While Microsoft already has its web-based Outlook.com email service, it also has a free Outlook Web Appdesigned for enterprise customers. Today, the company announced a new feature that will let users of Outlook Web App to give permission for others to check their inbox and manage their calendar while the main user is away. Microsoft says that Outlook users have had this feature for a long time but it is now being added to the free Outlook Web App.

In a post on the Office blog, Microsoft gives examples of how this will work. Outlook Web App users can right-click on an inbox, select “permissions” and then add the name or names of the people who can then view that person’s inbox. After that, each person who has been named to view that inbox can go to their own mailbox’s root folder, right-click on it and then select “add shared folder…” and write the name of the person who has given him or her permission to view their inbox.

The new feature works with calendar management as well. In this case, the Office Web App user clicks on the “SHARE” menu choice in the top right corner of the calendar module. After that, the user again types in the names of the people that will be allowed to view and manage the calendar.