 1.21 Library. I can instantiate an Outlook.Application object and an Outlook.Namespace object. With the Namespace object I can access a Logon method that accepts 4 parameters(Profile, Password, ShowDialog, NewSession). Now from what I can tell, the Profile parameter is where I get stuck. The profile defaults to the current user, so in my case this would be the Help Desk operator. Well I don't really care what their "Out Of Office" status is, they're already working. I want to be able to access the profile of everyone else in Outlook? So I've got a list of technician names which will be the same as that in Outlook. I'm just not sure how to properly use the session object to logon to their Outlook profile to get their "Out Of Office" status. Getting the status property isn't the issue, it's just accessing their profile. Any thoughts on how or if this can be done? Is this a matter of accessing Exchange to get the profiles? And if so, I'm assuming security would be an issue here. As I've no previous experience in using the Outlook object model I could really use some technical detail and suggestions.
Thanks,
