Direct Booking does not successfully book a resource in Outlook 2010

When you send a meeting request in Microsoft Office Outlook 2010 to a mailbox that is configured for direct booking, the meeting is not successfully booked. You do not receive an error message in this scenario. If you open the mailbox that is configured for direct booking, the meeting request is in the Inbox folder.

Note When earlier versions of Outlook successfully book a meeting together with a mailbox that is configured for direct booking, a meeting request is never sent to the resource mailbox. Therefore, a meeting request in the Inbox of the resource mailbox indicates that the meeting was not successfully booked.

By default, Outlook 2010 does not implement the direct booking code that is used in earlier versions of Outlook. Instead, a meeting request is sent to the resource mailbox in the same manner in which a meeting request is sent to regular meeting attendees.

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods to configure registry data to enable Outlook direct booking:

• Modify the registry manually
• Configure the registry by using Group Policy
• Deploy the registry data by using the Office Customization Tool

To have us enable Outlook direct booking for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you prefer to fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.




Notes

• This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.
• If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it solution to a flash drive or a CD and then run it on the computer that has the problem.

Then, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself

Method 1: Manual modification of the registry

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To use the direct booking feature in Outlook 2010, you must add registry data to your Outlook client. Use the following steps to add this registry data to enable direct booking:

1. Exit Outlook.
2. Start Registry Editor.
   • In Windows Vista, click Start
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     , type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
     
     
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     If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
   • In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then select the following subkey in the registry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Options\Calendar
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type EnableDirectBooking, and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click EnableDirectBooking, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
8. Exit Registry Editor.
9. Start Outlook.

Method 2: Configure the registry by using Group Policy

The registry data that is required to enable direct booking in Outlook can be configured by using Group Policy. The default Group Policy template (Outlk14.adm) for Outlook 2010 does not contain the policy setting that controls Outlook direct booking. Therefore, you must use a custom Group Policy template to enable direct booking by using Group Policy.

To deploy this setting by using a custom Group Policy template, follow these steps:

1. The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
   
   
   
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   Download the Outlk14-DirectBooking.zip package now.
   (http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/1/6/916E7FE1-676F-4CB8-8541-476240253B53/outlk14-DirectBooking.zip)
   
   
   For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   119591

   (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591/ )

   How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services
   Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.
2. Extract the custom .adm template from the Outlk14-DirectBooking.zip package.
   
   Note The custom .adm template contains the following text.

   CLASS MACHINE
   CLASS USER
   
      CATEGORY !!L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlookDirectBooking
            POLICY !!L_TurnOnOffDirectBooking
                KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Options\Calendar"
                EXPLAIN !!L_TurnOnOffDirectBookingExplain
                VALUENAME "EnableDirectBooking"
                VALUEON NUMERIC 1
                VALUEOFF NUMERIC 0
            END POLICY
         END CATEGORY
   [strings]
   L_Version="14.0.4760.1000"
   L_LCID="1033"
   L_MicrosoftOfficeOutlookDirectBooking="Outlook 2010 Direct Booking"
   L_TurnOnOffDirectBooking="Enable or disable direct booking"
   L_TurnOnOffDirectBookingExplain="This policy controls the Outlook direct booking feature in
   Outlook 2010 \n \n By default, Outlook 2010 does not implement the direct booking code
   used in earlier versions of Outlook, and a meeting request is sent to the resource
   mailbox the same way a meeting request is sent to regular meeting attendees.\n \n 
   Enable this policy to configure Outlook to use the direct booking code whenever you add
   a mailbox to the Resources box in a meeting request.\n \n 
   If you disable this policy or do not configure this policy, when you send a meeting
   request to a mailbox configured for direct booking, the meeting is not successfully
   booked. You do not receive an error message in this scenario. If you open the mailbox
   configured for direct booking, the meeting request is in the Inbox folder."
   

3. Add the Outlk14-DirectBooking.adm file to your Group Policy Editor.
   
   Note The steps to add the .adm file to the Group Policy Editor vary, depending on the version of Windows that you are running. Also, because you may be applying the policy to an organizational unit (OU) and not to the whole domain, the steps may also vary in this aspect of applying a policy. Therefore, we recommend that you check your Windows documentation for more information.
   
   After you add the .adm template to the Group Policy Editor, go to step 4.
4. In the Group Policy Editor, follow these steps:
   1. Expand User Configuration.
   2. Expand Policies.
   3. Expand Administrative Templates: Policy definitions.
   4. Expand Classic Administrative Templates (ADM) to locate the policy node for your custom template. The custom .adm template that you extracted in step 2 is in this location. The template is named "Outlook 2010 Direct Booking."
      
      
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5. Click Outlook 2010 Direct Booking.
6. Under Settings, double-click Enable or disable direct booking.
7. Click Enabled, and then click OK.

After you enable the policy, the policy setting will be applied to the Outlook client workstations when the Group Policy update is replicated. To test this change, run the following command at a command prompt on a client workstation: After you run this command, start Registry Editor on the client workstation to make sure that the following registry data exists on the client:If you see this registry data in the registry, the Group Policy setting is applied to this client. Start Outlook to verify that this change resolves the problem.

Method 3: Deployment of the registry data by using the Office Customization Tool

You can also deploy the registry data by using the Add registry entries option in the Office Customization Tool (OCT). Follow these steps in the OCT to deploy registry data that re-enables the direct booking feature in Outlook 2010.

Note To use the OCT, you must have an Enterprise edition of Office 2010. If you have a Retail edition of Office 2010, you receive the following error message when you try to start the OCT:

1. Start the OCT by using a command similar to the following:
   \\server_name\share_name\Office2010\Setup.exe /admin
2. In the Select Product dialog box, click Create a new Setup customization file for the following product.
3. In the Select Product dialog box, select your Office product. Then, click OK.
4. In the navigation pane of the OCT, select Add registry entries, and then click Add.
5. In the Add/Modify Registry Entry dialog box, specify the following settings, and then click OK:
   • Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
   • Data type: REG_DWORD
   • Key: Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Options\Calendar
   • Value name: EnableDirectBooking
   • Value data: 1
   The following figure displays these changes made in the Add/Modify Registry Entry dialog box:
   
   
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   After you click OK in the Add/Modify Registry Entry dialog box, the OCT displays the registry data as shown in the following figure:
   
   
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6. Complete any remaining tasks in the OCT, and then save the .msp file.
7. Deploy Office 2010 by including this .msp file.

For more information about the Office Customization Tool in Office 2010, see the following topic on the Microsoft TechNet Web site:

Did this fix the problem?

• Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this section. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support
  (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus)
  .
• We would appreciate your feedback. To provide feedback or to report any issues with this solution, please leave a comment on the "Fix it for me
  (http://blogs.technet.com/fixit4me/)
  " blog or send us an email
  (mailto:fixit4me@microsoft.com?Subject=KB)
  message.

For more information about how to configure a mailbox for direct booking by using Outlook, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If the resource mailboxes that are configured to use Outlook direct booking are on an Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox server, we recommend that you migrate those resources to Exchange 2007 or to Exchange 2010 resources. Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010 resource mailboxes provide a better range of features. These mailboxes also provide server-side administration by using the Exchange Management Shell or the Exchange Management Console to simplify resource mailbox management.

For more information about how to upgrade an Outlook direct booking resource mailbox to an Exchange 2007 resource mailbox, see the following topic on the Microsoft TechNet Web site: For more information about Exchange 2007 resource mailboxes, see the following topic on the Microsoft TechNet Web site: