Propose new meeting times in Outlook calendar

Article
02/13/2024

In Outlook, a meeting organizer can allow invitees to propose alternative meeting times, if they cannot meet at the original set date/time and accept tentatively or decline. The organizer can accept a proposal by adjusting the meeting time as appropriate.

Example: attendee responds tentative and suggests a different date/time

The following is an example where Alex invites Adele to lunch, Adele tentatively accepts and proposes an alternative date and time, and Alex accepts the proposal by adjusting the meeting accordingly:

As the organizer, Alex sends a meeting request to Adele. He sets the allowNewTimeProposals property of the event to true to let Adele suggest another time if she needs to.

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/events
Prefer: outlook.timezone="Pacific Standard Time"
Content-type: application/json

{
  "subject": "Let's go for lunch",
  "body": {
    "contentType": "HTML",
    "content": "Does noon work for you?"
  },
  "start": {
      "dateTime": "2019-08-15T12:00:00",
      "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
  },
  "end": {
      "dateTime": "2019-08-15T14:00:00",
      "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
  },
  "allowNewTimeProposals": true,
  "location":{
      "displayName":"Harry's Bar"
  },
  "attendees": [
    {
      "emailAddress": {
      "address":"AdeleV@contoso.com",
      "name": "Adele Vance"
      },
      "type": "required"
    }
  ]
}

Alex gets the following response:

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Content-type: application/json

{
  "@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#users('64339082-ed84-4b0b-b4ab-004ae54f3747')/events/$entity",
  "@odata.etag": "W/\"NEXywgsVrkeNsFsyVyRrtAAAAhBhkg==\"",
  "id": "AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEhWOAAA=",
  "createdDateTime": "2019-08-01T06:41:07.805128Z",
  "lastModifiedDateTime": "2019-08-01T06:41:08.3298275Z",
  "changeKey": "NEXywgsVrkeNsFsyVyRrtAAAAhBhkg==",
  "categories": [],
  "originalStartTimeZone": "Pacific Standard Time",
  "originalEndTimeZone": "Pacific Standard Time",
  "reminderMinutesBeforeStart": 15,
  "isReminderOn": true,
  "hasAttachments": false,
  "subject": "Let's go for lunch",
  "bodyPreview": "Does noon work for you?",
  "importance": "normal",
  "sensitivity": "normal",
  "isAllDay": false,
  "isCancelled": false,
  "isOrganizer": true,
  "responseRequested": true,
  "seriesMasterId": null,
  "showAs": "busy",
  "type": "singleInstance",
  "webLink": "https://outlook.office365.com/owa/?itemid=AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEhWOAAA%3D&exvsurl=1&path=/calendar/item",
  "onlineMeetingUrl": null,
  "allowNewTimeProposals": true,
  "recurrence": null,
  "responseStatus": {
    "response": "organizer",
    "time": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
  },
  "body": {
    "contentType": "html",
    "content": "<html>\r\n<head>\r\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\">\r\n<meta content=\"text/html; charset=us-ascii\">\r\n</head>\r\n<body>\r\nDoes late morning work for you?\r\n</body>\r\n</html>\r\n"
  },
  "start": {
    "dateTime": "2019-08-15T12:00:00.0000000",
    "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
  },
  "end": {
    "dateTime": "2019-08-15T14:00:00.0000000",
    "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
  },
  "location": {
    "displayName": "Harry's Bar",
    "locationType": "default",
    "uniqueId": "Harry's Bar",
    "uniqueIdType": "private"
  },
 "locations": [
    {
        "displayName": "Harry's Bar",
        "locationType": "default",
        "uniqueId": "Harry's Bar",
        "uniqueIdType": "private"
    }
  ],
  "attendees": [
    {
        "type": "required",
        "status": {
            "response": "none",
            "time": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
        },
        "emailAddress": {
            "name": "Adele Vance",
            "address": "AdeleV@contoso.com"
        }
    }
  ],
  "organizer": {
    "emailAddress": {
        "name": "Alex Wilber",
        "address": "AlexW@contoso.com"
    }
  }
}

Adele receives the invitation in her Inbox as an eventMessageRequest. She notices the allowNewTimeProposals property is set. Using the event associated with this eventMessageRequest, she makes a tentative reply and proposes the next day at the same time, in the proposedNewTime body parameter. She also sets the sendResponse parameter to true.

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/events/AAMkADU5NRaRqdoI4oeRpAAAB_woNAAA=/tentativelyAccept
Content-type: application/json

{
  "comment": "Can you make the next day instead?",
  "sendResponse": "true",
  "proposedNewTime": {
     "Start": {
          "DateTime": "2019-08-16T12:00:00",
          "TimeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
     },
     "End": {
          "DateTime": "2019-08-16T14:00:00",
          "TimeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
     }
  }
}

Adele's reply succeeds and she gets the following response:

HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted

Alex receives an email of the eventMessageResponse type. He notices the following:

The subject includes a prefix and says "New Time Proposed: Let's go for lunch"
The sender is Adele Vance
The responseType is tentativelyAccepted
Adele's proposal is in the proposedNewTime property of the eventMessageResponse

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/messages?$top=1
Prefer: outlook.timezone="Pacific Standard Time"

For demonstration purpose, assume Adele's reply is the latest message in Alex' mailbox, and Alex can simply request that latest message.

