meeting request-Outlook <-> Zimbra: How?

[pepe_antonio]

Hi there!
I won't make the long story about how I feel about Oulook, so to get to the point let's say I did some search and stumble upon Zimbra. I installed it and started to try it.
I know I want to go away from Outlook but I can convince everybody. How do I get meeting request from Outlook users on my Zimbra desktop?
I know that Zimbra is ical compliant but it doesn't work quite well. I can only get meeting request from OL on Zimbra as a meeting request (means I can accept or decline it) when I first create the meeting request in OL and the forward it. If I just invite attendees even using the option "send as iCalendar" what I get in Zimbra is an empty message. I have to expressively forward it using the iCalendar format so I can receive it as a meeting request in Zimbra.
The other way around, i.e. from Zimbra to Outlook doesn't have any problem.
Any clues why I have to forward the meeting request and not just invite attendees?

Good work!
Thanks!!!

[jjzhuang]

Sorry I'm not sure I understand the question. Zimbra users and Outlook users can typically exchange meeting invitations without problem. In fact many of our customers do that.

Also is this about Zimbra Desktop or Zimbra Collaboration Suite in general? Thanks!

[pepe_antonio]

Dear jjzhuang,

I'm talking about Zimbra Desktop. When I create a new appointment or meeting request and just add the attendees and send the request to another user with Zimbra Desktop what he gets is an empty message.
To get the actual meeting request where you can accept or deny, the Outlook user has to create the appointment and then use the option "Forward as iCalendar". Then everything goes fine on the other end with Zimbra Desktop. Note that I'm not mentioning Exchange here because there is none. It is just user to user; one using Outlook and another using Zimbra Desktop.

Thanks for your quick reply!
Regards,

[jjzhuang]

I see. Is the Outlook user also connected to a ZCS server using Outlook connector (ZCO)? If it is, then this may be a bug. Thanks!

[pepe_antonio]

No there is no Zimbra Server. Email is hosted somewhere else in a non-Exchange enviroment.
I'll further test with some other user with OL to see if this is a particular problem with this particular PC.
Thanks,