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How to Create Online Meetings from the Calendar in SmarterMail

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Introduction

SmarterMail’s Calendar is more than just a scheduling tool. In addition to managing appointments, reminders, and recurring events, the Calendar is tightly integrated with SmarterMail’s Online Meetings feature. This integration enables users to schedule meetings directly from their calendars and automatically generate a secure meeting link.

When creating an appointment in the Calendar, users have the option to enable Create Online Meeting. This adds a dedicated video conferencing link to the event, ensuring that all invitees receive both a calendar invitation and a join link in their email. This method is particularly useful when a meeting is tied to specific schedules or when users want the meeting to appear automatically in attendees’ calendars.

This approach differs from creating a meeting through the Online Meetings menu, which is more suitable for ad hoc or standalone video meetings. By using the Calendar method, organizations benefit from:

  • Automatic email invitations to attendees
  • Calendar integration with ICS/Outlook/Google Calendar support
  • Centralized scheduling and event management
  • Automatic embedding of the meeting link in the invite

This article provides step-by-step instructions for scheduling an Online Meeting through the Calendar.

 

Prerequisites

  • SmarterMail version 17.x or newer
  • Valid user mailbox with Calendar access
  • Online Meetings feature enabled by the hosting provider
  • At least one video conferencing integration (e.g., Jitsi, Zoom) configured
  • Attendee email addresses for invitations

 

Step-by-step Guide

Step 1: Log in to SmarterMail

Log in to SmarterMail via the web interface.

 

Step 2: Open the Calendar

From the top left-hand navigation menu in SmarterMail, select Calendar.

Step 3: Create a New Appointment

Click on the desired date and time slot in the Calendar. A New Appointment window will appear.

Step 4: Enter Appointment Details

Fill in the event information:

  • Subject: The meeting title (e.g., Project Update Meeting)
  • Start Date & Time and End Date & Time
  • Location (optional)
  • Description for notes or agenda

Step 5: Enable Online Meeting

Check the option for Create Online Meeting.

This automatically generates a unique, secure meeting link.

After click the Create Online Meeting, the meeting link will automatically added in the description box.

🖊️ Tip: If the Create Online Meeting option is missing, confirm that the feature is enabled by the hosting provider.

Step 5: Add Attendees

In the Attendees field:

  • Enter the email addresses of the participants (only valid for users under the same domain name of the SmarterMail server). External addresses will not receive invitations.

Step 6: Save and Send Invites

After verified everything, click Save.

When saved:

  • The appointment is created in the organizer’s Calendar
  • Each attendee receives an email invitation with the meeting details and join link
  • The event is added to the invitees’ calendars (if their client supports calendar invitations)

Step 7: Join the Meeting

At the scheduled time, invitees can:

  • Open the meeting event from their email or calendar
  • Click the Meeting Link
  • Join the online meeting using their authenticated email account
⚠️ Important Note: Invitees must join with the same email address that was added when creating the meeting. Otherwise, they may not be able to access the meeting room.

Conclusion

Creating an Online Meeting via the Calendar is the most effective way to tie virtual meetings to scheduled events. This ensures all attendees receive proper calendar invitations with a secure join link and helps reduce confusion compared to standalone Online Meetings.

For quick, unscheduled meetings, the Online Meetings menu may be more appropriate. For recurring or planned meetings, the Calendar method is the recommended approach.

Further resources:

Should you have any inquiries about the guidelines, please feel free to open a ticket through your portal account or contact us at support@ipserverone.com. We’ll be happy to assist you further.