Calendar HQ is a powerful feature in TimeZest designed to streamline the scheduling process for dispatchers, service managers, and schedulable users alike. With Calendar HQ, users can effortlessly manage their calendars by viewing their PSA and Outlook calendars in a unified interface. This all-in-one solution not only allows for easy visibility of all TimeZest appointments but also empowers users to reschedule and reassign appointments with just a few clicks. By consolidating calendar management into a single view, Calendar HQ enhances productivity and ensures that teams can respond swiftly to changing schedules, ultimately improving service delivery and client satisfaction.
Read below to learn how to enable Calendar HQ in your TimeZest account, review the user's settings to access Calendar HQ, and use the various components in the Calendar HQ screen or use the links below to skip to specific section:
Opting to cache calendar appointments
With the introduction of Calendar HQ, TimeZest will be changing the way your data will be stored and processed. Today, TimeZest does not store details of existing appointments when determining which times to offer your clients. TimeZest reads the information from the APIs of the various systems we integrate with, use the data, and then discard it.
With Calendar HQ, TimeZest will now store details about existing appointments, including their names, start times, locations, participants, as well as relations to other entities (such as tickets). Storing these details will also enable TimeZest to significantly improve our performance when scheduling appointments.
Opting out
If you have no issue with the way TimeZest will store this data, then you can ignore this section. However, if you do not want to have TimeZest store this data, go into the TimeZest app > click on Security & Permissions > disable the Cache Calendar Appointments setting.
TimeZest will continue to function as it does today if this setting is disabled, but you will not be able to use the current and upcoming features within Calendar HQ.
Configuring users to display and modify their appointments in Calendar HQ
You will also have controls for each user, allowing you to control which appointments are displayed and be modified in Calendar HQ.
For each user's TimeZest profile in the Calendars section, there are 3 settings for each calendar that is integrated into TimeZest:
Whether appointments in the calendar are displayed in Calendar HQ.
Whether appointments in the calendar can be modified through Calendar HQ.
Whether details of the appointments in the calendar are shown in Calendar HQ, or are shown as unnamed "Private Appointments" without location and attendee details.
There is one exception to the third setting: Appointments in Microsoft 365 marked as "Private" in Outlook will always have their details hidden, even on calendars not otherwise set as "Private".
Every TimeZest user's Microsoft 365 calendar setting will be defaulted to have their Outlook appointments marked as "Private Appointment" in Calendar HQ. If you wish to have your Outlook appointment details displayed in Calendar HQ, please reach out to our Support team so we can enable it for you.
Roles to use Calendar HQ
The two TimeZest roles that a user can be assigned to have different rights to access appointments in Calendar HQ.
Regardless of the TimeZest role the user has, they must have their profile set as Active in order to utilize the features within Calendar HQ (described in more detail below). The activate the user, simply go to the Users screen and enable the blue toggle next to their name:
Administrator
TimeZest Administrators, who have an active license, will have full access to not only their own appointments but also other users' calendar appointments including the ability to cancel, reschedule, and reassign appointments.
User
TimeZest users who have the User level role will only be able to access their own calendar appointments within Calendar HQ and also have the ability to cancel and reschedule those appointments.
Adding users to view their calendars
For TimeZest Administrators who need to view a certain group of users, they can do so by clicking the Add users to view button and choose which users they want to see.
Filters
Filters allow you to find and display appointments with similar attributes so you know where they are on a user's calendar.
For example, if you're looking to see when all your TimeZest appointments are happening, simply choose the TimeZest-scheduled tag filter and only those appointments will stay active:
Month view and Day view
Clicking on the Calendar icon at the top-right of the screen will allow you to switch between Month view and Day view.
Adding tags to appointments
Tagging appointments will help you add more specific details to an appointment.
Example tags can be:
Onsite
Remote call
QBR
VIP client
Sales call
Tags can also be used in filtering so that you can display appointments with that tag.
Cancel appointments
Users already have the capability to cancel appointments from the TimeZest Dashboard or in the TimeZest pod (in ConnectWise), Insight (in Autotask), or tab (in HaloPSA). We have also added this capability within each appointment's flyout.
Reschedule appointments
There are times when a user and/or the client cannot attend the scheduled appointment that the client chose. Instead of having to cancel the appointment and send another scheduling request, you can choose the Reschedule option within the appointment's flyout to reschedule the appointment to a different day and time.
When you choose the Date drop-down, available days to choose will appear either red, yellow, or green.
Red: Least available time slots are open on this day.
Yellow: There are some appointments already scheduled on this day but some time slots are open.
Green: This is the most available day with few appointments scheduled.
Reassign appointments
There are times when the user is not available at the scheduled appointment time either due to sickness or not the correct user to handle the appointment.
By using the Reassign option in the appointment's flyout, you will be able reassign the appointment to another user or multiple users.
You will also have the option to run a workflow action if it is available for you to choose.
Zooming
Calendar HQ includes the capability to zoom into the calendar to see more details about the focused appointments so that you don't have to click into the appointment to see those details. By clicking CTRL + mouse scroll wheel, you can zoom in and out to get to the right level of detail for each appointment.