Create Mailbox for Room or Equipment in Exchange

You can create mailbox accounts for rooms or equipment in Exchange by following a few easy steps. These special mailboxes help your group save resources and use them efficiently.

• Room mailboxes are ideal for places like meeting rooms or training rooms. They show the location of the room and allow people to book the space directly from their calendars.

• Equipment mailboxes are perfect for managing items like projectors, cars, or tools. They do not track the physical location of the item.

By creating mailbox resources, it becomes simple to manage and update them later.

Key Takeaways

• Make room and equipment mailboxes in Exchange. This helps your team book rooms and items easily. It also stops people from booking the same thing at the same time.

• You can use the Exchange Admin Center, Microsoft 365 admin center, or PowerShell. These tools help you set up and manage mailboxes fast and easily.

• Set simple booking rules and permissions. This lets you control who can book things and when. It keeps your schedule neat and clear.

• Give trusted users access to help with bookings. This stops double bookings and mistakes.

• Resource mailboxes do not need licenses in Exchange Online. This saves your group money and helps you manage things better.

Create Mailbox in Admin Center

You can make mailbox resources for rooms or equipment. You can use the Exchange Admin Center or the Microsoft 365 admin center. Both tools help you manage resources, but they look and work a bit differently. The Exchange Admin Center is for Exchange settings only. The Microsoft 365 admin center lets you see all your Microsoft 365 services.

Tip: If you do not see your new mailbox, refresh the page. Sometimes changes take time to show up in both admin centers.

Room Mailbox

You can set up mailbox accounts for meeting rooms or shared spaces. Here are steps to make mailbox resources for rooms in the Exchange Admin Center:

1. Sign in to the Exchange Admin Center at

https://admin.exchange.microsoft.com/#/

1. .

2. Go to Recipients and pick Resources.

3. Click Add a room resource.

4. Type a clear name for the room, like "Conference Room A".

5. Give the room a special email address. Pick the right domain if you have more than one.

6. Click Next to move on.

7. Add details like how many people fit, where it is, and the address. You can also add a phone number or department if you want.

8. Set booking rules. You can let people book repeating meetings, set limits, and decide if the room says no to requests outside work hours.

9. Check your choices and finish to make the mailbox for the room.

You can also use the Microsoft 365 admin center to make mailbox resources for rooms:

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.

2. Click Resources and then Rooms & equipment.

3. Click + Add resource.

4. Pick Room as the mailbox type.

5. Type a friendly name, email alias, how many people fit, and where it is.

6. Save your work to make the mailbox for the room.

Note: In Exchange Online, you do not need to make a separate Active Directory object for each room mailbox. The mailbox is only in the cloud directory.

Equipment Mailbox

You can make mailbox resources for things like projectors, company cars, or other equipment. The steps are almost the same as making a room mailbox, but you pick "Equipment" as the type.

To make a mailbox for equipment in the Exchange Admin Center:

1. Log in to the Exchange Admin Center.

2. Go to Recipients > Resources.

3. Click Add equipment.

4. Type a name for the equipment, like "Projector 1".

5. Give it a special email address and pick the domain.

6. Add details like how many people can use it, where it is, and a phone number if needed.

7. Set booking rules, like who can book it and for how long.

8. Check your choices and finish to make the mailbox for the equipment.

To make a mailbox for equipment in the Microsoft 365 admin center:

1. Open the Microsoft 365 admin center.

2. Go to Resources > Rooms & equipment.

3. Click + Add resource.

4. Pick Equipment as the mailbox type.

5. Fill in the name, email alias, how many people can use it, and where it is.

6. Save to make the mailbox for the equipment.

Tip: For safety, block sign-in access to equipment mailboxes. This stops people from logging in directly.

You do not need to handle any on-premises Active Directory objects when you make mailbox resources in Exchange Online. The process is only in the cloud and is much easier than in hybrid or on-premises setups.

Create Mailbox with PowerShell

PowerShell is a quick way to manage resource mailboxes in Exchange. You can use it to make mailbox resources for rooms or equipment. It also lets you change old mailboxes and do many tasks at once. PowerShell is very useful if you have lots of resources or use a hybrid Exchange setup.