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-type: application/json
Preference-Applied: outlook.timezone="Pacific Standard Time"

{
   "@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#users('64339082-ed84-4b0b-b4ab-004ae54f3747')/messages",
   "@odata.nextLink": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/messages?$top=1&$skip=4"",
   "value": [
      {
        "@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.eventMessageResponse",
        "@odata.etag": "W/\"DAAAABYAAAA0RfLCCxWuR42wWzJXJGu0AAACEGHC\"",
        "id": "AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEiVAAAA=",
        "createdDateTime": "2019-08-01T07:06:27Z",
        "lastModifiedDateTime": "2019-08-01T07:06:28Z",
        "changeKey": "DAAAABYAAAA0RfLCCxWuR42wWzJXJGu0AAACEGHC",
        "categories": [],
        "receivedDateTime": "2019-08-01T07:06:28Z",
        "sentDateTime": "2019-08-01T07:06:24Z",
        "hasAttachments": false,
        "internetMessageId": "<BY5PR17MB38759D33B8925D525A476F33D9DE0@contoso.outlook.com>",
        "subject": "New Time Proposed: Let's go for lunch",
        "bodyPreview": "Can you make the next day instead?",
        "importance": "normal",
        "parentFolderId": "AQMkADAwQAAAIBDAAAAA==",
        "conversationId": "AAQkADAwQAQAMkh89RO3QpBiUCETTtVbIo=",
        "conversationIndex": "AdVINBlgySHz1E7dCkGJQIRNO1VsigAA4n6R",
        "isDeliveryReceiptRequested": null,
        "isReadReceiptRequested": false,
        "isRead": false,
        "isDraft": false,
        "webLink": "https://outlook.office365.com/owa/?ItemID=AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEiVAAAA%3D&exvsurl=1&viewmodel=ReadMessageItem",
        "inferenceClassification": "focused",
        "unsubscribeData": [],
        "unsubscribeEnabled": false,
        "meetingMessageType": "meetingTentativelyAccepted",
        "type": "singleInstance",
        "isOutOfDate": false,
        "isAllDay": false,
        "isDelegated": false,
        "responseType": "tentativelyAccepted",
        "recurrence": null,
        "body": {
            "contentType": "html",
            "content": "<html>\r\n<head>\r\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\">\r\n<meta content=\"text/html; charset=us-ascii\">\r\n</head>\r\n<body>\r\nCan you make the next day instead?\r\n</body>\r\n</html>\r\n"
        },
        "sender": {
            "emailAddress": {
                "name": "Adele Vance",
                "address": "AdeleV@contoso.com"
            }
        },
        "from": {
            "emailAddress": {
                "name": "Adele Vance",
                "address": "AdeleV@contoso.com"
            }
        },
        "toRecipients": [
            {
                "emailAddress": {
                    "name": "Alex Wilber",
                    "address": "AlexW@contoso.com"
                }
            }
        ],
        "ccRecipients": [],
        "bccRecipients": [],
        "replyTo": [],
        "flag": {
            "flagStatus": "notFlagged"
        },
        "startDateTime": {
            "dateTime": "2019-08-15T12:00:00.0000000",
            "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
        },
        "endDateTime": {
            "dateTime": "2019-08-15T14:00:00.0000000",
            "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
        },
        "location": {
            "displayName": "Harry's Bar",
            "locationType": "default",
            "uniqueIdType": "unknown"
        },
        "proposedNewTime": {
            "start": {
                "dateTime": "2019-08-16T12:00:00",
                "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
            },
            "end": {
                "dateTime": "2019-08-16T14:00:00",
                "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
            }
        }
     }
    ]
}

Alex also notices the event for the lunch now includes a proposedNewTime property that indicates Adele's proposal. This property is only present as part of an attendee instance if the corresponding attendee has suggested an alternative meeting time.

