Exchange Resource Calendars Or Calendar Browser for Outlook?

Sometimes people ask us why they should use Calendar Browser for Outlook when they already have the built-in Exchange Resource Calendars. The answer is that Calendar Browser supplies a range of features that cannot be found in Exchange Resource Calendars. These are some things you can only do in Calendar Browser:

Book extra services
With Calendar Browser you may place a supply order with each booking, like catering services, conference material or IT equipment. The admin defines a list of extras that may be booked, and then the user just click
a button in the appointment and fill out the number of items in the dialog that opens.




Search free resources
Calendar Browser has a search function that lets you search for resources that are free on a specific date and time and have a specified number of seats.

Calendar Descriptions
Calendar Browser helps you create elaborate descriptions of each resource. You can describe your calendars with full html, including pictures, links and dynamic content. Use a URL or take advantage of the Calendar Browser HTML editor, where you may either create your description directly or paste existing code.

Structured booking
Many organizations require a Project and/or Cost Center to be filled out when a resource is booked. This may be set to mandatory with Calendar Browser, and the kalmstrom.com add-on can also prevent double bookings or recurring bookings.

Overview of bookings
Even though the ability to view calendars side by side is getting better with each version of Outlook, Calendar Browser´s Overview feature contains many views that Outlook itself cannot yet match, for example the month joined month view and the printable schedule view. There are also dedicated views for showing all extra services booked for a particular day, allowing service staff to print a list of what they are to assemble for the day´s meetings. All of these views are nicely printable.

Statistics
Once your resources are being booked it is only a matter of time before someone asks you for statistics on the usage. Calendar Browser can output all of its data to an SQL or Access database. We also provide a fully featured statistics tool, our own OLAP Reporting Tool, that will allow you to analyze the data in a dynamic way. Once the old appointments are safely in the database you can option to remove them from the Outlook calendars, which improves Exchange performance.

Try it!
Does it sound interesting? If you want to see if Calendar Browser really can help your organization to get a more efficient resource booking system than the Exchange Resource Calendars, you are welcome to download and try the full version of Calendar Browser for 30 days without any obligations. We give support during the evaluation period too, so please contact us if you have questions.

Update Of kalmstrom.com Resource Booking Outlook Add-on

I am happy to announce that kalmstrom.com Business Solutions has released a new version of Calendar Browser, the popular resource booking application for Outlook. To book resources with Calendar Browser is meant to be as easy as creating an appointment in the Outlook calendar, and for most users it is. However, two organizations had problems with Calendar Browser and could not use the add-on as they wanted. The kalmstrom.com team could solve the issues, and now we give the new version to all.

One Community Member wanted to use Calendar Browser on machines with multiple profiles installed on each PC, but that created difficulties in loading the calendars. With today’s version they can use Calendar Browser without problems.

The other Member had a lot of calendars full of recurring appointments, and that made the loading of the Overview very slow. We made the loading faster by making Calendar Browser load appointments from only a certain time to the Overview. By default the period is one month ahead, but each user can set the date range needed.

With today's update of Calendar Browser we have also taken another step to get rid of the dependency on Office Web Components, as they are no longer needed for the Example data. Evaluators with later Outlook versions might not have them installed since Microsoft has chosen to not install them automatically. Now these evaluators can create Example data without having to install OWC first. The integrated statistics tool still needs OWC, but we are working on that last part also.

Please refer to the Revisions page for a full list of the enhancements and bug fixes. Community Members have free upgrades, as usual.

Are you looking for a resource booking tool that is easy to learn and manage? In that case I recommend you to try Calendar Browser. I am sure you will like it and be yet another satisfied subscriber to a kalmstrom.com product.

Estonia - New Market For kalmstrom.com

Today I have the pleasure to introduce to you our new translator, Siret Toots from Estonia. Siret will localize all kalmstrom.com products for Estonian. Calendar Browser and HelpDesk OSP are already finished, and the translated phrases will be added to the next updates of those products.

Siret will also be responsible for the marketing of PamFax in Estonia and for the translation of this tool for easy and secure faxing into Estonian. Later Siret will complete the kalmstrom.com Finnish phrase lists, which need an update as some phrases are missing and shown in English instead.

It is not easy to translate our phrase lists, because you need to understand the product and not only know the language well. For example, if you find the word "book" in the phrase list for our resource booking tool Calendar Browser, you need to understand that it means "reserve" and is not referring to a book you can read. Siret is both dedicated and cooperative, so I feel confident that she will give us good translations and eventually new Members of kalmstrom.com Community.

kalmstrom.com Products All Get Five Stars On Reopened French Office Marketplace

Microsoft's Office Marketplace is an important marketing channel for the kalmstrom.com products. We get many visitors to the website from Office Marketplace, and those visitors are exactly the people we want to reach. They are often skilled IT professionals who know what they are looking for, and most stay long on our site and study several pages. Many of them also download our products and eventually become Community Members.

Therefore we are happy that the French Office Marketplace now has reopened after being closed for several months. Five of our products are presented there: Calendar Browser, HelpDesk OSP, OLAP Reporting Tool, PF HelpDesk and TimeCard ‒ and they all have highest possible ratings: five stars!

