paul@933 | 1 | = imip-agent = |
paul@933 | 2 | |
paul@934 | 3 | imip-agent is an extension for existing mail systems (such as Exim and |
paul@934 | 4 | Postfix) providing extra support for calendaring and scheduling. |
paul@933 | 5 | |
paul@934 | 6 | * It uses the [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545|iCalendar]], |
paul@947 | 7 | [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5546|iTIP]] and |
paul@947 | 8 | [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]] Internet standards. |
paul@933 | 9 | |
paul@934 | 10 | * It can inspect messages containing calendar objects and extract |
paul@947 | 11 | availability information for sharing and publication. You and your users |
paul@947 | 12 | decide exactly which kind of messages it will inspect, whose messages it will |
paul@947 | 13 | inspect, and for whom no inspection or sharing will occur at all. |
paul@933 | 14 | |
paul@934 | 15 | * It can provide a Web-based interface to calendar information for users who |
paul@947 | 16 | cannot or choose not to use mail software with calendaring support. This is |
paul@947 | 17 | optional and your users can choose to adjust, ignore or disable this |
paul@947 | 18 | functionality. |
paul@933 | 19 | |
paul@934 | 20 | * It supports autonomous entities such as meeting rooms and resources, |
paul@947 | 21 | automatically accepting or declining invitations according to their |
paul@947 | 22 | schedules. You can adjust this behaviour to implement your own policies. |
paul@933 | 23 | |
paul@934 | 24 | * It is licensed as Free Software, giving you the freedom to see what the |
paul@947 | 25 | software does, as well as the freedom to modify and share the software with |
paul@947 | 26 | others. |
paul@933 | 27 | |
paul@933 | 28 | Unlike some monolithic groupware solutions... |
paul@933 | 29 | |
paul@934 | 30 | * It does not require you to change your mail delivery software or your mail |
paul@947 | 31 | storage software (subject to existing support provided by imip-agent; support |
paul@947 | 32 | for other software can always be added). |
paul@933 | 33 | |
paul@933 | 34 | * It does not require your users to change their mail client software. |
paul@933 | 35 | |
paul@934 | 36 | * It does not insist that everybody must store their schedules on a single |
paul@947 | 37 | server in order to collaboratively schedule events. |
paul@933 | 38 | |
paul@934 | 39 | * Instead, imip-agent takes advantage of the decentralized nature of the |
paul@948 | 40 | iCalendar and iMIP Internet standards. |
paul@933 | 41 | |
paul@934 | 42 | * It allows people in your organisation to collaborate with people outside |
paul@947 | 43 | your organisation without insisting that they join your infrastructure or |
paul@947 | 44 | that everybody join some cloud service that keeps everyone's information |
paul@947 | 45 | within a single, typically proprietary, remote service (that may also be |
paul@947 | 46 | potentially vulnerable to intrusion and surveillance). |
paul@933 | 47 | |
paul@934 | 48 | The role of imip-agent is to bridge the gap between plain e-mail and |
paul@934 | 49 | "full-stack" groupware solutions, thus allowing organisations and individuals |
paul@934 | 50 | to augment their existing infrastructure instead of being compelled to perform |
paul@934 | 51 | costly and unnecessary migrations and infrastructure transformations. |
paul@933 | 52 | |
paul@933 | 53 | == Adding Calendaring to E-Mail == |
paul@933 | 54 | |
paul@934 | 55 | With just an e-mail system, users can already create and schedule calendar |
paul@934 | 56 | events using any mail or groupware client software that supports calendars and |
paul@934 | 57 | that already supports [[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545|iCalendar]] and |
paul@934 | 58 | [[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]]. |
paul@933 | 59 | |
paul@934 | 60 | Starting with an e-mail system, imip-agent can be used to add further support |
paul@934 | 61 | for calendaring: |
paul@933 | 62 | |
paul@933 | 63 | {{{#!table |
paul@933 | 64 | '''Requirement''' || '''Solution''' |
paul@933 | 65 | == |
paul@934 | 66 | Your users probably want to know when other people are available and when they |
paul@934 | 67 | are busy. |
paul@934 | 68 | || |
paul@934 | 69 | Although [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]] supports this, most mail |
paul@934 | 70 | programs do not, so imip-agent will gather information about events and |
paul@961 | 71 | [[/FreeBusyPublishing|publish it for retrieval via HTTP]]. It will also respond |
paul@961 | 72 | to any iMIP requests for free/busy information via mail. |
paul@933 | 73 | == |
paul@933 | 74 | Organisations may want to coordinate access to resources using calendaring. |
paul@934 | 75 | || |
paul@961 | 76 | Here, imip-agent can provide [[/AgentPrograms|autonomous agents]] that can |
paul@961 | 77 | respond to event invitations, allowing users to book resources and to see |
paul@961 | 78 | published availability information for those resources. |
paul@933 | 79 | == |
paul@934 | 80 | Some users may not be using mail programs that understand calendars and |
paul@934 | 81 | events. |
paul@934 | 82 | || |
paul@961 | 83 | Here, imip-agent can provide a [[/CalendarManager|Web interface]] to let |
paul@961 | 84 | them respond to invitations and to create and schedule their own events. |
paul@933 | 85 | }}} |
paul@933 | 86 | |
paul@934 | 87 | According to your requirements, any or all of the above solutions can be |
paul@934 | 88 | implemented, providing as much of a groupware solution as you need. |
paul@933 | 89 | |
paul@955 | 90 | == Deployment Notes == |
paul@955 | 91 | |
paul@955 | 92 | * [[/GettingStarted|Getting Started]] |
paul@955 | 93 | |
paul@933 | 94 | == Design and Implementation Notes == |
paul@933 | 95 | |
paul@934 | 96 | Details of the mechanisms employed by imip-agent are described in the |
paul@934 | 97 | following documents: |
paul@933 | 98 | |
paul@933 | 99 | * [[/CounterProposals|Counter-Proposals and Offers]] |
paul@955 | 100 | * [[/CronIntegration|Cron Task Scheduler Integration]] |
paul@933 | 101 | * [[/MailIntegration|E-Mail Integration]] |
paul@933 | 102 | * [[/EventRecurrences|Event Recurrences]] |
paul@933 | 103 | * [[/IncomingMessages|Incoming Messages]] |
paul@933 | 104 | * [[/OutgoingMessages|Outgoing Messages]] |
paul@955 | 105 | * [[/Testing|Testing]] |
paul@933 | 106 | * [[/UseCases|Use Cases]] |
paul@933 | 107 | * [[/WebServerIntegration|Web Server Integration]] |