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@934 | 7 | [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5546|iTIP]] and |
paul@934 | 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@934 | 11 | availability information for sharing and publication. You and your users |
paul@934 | 12 | decide exactly which kind of messages it will inspect, whose messages it |
paul@934 | 13 | will 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@934 | 16 | cannot or choose not to use mail software with calendaring support. This is |
paul@934 | 17 | optional and your users can choose to adjust, ignore or disable this |
paul@934 | 18 | functionality. |
paul@933 | 19 | |
paul@934 | 20 | * It supports autonomous entities such as meeting rooms and resources, |
paul@934 | 21 | automatically accepting or declining invitations according to their |
paul@934 | 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@934 | 25 | software does, as well as the freedom to modify and share the software with |
paul@934 | 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@934 | 31 | storage software (subject to existing support provided by imip-agent; |
paul@934 | 32 | support 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@934 | 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@934 | 40 | [[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545|iCalendar]] and |
paul@934 | 41 | [[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5546|iMIP]] Internet standards. |
paul@933 | 42 | |
paul@934 | 43 | * It allows people in your organisation to collaborate with people outside |
paul@934 | 44 | your organisation without insisting that they join your infrastructure or |
paul@934 | 45 | that everybody join some cloud service that keeps everyone's information |
paul@934 | 46 | within a single, typically proprietary, remote service (that may also be |
paul@934 | 47 | potentially vulnerable to intrusion and surveillance). |
paul@933 | 48 | |
paul@934 | 49 | The role of imip-agent is to bridge the gap between plain e-mail and |
paul@934 | 50 | "full-stack" groupware solutions, thus allowing organisations and individuals |
paul@934 | 51 | to augment their existing infrastructure instead of being compelled to perform |
paul@934 | 52 | costly and unnecessary migrations and infrastructure transformations. |
paul@933 | 53 | |
paul@933 | 54 | == Adding Calendaring to E-Mail == |
paul@933 | 55 | |
paul@934 | 56 | With just an e-mail system, users can already create and schedule calendar |
paul@934 | 57 | events using any mail or groupware client software that supports calendars and |
paul@934 | 58 | that already supports [[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545|iCalendar]] and |
paul@934 | 59 | [[http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]]. |
paul@933 | 60 | |
paul@934 | 61 | Starting with an e-mail system, imip-agent can be used to add further support |
paul@934 | 62 | for calendaring: |
paul@933 | 63 | |
paul@933 | 64 | {{{#!table |
paul@933 | 65 | '''Requirement''' || '''Solution''' |
paul@933 | 66 | == |
paul@934 | 67 | Your users probably want to know when other people are available and when they |
paul@934 | 68 | are busy. |
paul@934 | 69 | || |
paul@934 | 70 | Although [[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6047|iMIP]] supports this, most mail |
paul@934 | 71 | programs do not, so imip-agent will gather information about events and |
paul@934 | 72 | publish it for retrieval via HTTP. It will also respond to any iMIP requests |
paul@934 | 73 | for free/busy information via mail. |
paul@933 | 74 | == |
paul@933 | 75 | Organisations may want to coordinate access to resources using calendaring. |
paul@934 | 76 | || |
paul@934 | 77 | Here, imip-agent can provide autonomous agents that can respond to event |
paul@934 | 78 | invitations, allowing users to book resources and to see published |
paul@934 | 79 | availability information for those resources. |
paul@933 | 80 | == |
paul@934 | 81 | Some users may not be using mail programs that understand calendars and |
paul@934 | 82 | events. |
paul@934 | 83 | || |
paul@934 | 84 | Here, imip-agent can provide a Web interface to let them respond to |
paul@934 | 85 | invitations and to create and schedule their own events. |
paul@933 | 86 | }}} |
paul@933 | 87 | |
paul@934 | 88 | According to your requirements, any or all of the above solutions can be |
paul@934 | 89 | implemented, providing as much of a groupware solution as you need. |
paul@933 | 90 | |
paul@933 | 91 | == Design and Implementation Notes == |
paul@933 | 92 | |
paul@934 | 93 | Details of the mechanisms employed by imip-agent are described in the |
paul@934 | 94 | following documents: |
paul@933 | 95 | |
paul@933 | 96 | * [[/CounterProposals|Counter-Proposals and Offers]] |
paul@933 | 97 | * [[/MailIntegration|E-Mail Integration]] |
paul@933 | 98 | * [[/EventRecurrences|Event Recurrences]] |
paul@933 | 99 | * [[/IncomingMessages|Incoming Messages]] |
paul@933 | 100 | * [[/OutgoingMessages|Outgoing Messages]] |
paul@933 | 101 | * [[/UseCases|Use Cases]] |
paul@933 | 102 | * [[/WebServerIntegration|Web Server Integration]] |