Overview
In this guide, we review resources available at USC for scheduling and related functions.
Outlook calendar
Availability
Outlook calendar is available to USC faculty, staff, and affiliates.
Features
- Search for and view the busy/free status of USC Outlook accounts, including individual accounts, shared org accounts, and Dornsife Zoom Rooms
- Create one-time and recurring calendar events, and invite attendees
- Use the Zoom add-in to generate Zoom meeting links for calendar events
If you have delegate access to a resource such as a shared org account or Zoom Room, you can also access the resource's calendar in Outlook.
How to schedule events in Outlook calendar
The following guides provide instructions on creating Outlook calendar events:
Calendar delegation
Delegate access can be used in Outlook in any of the following ways:
- Receive access to manage Outlook calendars for resources such as shared org accounts or Dornsife Zoom Rooms
- Receive access to Outlook calendars for other people
- Grant others access to your own Outlook calendars
The following guides provide instructions on granting or receiving delegate access:
The following guide explains how department administrators can request delegate access to manage a Zoom Room calendar:
Shared calendar options
Outlook calendar sharing
Individual calendars
Anyone with a USC Outlook account can search for your calendar, but will only be able to view your busy/free status and not any meeting details. Similarly, you can use your USC Outlook account to search for and view others' calendars, including the calendars for shared org accounts and Dornsife Zoom Rooms.
Shared or group calendars
You can collaborate on calendars with other people, as long as they have a USC Outlook account:
Publishing calendars
To allow students or others without a USC Outlook account to view (but not edit) a calendar, you can publish the calendar:
Other calendar sharing options
While our recommendation is to use Outlook calendar, sometimes you may need to collaborate with people who don't have USC Outlook accounts. This includes situations such as:
- Collaborating with non-USC researchers or individuals
- Sharing team calendars with USC students
In these cases, you may want to consider using Google calendar or, if you have a SharePoint site, calendars in SharePoint.
Outlook shared calendar (recommended)
Google shared calendar
SharePoint calendar
Who can create a calendar
Anyone with a USC Outlook account (faculty, staff, and affiliates)
Faculty, staff, and students
Any member of the SharePoint site (anyone can be added as a site member)
Who can be granted access
Anyone with a USC Outlook account (faculty, staff, and affiliates)
Anyone with a Google account (affiliates must use a non-USC Google account)
Only members of the SharePoint site can access its calendars
Can the editable calendar be shared with non-USC accounts?
No
Yes
Yes, if they are members of the SharePoint site
Can the editable calendar be shared with students?
No
Yes
Yes, if they are members of the SharePoint site
Can the calendar be made public or embedded on a web page?
Yes
Yes
No
How-to guides
Booking pages
If you want people to book office hours or other appointments with you, you can set up a booking page. Booking pages are online links that you can share with others so that they can view your availability and schedule an appointment with you.
The following applications can be used at USC to create booking pages. We recommend using Zoom Scheduler or Microsoft Bookings:
Zoom Scheduler (recommended)
Microsoft Bookings
Google Calendar
Eligibility
Faculty and staff
Faculty and staff
Faculty, staff, and students
How to access
Go to
https://usc.zoom.us. Click
Sign in, and select
Scheduler in the left menu.
Go to
https://outlook.office.com/bookings.
Go to
https://calendar.google.com.
Who can book appointments on your booking page
Anyone
Anyone
Anyone
Ability to create shared or group booking pages?
Yes
Yes
No
Can the booking page be embedded on a web page?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Can it auto-generate a meeting once an appointment is booked?
- Outlook calendar invitation: Yes
- Zoom meeting link: Yes
- Outlook calendar invitation: Yes
- Zoom meeting link: No
- Teams meeting link: Yes
- Outlook calendar invitation: Yes
- Zoom meeting link: No
- Google Meet link: Yes
How-to guides
Polling when to meet
If you need to conduct a poll to decide on a meeting time, you can use Outlook calendar's Scheduling Poll or Zoom Scheduler's availability poll:
Zoom Room scheduling
Dornsife Zoom Room scheduling procedures vary by department: DTS supports the room technology, but Dornsife department administrators manage room scheduling for the rooms belonging to their department.
Obtaining delegate access to a Zoom Room calendar
The following guide explains how department administrators can request delegate access to manage a Zoom Room calendar:
Adding a Zoom meeting link to a Zoom Room
You do not need delegate access if you just want to add a Zoom meeting link to a Zoom Room. The steps below are similar to the process of inviting another person to an Outlook event:
- Coordinate with Dornsife department administrators as needed to book the Zoom Room for your meeting date and time.
- Open Outlook calendar, create a new event, and invite the Zoom Room:
-
To: Search for and select the Zoom Room by building abbreviation and room number (for example, SHS 265)
-
Location: Paste the Zoom meeting link or use Outlook calendar's Zoom add-in to generate one
- Send the Outlook event. On the scheduled day, you will be able to join the Zoom meeting from the Zoom Room without manually inputting the meeting ID and passcode.
For more detailed steps, including screenshots for different Outlook versions, refer to the following guide: