Use the Availability window to check the availability of a resource that you want to invite to an appointment. Resource availability is based on appointments assigned directly to the resources which display on the resource's calendar. This is not the same as the availability used in the Forms Calendar. Availability in Forms specifically indicates a resource's work shift availability.
Searching for Resources
To search for resource availability, first perform a search to locate the resource. In the search result window, you can see the resource name along with phone number, email, and job title information which allows you to contact the resource directly for further availability verification before adding the resource to the Availability view.
Viewing Resource Availability
After adding a resource in the Availability view, you will not only be able to view the resource availability, but also to see the selected resource's phone number displayed next to the resource name in a hyperlink format which opens the e-mail compose window. As a result, you can contact the selected resource directly either by phone or e-mail for availability check before scheduling an appointment. The unavailable time displays in red, and the available time displays in blue. The combination of all the selected resources' availability is shown in the Combined row.
In addition, you can send web mails through Oracle Collaboration Suite from the Availability window if it is set up.
Private appointments are considered as unavailable and their detailed information will not be seen by the user even if granted with full access privilege. Private appointments are exclusive to the user who has created them.
Features of the Resource Availability Window
You can perform the following tasks in the Availability window:
View additional resource availability: By clicking Add Resource, you can add additional usernames to the availability view and then view their availability information.
Create Appointments: You can create appointments by the following ways:
Click Create Appointment, you can directly create a new appointment. All your selected resources in this window for availability information are automatically added to the Attendees window if you create an appointment from this view.
After selecting different resources in the Availability window, you click the timeline hyperlink (such as 1:00 p.m.) shown in the Combined row to access the Create Appointment window. Notice that the Start Time field is displayed automatically (1:00 p.m.) and the resources that you selected in the Availability window are also automatically invited to the appointment.
View resource availability for current date and a specific date: By clicking Today, you can view all the selected resource availability for the current date. By clicking appropriate arrows surrounding the day, you can move forward or backward to compare the list of your selected resources' availability for the next or previous day.