Room Mailbox Command

You can make mailbox resources for rooms using PowerShell. First, connect to Exchange Online PowerShell. Use this command:

Connect-ExchangeOnline

After you connect, use this command to make a new room mailbox:

New-Mailbox -Name "Room01" -Room

You can change "Room01" to any name you want. This command makes a mailbox that people can book as a meeting room. If you use Exchange Server on-premises, you can add more details like the database:

New-Mailbox -Database "DB1" -Name AuditoriumMain -DisplayName "Main Auditorium" -Room

Tip: PowerShell can help you make many mailbox resources at once. You can use a script with a list of room names to do this.

Equipment Mailbox Command

You can also make mailbox resources for equipment with PowerShell. After you connect to Exchange Online, use this command:

New-Mailbox -Name EquipmentTest01 -DisplayName "Equipment Test-01" -Equipment

This command sets up a mailbox for equipment, like a projector or company car. The -Equipment part tells Exchange this mailbox is for a resource, not a person.

You can change the command with more options, like:

New-Mailbox -Equipment -Name "Projector01" -Alias "projector01" -DisplayName "Projector 01"

This way, you can keep your resources neat and easy to find.

Conversion, Bulk Creation, and Hybrid Environment

Sometimes you need to change a user mailbox to a room or equipment mailbox. PowerShell makes this easy. Here are the steps:

1. Set the execution policy if you need to.

2. Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.

3. Use the Set-Mailbox command to change the mailbox type.

To change a user mailbox to a room mailbox:

Set-Mailbox <mailbox_name> -Type Room

To change it to an equipment mailbox:

Set-Mailbox <mailbox_name> -Type Equipment

You can also use a list of mailboxes and run a script to change them all at once. This saves time and helps stop mistakes.

If you use a hybrid Exchange setup, you must make mailbox resources from the on-premises Exchange server. Use the New-RemoteMailbox command. After you make the mailbox, wait for Active Directory to sync with Azure AD. Then, move the mailbox to Exchange Online. Make sure the name, alias, and user principal name are the same in both places. This keeps mail working and lets you manage the mailbox from your on-premises Exchange.

Note: Resource mailboxes, like room or equipment mailboxes, do not need licenses in Exchange Online.

PowerShell gives you control and speed when you make mailbox resources, change mailboxes, or manage many resources at once. You can handle tricky setups and keep your group’s resources working well.

Configure Settings

Booking Options

You can change how people book rooms and equipment. These booking options help you keep things organized and avoid problems. Some common booking options are:

• Allow repeating meetings: You can let people book the same meeting more than once. This is turned on by default.

• Allow scheduling only during working hours: You can make sure bookings only happen during work hours, like 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Monday to Friday.

• Maximum booking lead time: You can set how early people can book a resource. The default is 180 days, but you can make it up to 1080 days.

• Maximum duration: You can limit how long one booking lasts. The default is 24 hours.

• Booking requests handling: You can choose to accept or decline requests automatically, or send them to someone else to approve.

• Decline if end date is beyond limit: You can stop bookings that go past your set time.

If you add buffer times before or after meetings, people get extra time to get ready or clean up. This buffer blocks extra time around each booking, so people only see times that fit both the meeting and the buffer.

Permissions

You pick who can see, book, or manage resource mailboxes. Give permissions based on what your group needs. For example, you might let assistants book rooms but not change or cancel meetings. You can give full access to people who need to manage all bookings, or let someone approve requests.

Some good ways to set permissions are:

• Use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to limit who can change resource settings.

• Only let certain groups book important resources.

• Set up people to approve or deny requests.

• Block sign-in for mailboxes used just for booking to keep them safe.

You can set permissions in the Microsoft 365 admin center or use PowerShell commands like Add-MailboxPermission.

Calendar Processing

Calendar processing settings control how Exchange handles meeting requests for rooms and equipment. You can make bookings automatic, stop double bookings, and set booking rules. Some important settings are:

• AutomateProcessing: Pick if bookings are accepted automatically, marked as maybe, or need approval.

• AllowConflicts: Choose if bookings can overlap.

