Integration with Google Calendars is currently in the Beta testing stage, so if you spot anything awry, please let us know!
You can share your Brightpearl Events and Activities with other software and other users by connecting with a Google calendar. A single Google calendar will allow you combine selected calendar events from a number of different places - so that you can see everything that relates to your business all on the same system.
- Sync with Microsoft Outlook
- Sync with Mozilla Sunbird
- Sync with Apple iCal
- Sync with iPhone, Blackberry and other mobile devices
- Sync with other Google calendar users
To set up Calendar Sync, follow these steps:
Set up a company calendar in Google
You'll need to have a single calendar location that Brightpearl will synchronise with. It's a good idea to create a new, independent "company" calendar account, different from your personal Google calendar. You may or may not actually log in to this calendar, but a separate calendar allows you to keep your own personal events separate from your work events, whilst still maintaining full integration.
If you're using GoogleApps then you could create a new user account called "calendar@mycompany.com" or similar.
Set up a Google calendar using the Google help documentation here.
If you're happy for everyone in the company just to have their own calendar within the Company google account, then it's just a case of adding extra calendars to the main account.
Jump straight to the setup section below if you are just connecting up one calendar
Add personal or staff calendars to the company calendar (optional)
You need to request permission from other users to display their calendar(s) on the company calendar. Add users using an email address on the left hand side of the company calendar in Google. Once they have approved the request, you'll need to add that calendar to the company calendar:
Note that if you are not using GoogleApps (where the Company calendar lives on the same domain as your staff default calendars), you will only be able to view busy/free information for users, and not synchronise events with your other [personal] Google user default calendars - which means that you need to add extra calendars to your personal calendar with different sharing settings: Your company calendar will then be able to access and share with these extra calendars on each user account.
To create a NEW shared calendar for a user
You need to create additional calendars in each user account, perhaps called "work calendar" - and then allow the company calendar account to view and change the events on this extra calendar. You can of course just choose to show the user's default calendar, but they may be using this for personal events.
- Log in to the user's personal calendar account
- Create a new calendar, call it "work calendar"or similar
- Allow others to view and change events on this calendar by adding the company calendar email address to the sharing options.
- Visit the "calendar details" tab in the "settings" area in your personal calendar account
- Click the green ICAL button to get the ICS link for your new "work calendar". It will look a bit like this:
http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/pearldemo.co.uk_tu5628nk%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
We're going to need to paste this into the company calendar, so copy it. - Go to your company calendar account and add this staff work calendar using the "Add by URL" feature on the left hand side of the screen.
- You'll now see your shared "work calendar" there in the company calendar
Because it's now on the company calendar, Brightpearl can synchronise with it.
To share a user's DEFAULT calendar on the company calendar account
Just add the user to the main company calendar by adding their email address. They will get an request that they can approve for sharing.
Adding the company calendars to your personal Google calendar (optional)
You might want to see other calendars on yours - it's the same procedure as adding your calendar to the company calendar.
- Log in to your company calendar, and open up the calendar that you wish to show on your personal calendar
- Update the sharing options for the calendar you want to view by clicking "settings" on the left.
- Click to edit settings for the relevant calendar.
- Click the "calendar details" tab.
- Click the green ICAL button near the bottom to get the ICS URL (which you will paste into your own calendar). It will look a bit like this:
http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/pearldemo.co.uk_tu5628nk%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
We're going to need to paste this into your personal calendar, so copy it. - Go to your personal calendar account and add this company calendar using the "Add by URL" feature on the left hand side of the screen.
- You'll now see the additional calendar in your account.
If you need to modify events on this shared calendar, you'll need to update the settings in the account that owns the calendar.
Setting up calendar synchronisation
Brightpearl will automatically retrieve the latest information from your company calendar account every 10 minutes. This section outlines how to set the system up and ensure that existing Activities get onto the right calendars.
A connected calendar is one that exists both in Brightpearl and your Google company calendar account, with the same name
- Visit Setup : Options : Other : Calendars
- Enter the login details for your company calendar, which will allow Brightpearl to connect to Google
- Save.
