There are a number of options available if you wish to share information in your Outlook folders with other users of the CFS service. These range from giving access to particular folders through to granting what is known as "delegate" access to your email account.

Giving access to specific folders

To share information in your default Outlook folders (Inbox, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Notes, and Journal) you must change their access permissions. Any sub-folders you create for your Inbox can also be accessed by another user if you provide the necessary access permissions. Any items which were sent to you marked as Private will not be visible - if you need to allow someone to see these items, you will need to use Delegate access.

To change the permissions on a folder:

1. Locate and right-click on the folder to be accessed and select Change Sharing Permissions ...
   
2. In the Properties window that opens click on the Add... button. The Global Address List is displayed and you can locate the user you want to share the folder with, click on the Add -> button and then click on OK.
3. Then, again in the Properties window, select the user you have added and in the lower pane of the window you see their current access permissions.
4. In the lower pane click on the arrow next to Permissions Level and select the required permission level from the drop down list. (If multiple users are to have the same permission level you can select all of the users at one time, and then select the level required.) 
5. Press OK when complete
   

You can change the access permissions for any, or all, of your Outlook default folders (ie. Inbox, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Notes, and Journal) to give one or more persons a specific type of access.

Permissions Levels

There are a number of permission levels available when sharing folders. For your private folders, the ones you are most likely to use are below.

Giving Delegate Access

If you give a person "delegate" access it means that in addition to having access to your folders you will also provide them with the permission to send email messages on your behalf. If you provide delegate access to your Inbox then the person concerned can also reply to your mail messages on your behalf. Any messages they send from your mailbox will have your name in the Sent On Behalf Of: box and the delegate's name in the From: box.

You can decide the delegate's access permission for each of your Outlook folders (ie. Inbox, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Notes, and Journal).

When you grant access to a folder the delegate will have access to all of the personal items in the folder. Although delegates, or anyone else given access to a folder, cannot see any messages that have been sent to you marked as private, unless you provide them with the permission to do so, see below.

To give another user delegate access

1. Select Options... from the Tools menu and click on the Delegates tab.
2. Click on the Add... button and the Global Address List is displayed. If you enter the surname of the person to receive delegate access you should quickly find them in the list. Then click on the Add -> button.
3. Click on OK.

The "Delegate Permissions" window opens and you must now set the access permissions required for each Outlook folder. You can select one of four levels

If you check the box marked Automatically send a message to delegate summarizing these permissions in this window the person you have delegated will be informed of your actions.

If you want a delegate to access any items that are marked as private then check the Delegate can see my private items box. 

Once you have completed these steps, click on OK and you are returned to the Options window and then click on OK to close that window.

Opening another user's Outlook folder

To open another user's Outlook folder you must first be granted access to to the mail folder concerned. You can then open a temporary connection to display the other users folder as a pop-up window. Or, if regular access is required and you have been given the necessary access permissions (see below) you can open a permanent connection which will allow you to access the other persons mail folders from your Folder List in Outlook.

To open a temporary connection to another persons mail folder

If you have been granted access to another persons mail folder you can access it temporarily in a pop-up window as follows:

1. Select File > Open and then select Other User's Folder....
2. In the window that opens make sure the Outlook folder you wish to access is selected. Then enter the person's username, or click on the Name button to see the Global Address List where you can find the user.

If you have been granted access the other person's folder will pop-up in another window.

To open a permanent connection to another persons mailbox

If you have been granted access to another persons mail folder and they have also allowed you to open their mailbox you can access it permanently from your Folder List in Outlook as follows:

1. Select Tools > Account Settings ...
2. Click on MS Exchange Server under the Name heading to highlight it
   
3. Click on the More Settings button and then select the Advanced tab
4. In Open these additional mailboxes enter the username of the person who has provided you with access to their mail folders.
5. Click on OK, Next> then Finish to return to the Account Settings... window.
6. Finally click on Close.

The other user's mailbox will now be listed in your own Folders List in Outlook. If you click on the + next to the other user's mailbox you will see a list of the Outlook folders which you can access.

Using Public Folders

"Public Folders" are available on the CFS service to allow groups of users to exchange information using Microsoft's Outlook email application. These folders are stored in a location where any user that has permission can open the folders to view and add content. Items in Public Folders appear like the items in your own mailbox.

To access the Public Folders

1. Click on the Folder List icon in the Navigation Pane on the bottom left of the screen to check that all of your email folders are listed.
2. In the Folder List locate Public Folders and click on the + sign next to the folder's name to expand it: 
3. Next expand the folder All Public Folders.

You may now select the folder of interest and providing you have been given permission to access the folder you can double-click on a message in the folder to read it.

The folder named "News Items" holds the current News items from IT Services.

To post items to a Public Folder

If you have permission to do so you can create a new message in a folder. To do this select File > New and then select Post to This Folder. A window opens and you can enter the text of your message.

If you do not have permission you will see a message that says "You don't have permission to create an entry in this folder" when you select the New option.