Calendar Browser V7 Updated - Quicker Loading And Easier Client Install

Today kalmstrom.com has released a new version of Calendar Browser. Many have downloaded Calendar Browser since version 7 was released, and we have had some reports about errors. This is normal, because even if we test thoroughly and Alena is a very good QA it is impossible for us to try all different configuration combinations out there.

One of the complaints was slow loading of Outlook when Calendar Browser Client was installed, and that is fixed now. We have also rectified a conflict and a Unicode issue. Some users found it troublesome that the client had to select folder during the client tool installation, so that is done automatically now. I must agree with them ‒ we should have thought about that from the beginning!

This time we will give all evaluators of version 7 a new chance. Just like Community Members you are welcome to upgrade your installation at the upgrade page. The upgrade will give evaluators another 30 days of trial.

Easier Resource Booking With Calendar Browser C7, Released Today

The kalmstrom.com team is happy to announce that we today have released version 7 of Calendar Browser for Outlook. This resource booking tool was one of the first that Peter built, and it has been very popular during its ten years on the market. Calendar Browser has of course been updated many times before, but we always kept the folder homepage design. When Office 2010 was published our developers faced a big problem, since it proved impossible to keep the homepage in Calendar Browser. Peter and Jayant finally found a solution - they always do! - and now we can give you a Calendar Browser that supports Office 2010.

As Calendar Browser V7 takes advantage of the possibilities given by the Fluent Interface/Ribbon it is even easier to use than the old version. The resource calendars are now visible directly in in the Outlook calendar view, and more standard calendar features are used. This also means that version 7 can only be used with Outlook 2007 and 2010. For the future this is the right way to go, but it means that we no longer can give an alternative for resource booking with Outlook 2003, which does not have the Ribbon. Community Members who have not upgraded to Outlook 2007 or 2010 will of course still get support for their Calendar Browser V6, but we no longer offer it to new customers.

Welcome to download and try the new Calendar Browser! If you are already a Calendar Browser Community Member, I recommend you to upgrade to version 7 (first upgrade your Office if needed). The responsible for Calendar Browser at each Calendar Browser Member organization will soon receive an e-mail with more info about version 7 and the upgrade. I hope you all will enjoy our rebuilt  tool!

Goodbye Calendar Browser V6

It is no longer possible to download Calendar Browser V6.1 from the kalmstrom.com website. As version 7 of our resource booking application requiered an extensive rebuilt, the documentation has to be renewed and the website info changed. We will do that during the quiet days after the Christmas celebrations, and then we hope to release Calendar Browser V7 during the first weeks of January.

I am sorry if this causes you any inconvenience. Please contact me at sales@kalmstrom.com if are a Community Member and need a setup of Calendar Browser V6.1. If you want to evaluate Calendar Browser, please be patient and come back in January to try the latest version instead!

Watch The First Calendar Browser V7 Demo!

Now it is only a matter of days before version 7 of our resource booking application for Outlook is released. The Calendar Browser documentation is being updated while the testing continues, and as you see from the video demonstration above we now have a functioning product. Just some smaller adjustments have to be made before we can give Calendar Browser V7 to all Members who need a booking system that works with Office 2010.

Welcome to have a look at the demo! I think you can see just from this short video that it will be a joy to book resources with the new Calendar Browser.

Calendar Browser V7 Released Soon

We hear that users of our resource booking tool for Outlook are waiting eagerly for the new version, and I can now tell you that development of Calendar Browser V7 has entered the testing phase. The icons in the Outlook ribbon have been updated too, and you can see the result here above. The buttons are nice and well integrated, aren't they? I think it looks as if Microsoft put the Calendar Browser buttons there from the beginning!

The icon update has of course not been allowed to delay the release. Other issues have taken care of that quite well! Limitations in Outlook 2010 have been a challenge for our Lead Developer Jayant Rimza. As the ingenious developer he is he has found ways around them, so that Calendar Browser still can work as intended and be possible to enhance in the future. We hope to be able to publish version 7 before Christmas, with at least most of the documentation also updated.

Calendar Browser Buttons Now In The Outlook 2010 Ribbon

Development of version 7 of Calendar Browser proceeds, and we hope to release it by the end of December. Today I can show you how the buttons in our resource booking tool look when they are moved to the Outlook 2010 ribbon. Nice, isn't it?

Here you see all four buttons, but the Manage button can be hidden. In that case the Administrator reaches the settings by running the Settings file instead. The Overview gives information about future bookings, the Search button brings up a dialog where you can search for free resources at a specific time and the Description button shows a description of the selected resource. Past resource usage is studied with the integrated Statistics application OLAP Reporting Tool, just as before.

Calendar Browser V7 will only support Office 2007 and 2010, and when it is released we will stop marketing the current version. Community Members who still use Office 2003 can keep version 6, though, because we will continue supporting it until all Members who use Calendar Browser have upgraded to an Office version with the Fluent Interface/Ribbon.

The Outlook 2010 Calendar was so different to earlier versions that it felt impossible for us to continue developing the product with the folder homepage (the main user interface in all earlier versions). Instead we had to find an solution that would keep for the future. This means using the Ribbon, even if it also means that we for a period will have to support two different versions of Calendar Browser.

