Google Calendars: Group Invites

Google Calendars now let you invite groups.

To invite a group to your event:

• Simply enter the group name under 'Guests' in your Google Calendar invitation.

Google Calendars: Help Your Social Networking Efforts

One of the basic tenants of social networking is to be mindful of your contacts' birthdays and special events. Google Calendar can help. You can now add a special calendar that shows your contacts' birthdays and events.

To add the birthday and event calendar in Google Calendar:

• From the Settings page, select 'Browse interesting calendars' (at the bottom)
• Click on "More"
• You can then preview or subscribe to the 'Contacts' birthdays and events' calendar.

Google Releases the Google Apps Connector for Blackberry Enterprise Server

After an extended period in Beta testing, Google has released its connector for Blackberry Enterprise Server.

• Messages sent to your Gmail inbox are pushed to your BlackBerry within 60 seconds.
• Emails read/deleted on your BlackBerry are marked as read/deleted in Gmail, and vice-versa.
• Emails archived/starred on your BlackBerry are archived/starred in Gmail, and vice-versa.
• BlackBerry folders are synchronized with labels in Gmail.
• You can search for contact information of coworkers from the global address list on your BlackBerry.
• Contacts in Gmail are automatically synchronized with your BlackBerry address book.
• You can view your Google Calendar schedule with the native BlackBerry application, with one-way synchronization from Google Calendar to your BlackBerry device.
• Administrators can use the management and security tools that are part of BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

There is One Caveat:

• Two-way calendar sync with the ability to accept, decline and schedule meetings from your BlackBerry device is not available with this release but we are working on it.

Contact us for more information.

Google Calendars has its own Lab (Finally!)

A few weeks ago, Google added a Labs link to Google Calendar. As with Gmail's Labs, the Calendar Labs includes new features for users to try that may or may not become a permanent part of the system. User feedback helps the developers improve, pick, and choose.

Of the initial Calendar Labs entry, I love the Next Event widget, which counts down the hours and minutes until my next meeting, and the Jump to Date feature that lets me quickly go to any date in the past or future.

Click here to learn more ...

MV=P2 The Law of Meeting Coordination

How may attendees does it take to schedule a meeting?

While it sounds like the lead-in to a good punchline, the reality is that most organizations thrash when it comes to arranging meetings.

James Gaskin, in his Smart Tech for Small Biz blog on ITworld.com, may be the first to quantify the problem with The Law of Meeting Coordination.

"MV=P2. This formula stands for Mail Volume = Participants Squared"

James makes a compelling case for sharing sufficient calendaring information that attendees can negotiate times and availability without the flurry of "I am/I am not available" emails.

I could not agree more. As we finish our migration from Exchange to Google Apps across all of our businesses, we are experimenting with public access to free/busy information in Google Calendars.

Google Apps vs Exchange Part 3: Outlook Sync Compatibility

By now, you have heard about Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. You may also hear rumblings about less than 100% compatibility.

Yes, there are limitations. That said, the ability to use Outlook with Google Apps Premier Edition is an easy, powerful way to help companies transition from Exchange services (in-house or hosted) to Google Apps.

So you know .... the tool does not sync:

• Tasks (a shame since Google Tasks integrate with the inbox and calendar so well)
• Notes
• Journal
• Public Folders

Additionally, installing Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook may change the way searching works within Outlook. According to Microsoft, it disables Outlook's use of Windows Desktop Search, which Outlook uses to "any and all Outlook data".

While the registry bit was not changed by the Google sync tool installation on any of our systems, here is the fix.

1. Run REGEDIT
   
   
2. Browse to: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search"
   
   
3. Reset the value of “PreventIndexingOutlook” to “0” (without the quotes). To do this, right click on the “PreventIndexingOutlook” key, select “Modify…”, then change the value data to “0”.
   
   
4. Exit REGEDIT

Finally, Google is publishing a list of other Outlook Add-ins that may not be compatible with the sync tool. We are reviewing the information and will post an update later this week.

While some companies may find one or more of these limitations a "show stopper", our experience tells us that most companies will still benefit from being able to use Outlook and Google Apps via the MAPI connection.

Google Expands Task List Integration to Calendars

One of the unique features of Google Apps has been the ability to turn an email into a Task, allowing you to track follow up and deadlines.

Google has taken Task integration much further with the integration of Tasks into Calendar.

From within Calendar, you can now create tasks with due dates, which will be visible on your daily calendar.

Click Here to learn how to get started and to see some cool screen shots.

A Real Example of Calendar Integration

Worcester Fitness recently launched their new website. In addition to a great new look and feel, the site boasts new calendars. The daily class list on the home page and the multiple class schedules are both powered by Google Apps Premier Edition.

Using APIs and the calendar publication wizard, the web developers at Cold Spring Design deliver class schedules and information in an attractive, easy to use format for site visitors. At they same time, Worcester Fitness staff can add and modify scheduling information in real time.

The ability to create multiple "event" calendars and link calendar information to web sites, intranets, and online documents is a free feature for Google Apps Premier Edition.

Google Calendar User Interface Upgrade

Last week, Google added five new User Interface improvements and features to Google Calendars (all editions):

• Collapsable screen area for all-day events
• Ability to add Google Docs files to events
• Streamlined settings for sharing, unsharing and deleting calendars
• New 'Save and send emails' option for new events
• Better accessibility with improved support for screen readers

Being able to include documents with event invitations and the streamlined buttons for sending emails when you save the event both enhance Calendars for most users.

Verdict Out on ActiveSync and Google

In "Google Time", the availability of ActiveSync for calendar and contact synchronization with iPhone, Windows Mobile, and other PDA's is old news (announced on 09-Feb-2009).

Currently, the team at Horizon is prepping our contacts and calendars so that we can fully test the new features.

The big caveat is that starting up ActiveSync replaces all Calendar and Contact entries. As we juggle multiple calendar and contact lists, we are "cleaning things up" before we test.

I will post again in a few weeks with the results. In the meantime, feel free to share your experiences with ActiveSync and Google Apps Premier Edition

More Offline Features

Google Apps Premier Edition offline (Beta!) now includes offline, read-only access to your calendar.

This represents another example of the continuous, incremental development and improvement strategy behind Google products and services.