Click "Sync now" to:
- Check all the calendars in your Google Company Calendar account
- Connect the Google calendar to the Brightpearl calendar where the name matches exactly
- Create a new calendar in Brightpearl if the Google calendar is not set to Private
If you create a Calendar in Brightpearl and it does not exist on your company Google calendar account, then any events added to the Brightpearl calendar will not be added to the Google calendar, and vice versa.
Adding existing events into a new Google calendar
If you add a calendar in Brightpearl, you can then add a calendar with exactly the same name into your Google company calendar, and click Sync calendars again to connect them up. Brightpearl will check all uncompleted unconnected events in all connected calendars, and add them to Google if they are not already there.
Warning:
If you delete a connected event in the Google Calendar, then it will also be deleted frrom Brightpearl as part of the synchronisation. This will also delete all notes and attached files in Brightpearl.
Creating, updating events and ongoing synchronisation
Brightpearl >> Google
Each time you create or update an event in Brightpearl, and the event is on a connected calendar, it will instantly be created or updated in your Google account.
Google >> Brightpearl
If you update or create an event in your company Google calendar, or any of the other calendars visible there, it will take up to 10 minutes for the changes to appear in Brightpearl.
If you create an event in Outlook or on a mobile device, it may take longer to get to Brightpearl, depending on the synchronisation software you're using to connect to your Google company calendar.
Information that will be synchronised
- Start and end times
- Title
- Event description
- Attendees (contacts and subscribers)
Information that won't be synchronised
- Brightpearl activity notes
- Location / venue, although we will sync this soon
- Brightpearl activity/job project information
- Brightpearl event contact, if it exists (shown in blue on the first tab of a Brightpearl activity)
- Notifications and reminders. Each system has its own set of reminders
Synchronising your calendars with other software
We've decided to connect Brightpearl with Google calendars to give you the most options for connecting with other systems with minimal time and effort. There are lots of different synchronisation packages available, some paid and some free.
Google offer their own tool that works beautifully with Outlook : http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=89955 but it will only sync events from your primary Google Calendar and your default Microsoft Outlook calendar.
SyncMyCal is another one to look at:
http://www.syncmycal.com/google_calendar_synchronization.htm
OggSync (http://www.oggsync.com) is good since it allows you to manage multiple Google Calendars - essential if you're going to be managing events for more than one person or project, perhaps.
Synchronising your calendars with mobile devices: iPhone, Blackberry etc
Since Brightpearl is continuously synchronised with your Google Calendar, you can keep your mobile device up to date with all of your Brightpearl events by keeping it in sync with Google.
View here for instructions on how to synchronise your mobile with Google Calendar.
For Google Apps users, it can be a little more complicated on the iPhone - but once you're set up you can view and schedule events for all your colleagues and resources (like meeting rooms) whilst you're out of the office. We've done some digging around and have found this useful link:
http://www.knowliz.com/2009/02/how-to-sync-multiple-calendars-with.html
Have fun!
Moving activities between calendars
If you change the calendar for an Activity in Brightpearl, the Activity will not be moved to another calendar in Google, but the details (times, title etc) will be updated.
Suggested setup options
With GoogleApps, calendar sharing is much simpler. You can also send and receive all your company email, from your main domain name, without being restricted to one computer. Whilst you're in the office you can still use Outlook, Thunderbird or any number of email and calendar systems - and whilst you're on the road you can access via the web or on your phone.
Calendars
We suggest that you set up one calendar for each of your staff that have meetings (perhaps the directors), a calendar for resources like meeting rooms or anything else that needs booking, and perhaps some temporary calendars for projects as they come and go.
Frequently asked questions
Why are my Google events not appearing in Brightpearl?
If you are not the organiser of the event, then Brightpearl won't have permission to link correctly to the Google event. So say someone sends you an invite, and you accept, that event will only show on Google because you're not the organiser.
Alternatively, you may not have set a calendar "owner" in Brightpearl. Each event in Brightpearl needs an owner. When creating the event in Brightpearl automatically, Brightpearl uses the calendar owner as the event owner. No calendar owner = no event.
Why don't I get reminders from Google for events I've created in Brightpearl?
The event will be added to Google, but we don't currently synchronise reminders. You'll need to use the Brightpearl reminders if you create the event in Brightpearl.