Calendar Browser 7 with Support for Outlook 2010

In August we felt forced to share the news that Calendar Browser, our resource booking application for Outlook, would not be compatible with Office 2010. There were big problems with Calendar Browser and the Outlook 2010 Calendar. I know, problems are for solving and that is what our developers do all the time, but in this case the task seemed nearly hopeless. But only nearly, because now the problem is solved and we have begun developing Calendar Browser V7!

After many discussions and discarded ideas our CEO Peter and Lead Developer Jayant could find a solution that will not only solve the problem with Outlook 2010 but also make Calendar Browser strong for the future. The most important change in version 7 will be the removal of the folder homepage. During Calendar Browser's ten years on the market the folder homepage has been the main user interface in all versions. Now we will instead move that functionality to the Calendar Browser Client Tool, and the Microsoft Fluent Interface/Ribbon will display the needed buttons and fields.

In our efforts to solve the issue we discussed building a totally new resource booking software, to help all users of Calendar Browser who sooner or later would get problems because the application did not support Outlook 2010. We will probably still build something that uses SharePoint, just like we already have helpdesks for both Exchange and SharePoint. But when the immediate problem is satisfactory solved this can be allowed to take its time and  must not be rushed. This feels very good, and I congratulate Peter and Jayant who found the solution. I also congratulate the users of Calendar Browser. Now you can soon upgrade to the latest and best versions of both Outlook and Calendar Browser . I will of course come back with news in the blog, and we have also created a Plans page for Calendar Browser. Welcome to visit it!

Improved Manual for Resource Booking Application

The Administrator manual for
Calendar Browser, has been updated. This Resource management tool from kalmstrom.com Business Solution has been on the market for more than ten years, and even if the manual just like the application has been updated many times during that period, it was time for a new review again. This time we took help from our trainee, Niklas Svensson, who gave us valuable input.

During the early years nearly all users installed Calendar Browser in a public folder and also used public folder calendars for the resource descriptions. Today the situation has changed. Even if Microsoft has promised to support public folders for a long time ahead, some users prefer to use mailboxes. Therefore we have taken extra care to explain of the differences between use of public folders and mailboxes, both when it comes to installation and resource calendars.

Also with the new manual public folders are easier to manage, while mailbox installation and calendar creation require a deeper knowledge of Microsoft Exchange. Welcome to download the Calendar Browser Admin manual in DOC or PDF format!

New Manual for HelpDesk OSP and Demos for Calendar Browser

Good documentation is essential to give users a chance to understand the software they are working with and avoid problems. Therefore we always do our best to present our information in ways that are appealing and easy to understand. Now we are happy to present our new video demonstrations for Calendar Browser, updated to version 6.1. Some more will be added, but the most important ones are there. Welcome to click any Demonstrations link in the Calendar Browser See also boxes, or go directly to screencast.com, where we host them.

Also HelpDesk OSP has new documentation, a manual for administrators who want to use SharePoint workflows to enhance HelpDesk OSP. In this manual we describe how to use Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer, a free product nowadays, to create workflows for sending automatic notifications and for keeping track of time spent on each ticket. Welcome to download it from the HelpDesk OSP manuals page!

Calendar Browser Resource Management Tool Improved Again

Two weeks ago kalmstrom.com Business Solutions published an update of Calendar Browser with many improvements. However, there were still some things we wanted to make better, so today we had another release of our resource management software.

New in this version is info about Date in the Orders and Appointments lists in the Calendar Browser Overview, which is useful if you select a period of several days. Furthermore it is no longer necessary to restart Outlook after certain changes in the Calendar Browser Settings, and when an appointment is made with the calendar icon it will no longer show today's date but the day selected for the booking.

We have all been working intensely with Calendar Browser during the last few weeks. Not only has the application itself taken a step forward, but we have also new video demonstrations. Even the slide show has had a face lift. Welcome to enjoy the enhanced Calendar Browser!

Resource Management in Outlook for All Languages

The kalmstrom.com resource management application Calendar Browser has been updated to full support of Unicode. With Calendar Browser you can book resources and supplies just as easy as you make an appointment in the Outlook Calendar, and the administration is given smart tools for descriptions of the resources and for following up their use. In this release Calendar Browser has also been given an overall enhancement, as a number of smaller issues has been fixed. Refer to the Revisions page for a full list of the improvements.

Now you can describe your resources in a correct way whether your language is Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Chinese etc. and of course also our special Nordic characters are supported. These resources might be anything that you need to share and book in advance within the organization - machines, rooms, cars and even people whose services may be booked. No wonder Calendar Browser has been so popular during its comparatively long life.

Peter first developed Calendar Browser for a Swedish town in the year 2000, when they could not find a suitable product for their room booking. After that the demand for this application grew, and he decided to market a standard solution. As you understand some of our users have been with us for many years now, and it feels really good to be able to offer them a continuously improved application.

Welcome to upgrade, Members and Support Customers, and welcome to try Calendar Browser if you have not yet tested it. You will be surprised that such an easy to use software can be so effective!