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/events/AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEhWOAAA=?$select=subject,allowNewTimeProposals,start,end,attendees,organizer
Prefer: outlook.timezone="Pacific Standard Time"

HTTP/1.1 200 Ok

{
    "@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/testexchangev1.0/$metadata#users('64339082-ed84-4b0b-b4ab-004ae54f3747')/events(subject,allowNewTimeProposals,start,end,attendees,organizer)/$entity",
    "@odata.etag": "W/\"NEXywgsVrkeNsFsyVyRrtAAAAhEDMA==\"",
    "id": "AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEhWOAAA=",
    "subject": "Let's go for lunch",
    "allowNewTimeProposals": true,
    "start": {
        "dateTime": "2019-08-15T12:00:00.0000000",
        "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
    },
    "end": {
        "dateTime": "2019-08-15T14:00:00.0000000",
        "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
    },
    "attendees": [
        {
            "type": "required",
            "status": {
                "response": "tentativelyAccepted",
                "time": "2019-08-01T07:06:24.5046431Z"
            },
            "proposedNewTime": {
                "start": {
                    "dateTime": "2019-08-16T12:00:00.0000000",
                    "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
                },
                "end": {
                    "dateTime": "2019-08-16T14:00:00.0000000",
                    "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
                }
            },
            "emailAddress": {
                "name": "Adele Vance",
                "address": "AdeleV@contoso.com"
            }
        }
    ],
    "organizer": {
        "emailAddress": {
            "name": "Alex Wilber",
            "address": "AlexW@contoso.com"
        }
    }
}

Alex decides to accept Adele's proposal by updating the event to the proposed start and end date/time.

PATCH https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/events/AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEhWOAAA=
Prefer: outlook.timezone="Pacific Standard Time"
Content-type: application/json

{
    "start": {
        "dateTime": "2019-08-16T12:00:00.0000000",
        "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
    },
    "end": {
        "dateTime": "2019-08-16T14:00:00.0000000",
        "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
    }
}

Alex's update succeeds and gets the following response.

HTTP/1.1 200 Ok

{
  "@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/$metadata#users('64339082-ed84-4b0b-b4ab-004ae54f3747')/events/$entity",
  "@odata.etag": "W/\"NEXywgsVrkeNsFsyVyRrtAAAAhBizA==\"",
  "id": "AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEhWOAAA=",
  "createdDateTime": "2019-08-01T06:41:07.805128Z",
  "lastModifiedDateTime": "2019-08-01T08:21:43.5696529Z",
  "changeKey": "NEXywgsVrkeNsFsyVyRrtAAAAhBizA==",
  "categories": [],
  "originalStartTimeZone": "Pacific Standard Time",
  "originalEndTimeZone": "Pacific Standard Time",
  "reminderMinutesBeforeStart": 15,
  "isReminderOn": true,
  "hasAttachments": false,
  "subject": "Let's go for lunch",
  "bodyPreview": "Does noon work for you?",
  "importance": "normal",
  "sensitivity": "normal",
  "isAllDay": false,
  "isCancelled": false,
  "isOrganizer": true,
  "responseRequested": true,
  "seriesMasterId": null,
  "showAs": "busy",
  "type": "singleInstance",
  "webLink": "https://outlook.office365.com/owa/?itemid=AAMkADAwJXJGu0AAACEhWOAAA%3D&exvsurl=1&path=/calendar/item",
  "onlineMeetingUrl": null,
  "allowNewTimeProposals": true,
  "recurrence": null,
  "responseStatus": {
    "response": "organizer",
    "time": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
  },
  "body": {
    "contentType": "html",
    "content": "<html>\r\n<head>\r\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\">\r\n<meta content=\"text/html; charset=us-ascii\">\r\n</head>\r\n<body>\r\nDoes noon work for you?\r\n</body>\r\n</html>\r\n"
  },
  "start": {
    "dateTime": "2019-08-16T12:00:00.0000000",
    "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
  },
  "end": {
    "dateTime": "2019-08-16T14:00:00.0000000",
    "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
  },
  "location": {
    "displayName": "Harry's Bar",
    "locationType": "default",
    "uniqueId": "Harry's Bar",
    "uniqueIdType": "private"
  },
  "locations": [
    {
        "displayName": "Harry's Bar",
        "locationType": "default",
        "uniqueId": "Harry's Bar",
        "uniqueIdType": "private"
    }
  ],
  "attendees": [
    {
        "type": "required",
        "status": {
            "response": "notResponded",
            "time": "4501-01-01T00:00:00Z"
        },
        "emailAddress": {
            "name": "Adele Vance",
            "address": "AdeleV@contoso.com"
        }
    }
  ],
  "organizer": {
    "emailAddress": {
        "name": "Alex Wilber",
        "address": "AlexW@contoso.com"
    }
  }
}

No attendee proposes alternative time

In step 2, if Adele replied tentative or declined, and did not propose a different date/time, then the following would happen:

In step 3, Alex would receive an eventMessageResponse with the responseType property set to tentativelyAccepted (or decline if Adele declined). Alex would not find a proposedNewTime property in this instance of eventMessageResponse.
In step 4, Alex would not find a proposedNewTime property in the associated event either.

Propose new meeting times in Outlook calendar

Example: attendee responds tentative and suggests a different date/time

No attendee proposes alternative time

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Additional resources

Propose new meeting times in Outlook calendar

Example: attendee responds tentative and suggests a different date/time

No attendee proposes alternative time

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Feedback

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Additional resources