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Configuring Legacy Calendar Availability View for Microsoft Exchange (2010, 2013, & 2016) and Office 365

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Note: This article pertains to iCIMS Applicant Tracking (ATS) legacy interview management and legacy interview scheduling. If you are using Interview Scheduling, that feature has a separate calendar integration process outlined in the following Knowledge Base article: Configuring Interview Scheduling.

If you are not sure which interview tool(s) you are using, ask your user admin, review the Understanding Interviews in iCIMS Applicant Tracking article, or complete the following tests:
  • Select Library from the main menu bar. If the Interview Scheduling Center option displays, you are using Interview Scheduling.
  • Locate a test candidate via a Recruiting Workflow search and select the Schedule Interview button. If a window displays with four interview types (video interview, phone screen, onsite interview, and custom interview), you are using legacy interview management; if a window displays with Schedule Interview - [Candidate Name] or Schedule Appointment - [Candidate Name] as the heading, you are using legacy interview scheduling.
 

Overview

iCIMS Applicant Tracking (ATS) legacy interview management and legacy interview scheduling offer a one-way Calendar Availability View with Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar. Users with Calendar Availability View configured will be able to schedule meetings while viewing attendees’ free/busy times within the system. This means that users do not need to flip back and forth between the iCIMS system and an external calendaring system—all appointments may be easily created and managed right inside the system.
 
Calendar Availability View is supported for Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft Exchange 2013, Microsoft Exchange 2016, Microsoft Office 365, and Google Calendar.

This article provides instructions for configuring Calendar Availability View for Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft Exchange 2013, Microsoft Exchange 2016, and Microsoft Office 365. For instructions on configuring Calendar Availability View for Google Calendar, review the Configuring Legacy Calendar Availability View for Google Calendar Knowledge Base article. 

Note: Third-party resources included throughout this article are not maintained by iCIMS and are subject to change.

Calendar Availability View Setup

In order to obtain attendees’ free/busy times, iCIMS requires access to the system user’s third-party calendaring system (i.e., Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016 or Microsoft Office 365) for authentication. This setup, described below, can be completed by the user admin with assistance from their IT department from the System Configuration page (Admin > System Configuration > System > Appointments).
 
An image highlighting the Calendar Integration keys in System Configuration.
 

Microsoft Prerequisites 

Before setting up Calendar Availability View with Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016, or Office 365 the user admin will first need your internal IT resource to take the following steps:

  1. Confirm whether your organization's account is configured to support Microsoft Basic authentication or Microsoft Graph API authentication.

  2. Confirm that exchange Web Services (EWS) are enabled on your organization's server. Calendar Availability View will not work if EWS are disabled.

Note: iCIMS Technical Support cannot consult with your organization's IT staff regarding issues with Microsoft authentication, EWS API access, or failed connectivity tests. iCIMS encourages your organization's IT staff to contact your mail server vendor for support with any issues regarding the above steps before proceeding to setup Calendar Availability View.

 

Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft Basic Authentication

Microsoft is deprecating Microsoft Basic Authentication for Office 365 users. During this transition to Microsoft’s new authentication method, Microsoft Graph API Authentication, iCIMS will temporarily support Microsoft Basic Authentication. However, customers are encouraged to adopt Microsoft Graph API Authentication to maintain compliance with Microsoft. For more information from Microsoft on their deprecation plan and timeline, refer to their documentation: Exchange Online deprecating Basic Authentication (Basic Auth).

To enable Calendar Availability View with Microsoft Office 365 using Microsoft Basic Authentication, follow these steps:
  1. Navigate to Admin > System Configuration > System > Appointments.
  2. From the Calendar Type setting dropdown, select Office 365 Basic Auth.
  3. Click Save.
Individual system users will then be presented with an Office 365 dialog box, which will request permission to access their offline data whenever they schedule interviews or appointments. The user will need to log in with their Office 365 username and password to complete the integration. Users are prompted to log in with their Office 365 credentials each time a session expires in order to use Calendar Availability.
 

Microsoft Graph API Authentication

Microsoft Graph API Authentication utilizes application permissions to access users’ free/busy calendar status. Organizations have the option to grant permissions via user accounts or a service account. User accounts require individual system users to log in and provide one-time consent when presented with an Office 365 dialog box. The service account requires your organization's IT resource to collectively grant one-time consent on behalf of all users. Review the sections below to learn more about setting up user accounts or a service account.

 

User Accounts

To enable Calendar Availability View with Microsoft Office 365 using Microsoft Graph Authentication API's user accounts option, follow these steps:

  1. In iCIMS ATS, navigate to Admin > System Configuration > System > Appointments.
  2. From the Calendar Type setting dropdown, select Office 365 OAuth.
  3. Ensure the following setting is disabled: Use an Exchange service account for authentication.
  4. Select Save.

