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Meeting Room Approvals: Clearooms Vs Outlook (O365)

Understanding the differences between Clearooms and Outlook approval workflows, and why you should only use one system to manage meeting room approvals.

Meeting Room Approvals: Clearooms vs Outlook (O365)

Clearooms and Microsoft Outlook (O365) both offer meeting room approval features, however, they operate completely independently. It’s important to only use one approval system to avoid conflicts and confusion.Clearooms Approvals
  • Purpose-built for facilities control: Clearooms approvals manage which meeting room bookings require sign-off before confirmation.
  • Configurable by room or location: Admins can turn approvals on for specific rooms or entire sites.
  • Dedicated approvers: Requests can be routed to nominated users (e.g. facilities, IT, or PAs).
  • Managed within Clearooms: Approvers are notified via email and can approve or decline directly in the Clearooms portal.
  • Full visibility: Approval actions are tracked and visible in the admin dashboard.

Outlook (O365) Approvals

  • Mailbox-based logic: Outlook handles approvals through resource mailbox delegates within Microsoft Exchange.
  • Auto or manual acceptance: Rooms can automatically accept meetings or wait for a delegate to approve them.
  • Limited workflow: There’s no integration with Clearooms; approval emails are managed entirely within Outlook.

Do Not Enable Both SystemsClearooms and Outlook approvals do not sync or communicate.

 If both are enabled at the same time:
  • The same booking request could be approved in one system but still pending or declined in the other, creating inconsistencies.
  • Users may receive duplicate notifications or conflicting confirmations.
  • The booking status shown in Clearooms and Outlook may differ, causing confusion for staff and administrators.
For this reason, it’s essential to choose one system to manage approvals:
  • Use Clearooms Approvals for centralised control, reporting, and integration with other workplace management features.
  • Use Outlook Approvals only if you prefer to manage bookings solely within Microsoft Exchange.

In summary:

Clearooms and Outlook approvals serve different purposes but should not be used together.
 
To maintain consistency and prevent booking errors, all approval workflows should be managed in one platform only, ideally through Clearooms for full visibility and automation.