Calendar delegation in Microsoft Outlook enables employees to manage meetings and events for leaders across campus. For decades, Microsoft used a protocol called MAPI to synchronize calendars across various clients, devices, and delegates. However, around 2015, Microsoft introduced a new protocol for calendar delegation called REST, which Microsoft enabled as the default protocol in 2022.
Since the change in 2022, Microsoft has noticed various performance issues, and they are working to resolve them as they are identified. For example, calendar performance is inconsistent for those with large amounts of calendar or email items. This results in anomalies like meeting updates not being reflected in calendars.
As Microsoft continues to evolve Outlook and the REST configuration, many users have reported issues with their calendars, such as missing calendar events and slow performance when updating items. These issues have also been observed at SMU and are quite frustrating, particularly because they affect Vice Presidents and Deans.
To resolve these issues and ensure stability and reliability in calendar management for delegates, we have implemented the following measures:
- Policy Update: All SMU Windows computers will default to the REST protocol when adding a calendar for delegates. We have remotely configured all Windows devices to add the required REST setting.
- Communication and Reconfiguration: We have identified individuals with delegate access to calendars at SMU and will communicate with them shortly. If you are a delegate using a Windows computer and the full Outlook client before 2022, we will need to visit your office to manually reconfigure your device. New delegates (after May 1, 2025) should default to the correct setting automatically.
- Guidelines: Microsoft has published guidelines for effective and reliable calendaring, which we strongly encourage everyone to review. Potential issues may arise, for example, if you create a recurring calendar appointment for the entire year and regularly modify it. Another suggestion is to always accept or decline meeting invitations rather than just deleting them. For more tips and tricks, visit https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/best-practices-for-organizations-when-using-the-outlook-calendar-d93f72d3-2361-4e0d-8d6a-5c4939c17f39
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact the IT Help Desk.