Individual system users will then be presented with an Office 365 dialog box, which will request permission to access their offline data when they create their first interview or appointment. The user will need to log in with their Office 365 username and password, and accept the requested permissions. Calendar Availability View is then automatically available and users are not presented with this dialog box again.

 

Service Account

The service account option requires the following prerequisite: if not already created, your organization’s IT resource must create a service account to use the new Microsoft Graph API Authentication which points to the Azure Active Directory App. For instructions, your IT resource can refer to Microsoft’s documentation:

Note: iCIMS Technical Support cannot consult with your organization's IT staff regarding issues with setting up a service account. iCIMS encourages your organization's IT staff to contact Microsoft for support with any issues regarding this prerequisite before proceeding.

Once the prerequisite is met, additional configuration in iCIMS ATS is required by both the user admin and your organization’s IT admin.

To get started, the user admin follows the steps below to enable Calendar Availability View with Microsoft Office 365 using Microsoft Graph Authentication API's service account option:

  1. Navigate to Admin > System Configuration > System > Appointments.
  2. From the Calendar Type setting dropdown, select Office 365 OAuth.
  3. Enable the Use an Exchange service account for authentication setting and select Save.

Next, your IT resource must log in to iCIMS ATS in order to provide one-time collective user consent. Provide your IT resource temporary access to iCIMS ATS by assigning them a user admin license. Alternatively, submit a case to iCIMS Technical Support to request a new login user group and assign your IT resource to that group.

Provide your organization’s IT resource with the link to your organization’s instance of iCIMS ATS, as well as the username and password generated for them. Then instruct your IT resource to take the following steps within iCIMS ATS:

  1. Navigate to Admin > System Configuration > System > Appointments.
  2. Select Grant Calendar Permission. A Microsoft-hosted authentication window displays. Input valid service account credentials.
  3. Review and accept the requested permissions.
  4. In the Service Account Email setting field, input the associated service account email, and select Save.
Calendar Availability View is then automatically available and individual system users will never be presented with an Office 365 dialog box requesting their log in credentials and permissions.

Note: After this process is complete, remove the license from the IT resource's profile in iCIMS ATS.

 

Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2013, or 2016 

Microsoft Exchange Setup

Once your organization's IT resource has confirmed that Microsoft Basic authentication is supported, and EWS have been enabled on your organization server, the user admin will need the following information from IT:
  1. The full URL path of the Exchange Server (e.g., https://www.mail.domain.com/ews/Exchange.asmx)
  2. The domain of the Exchange Server (e.g., CompanyNET)
After obtaining the URL and domain described above:
  1. Navigate to Admin > System Configuration > System > Appointments.
  2. From the Calendar Type setting dropdown, select either Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft Exchange 2013, or Microsoft Exchange 2016, depending on which one your organization uses.
  3. Copy and paste the full URL path of the Exchange Server into the Microsoft Exchange URL field.
  4. Copy and paste the Exchange Server domain into the Microsoft Exchange/Google App Domain field.
    • Note: If your organization uses multiple Microsoft Exchange Domains, the Microsoft Exchange Domain field should not be filled in by the user admin. Leaving this field blank allows individual users to enter their domain with their login credentials when they are using the tool. iCIMS recommends that individual users at your organization know the domain of the Exchange Server that their account is on so they are able to successfully use the integration.
  5. Select Save to save your changes.
From this point, the user admin has two options to finish configuring Calendar Availability View at your organization:

Allow users to access calendar information at will
By choosing this option, user admins allow system users to access only the free/busy times that they individually have access to. For example, if a recruiter wants to use the Calendar Availability View tool, once they log in, they will only be able to access the free/busy times that they already have permission to access using their Microsoft account. If a user admin chooses this option, each user using Calendar Availability View will be prompted to enter their login and password before free/busy times and room information display in the system for them.

Once step 5 has been completed, no further steps need to be taken in order for Calendar Availability View to be set up with this configuration.

Note: If your organization uses multiple Exchange domains, users will be required to know their domain in order to log in successfully when prompted to log in.

Set up an Exchange service account
By choosing this option, user admins can perform a one-time setup for an account that allows users with the appropriate permissions in the system to access other users' free/busy times and room information. By setting up this service account, user admins are saving your system users the need to log in every time a user in your system wants to use the Calendar Availability View tool. Setting up this account requires collaboration between the user admin and your organization's IT team. 

To set up a service account that will display free/busy times and room information:
  1. Enable the Use an Exchange service account for authentication setting via Admin > System Configuration > System > Appointments. Select Save.
  2. The Service account login prefix field will now be available to use. Enter a value to be used as a prefix for the login name (e.g., exampleusername or example@yourcompany.com). Select Save.