• BookingWindowInDays: Limit how far ahead people can book.

• MaximumDurationInMinutes: Set the longest meeting allowed.

• ForwardRequestsToDelegates: Send requests to someone else to check.

• ScheduleOnlyDuringWorkHours: Only let bookings happen during work hours.

You can use the Set-CalendarProcessing command in PowerShell to change these settings. By setting these options, you make sure bookings work well and resources are free when needed.

Manage Resource Mailboxes

Edit Properties

You can change details for a room or equipment mailbox anytime. This keeps your resource information correct and helpful for your team. To change properties, do these steps: 1. Go to Exchange, pick More Services, and open Resource Mailboxes. 2. Find the mailbox you want to change and select it. The General tab will show up. 3. Click Edit to change things like: - Alias (the special name for the mailbox) - Display name (the name people see) - Show in address book (turn on or off) - Resource location (where it is) - Resource capacity (how many people or usage info) - Meeting request processing (automatic, delegate, or manual) - External appointment requests (allow or block) 4. Click Submit to save your changes.

You can also use the Management tab to get to Mailbox Management for rooms or equipment. Here, you can change things in tabs like General, Contact, Delegates, Booking Option, and Custom Attributes. Always look at your changes before you save.

Tip: You might need to update booking rules, delegate users, or MailTips after you make the mailbox. These settings help people book resources better.

Delegate Access

Delegates help with bookings and calendar requests for resource mailboxes. You can give delegate access in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center or with PowerShell.

• In the Admin Center, go to Resources > Rooms & Equipment, pick the mailbox, and edit the Delegates section. Add the user who will help with bookings.

• With PowerShell, use:

Add-MailboxPermission -Identity "room-mailbox@domain.com" -User "delegate@domain.com" -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All

Delegates can get permissions like Send As, Send on Behalf, or Full Access. These roles let them send messages, manage the calendar, and share the resource with others. People who are not delegates usually only see if the time is free or busy.

Note: Giving the right permissions helps scheduling work well and stops double bookings.

Remove or Convert

Sometimes you need to remove or change a resource mailbox as your group changes. To remove a mailbox: 1. In the Exchange Admin Center, go to Recipients and pick Rooms or Equipment. 2. Find the mailbox, then choose More > Disable or use the delete option. 3. With PowerShell, run:

Remove-Mailbox "Resource Name"

4. Make sure the mailbox is gone from your list.

To change a mailbox type, use PowerShell:

Set-Mailbox -Identity "Resource Name" -Type Room

or

Set-Mailbox -Identity "Resource Name" -Type Equipment

Check the mailbox type with:

Get-Mailbox -Identity "Resource Name" | Format-List RecipientTypeDetails

Plan mailbox changes so you do not lose data or mess up bookings. Always check your changes before you finish them.

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When you make mailbox resources for rooms or equipment, it makes scheduling easier. This helps everyone use resources better. If you set things up right, people can see what each resource offers. They can book rooms or equipment without trouble. This also stops people from booking the same thing at the same time.

• You pick mailbox details, set booking rules, and give permissions.

• Users get to see what each resource can do and book quickly.

• Administrators can handle calendars, set up automatic requests, and change settings when needed.

For more ways to manage, look at Microsoft’s official guides. Check mailbox properties often. This helps you fix problems early and keeps your group working well.

FAQ

How do you find a room or equipment mailbox in Outlook?

You can look up the resource name in the Outlook address book. When you make a meeting, add the room or equipment as a location or attendee. Outlook will show if it is free or busy in the scheduling assistant.

Can you set automatic replies for resource mailboxes?

Yes, you can turn on automatic replies. Go to the mailbox settings in the Exchange Admin Center. Find the automatic replies section. Type your message and save it. This lets people know about booking rules or if the resource is not available.

What happens if two people try to book the same resource?

Exchange stops double bookings by default. If someone tries to book a time that is already taken, Exchange will say no to the request. You can change this in the calendar processing settings if you want to let bookings overlap.

Do you need a license for every room or equipment mailbox?

Note: In Exchange Online, you do not need a license for room or equipment mailboxes. You only need licenses for user mailboxes. This helps you manage resources without extra cost.