  • Note: If your organization uses Office 365, a domain is also required (e.g., example@yourcompany.com).

  1. The Service account login field will populate with the login name of the service account (e.g. exampleusername1234 or example1234@yourcompany.com). The four numbers that have been added to the login prefix value are unique to your organization.
  2. Provide your IT team with the value from the Service account login field and request that they create an Exchange account that has access to users' free/busy times and room information. Once created, request that your IT team provide you the password for this account.
  3. Enter the password provided by your IT team for this account into the Service account password field.
  4. Select Save to save your changes.

Additional Notes
  • Calendar Availability View is currently supported for only Google Calendar, Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft Exchange 2013, Microsoft Exchange 2016, and Microsoft Office 365.
  • In order to obtain free/busy time, the iCIMS system requires access to an individual user’s calendaring system, which is why they are prompted to type in their username and password. However, the iCIMS system will not store individual users' usernames and passwords. When a user logs in to their Google or Microsoft account, the data will simply be passed to the calendaring tool for authentication.
  • The iCIMS system will only access the calendaring information that a user currently has permissions for, and will only display free/busy information in the system. No meeting details will be displayed for any attendees.
  • Although users can view a room's free/busy time and the room is listed on the calendar invitation when using Calendar Availability View, it is not booked on the room's calendar and displays as free. To ensure the room is not overbooked, a user must access the room's mailbox to manually accept the invitation on the room's behalf. 
  • Calendar Availability View can be enabled/disabled on a per-user group basis by selecting a user group from the User Groups dropdown at the top left of the System Configuration screen.
 

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I locate my Exchange URL?
Note that the steps below may not work with all versions of Microsoft Outlook. Please consult your organization's internal IT team for assistance.
  1. Navigate to the system tray and locate the Microsoft Outlook icon.
  2. Hold the CTRL key and right-click the Microsoft Outlook icon.
  3. Select the Test Email AutoConfiguration option.
An image of the Outlook icon in the System Tray.
 
An image of the Test E-mail Auto Configuration option.
  1. Enter your Exchange email address.
  2. Select only the Use AutoDiscover checkbox, then select Test.
  3. In the search results, navigate to the line beginning with Availability Service URL, which should include your organization's Exchange EWS URL.
I’m putting in the correct information, but I'm still unable to connect. What's going on?
Not every client environment is supported by iCIMS Calendar Availability View; make sure that your organization uses Google Apps/Calendar, Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2013, or 2016, or Microsoft Office 365.

Another option is to check your organization's network logs for attempted access from iCIMS' dedicated free/busy IP range through the following test:
  1. In the iCIMS system, ensure pop-up blockers are disabled and navigate to a test Recruiting Workflow profile (or Application Profile in New iCIMS). Advance the test candidate to the Interview Scheduled status. The legacy interview management window displays along with the Calendar Authorization pop-up. Close the window and the pop-up. 
  2.  
  • Note: Statuses may differ between organizations; use whichever status triggers the Schedule Appointment (Workflow) auto-launch action.
  1. In your organization's network logs, identify if there is traffic from iCIMS' IP range, which is detailed in the iCIMS IP Addresses and Domains to Allow Knowledge Base article.
  2. If traffic from iCIMS' IP range is not identified, contact Microsoft/Office 365 support to provide confirmation.
Further, sometimes firewalls or other security devices can prevent a user from logging in and utilizing the integration. Contact your internal IT team for more information.

The iCIMS Technical Support team asked my company to take a Microsoft Connectivity Test and we failed some or all of it. What can we do now?
A failed Microsoft Connectivity test indicates that EWS is unavailable, which the iCIMS system uses to authenticate and make Calendar Availability View work. Your internal IT team will have to configure your organization's EWS to make it available for the web. (Note: iCIMS Technical Support cannot configure your organization's EWS settings, only your internal IT team can.)

Am I able to access meeting details with Calendar Availability View enabled?
Meeting details from the external calendaring solution are not visible with Calendar Availability View because iCIMS found that most clients only need free and busy information available to them in the iCIMS system. This keeps scheduling appointments quick and easy.

How can I set up rooms with Microsoft Exchange? Is there any more technical information available about Calendar Availability View and Microsoft Exchange or Office 365?
Review the Understanding Legacy Calendar Availability View with Microsoft Exchange (2010, 2013, & 2016) and Office 365 Knowledge Base article.
TitleConfiguring Legacy Calendar Availability View for Microsoft Exchange (2010, 2013, & 2016) and Office 365
URL NameConfiguring-Calendar-Integration
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