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Google Doc/Microsoft Enterprise
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Trying to create multiple online calendars for multiple installation crews. Currently we have 5 white board calendars on a wall. Jobs get scheduled on the calendars.

Four salesmen. They would like online calendars so when at a customer's house they could pull up the install calendars and see what dates are open for installations. If they find an opening, they could add the customer and it would update the calendar immediately so the other salesmen could see immediately.

Everyone in the office has Microsoft office at their laptops. They are just individual microsoft office setups, work, excel, outlook. Nothing is interconnected.

I was looking online and saw Google Docs business and Microsoft Enterprise. Not sure if one is better than another for what we want to do. Since everyone is using Outlook already would Microsoft make sense or does in not even matter since we really only need to work with the calendars. Not sure if the calendars are tied into Gmail like they are in Outlook.


One issue I see is the 4 salesmen and install manager will sit in the office and be able to look at all the install calendars on the wall and move customers around from install crew to install crew by erasing on one calendar and writing it down on another.
Would there be a way on a large monitor to be able to view all the install calendars at once. I know we have to delete and re-type any customers, on the computer, if we wanted to swap them around but having all the calendars visible at once would make that easier than opening a calendar on the desktop, viewing, opening the next etc.
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Re: Google Doc/Microsoft Enterprise [mattr] [ In reply to ]
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I'm sure someone will have a more elegant solution, but we use shared google calendars to coordinate our client calls and see who is available when. You can create multiple calendars on a single account and see them all overlaid together if you just want to use a single account rather than shared calendars. It's color coded and you can hide/unhide calenders if you only want to see a subset. Not elegant, but it is free and easy.
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Re: Google Doc/Microsoft Enterprise [runningwilddave] [ In reply to ]
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That sounds like it might work, thanks
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Re: Google Doc/Microsoft Enterprise [mattr] [ In reply to ]
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Both platforms allow for a real-time, real calendar situation you require. Both, however, need real-time access to make this happen (if in the field, and working on their laptops, do they have access to wifi, mifi, or a hotspot from a phone? Do they have mobile access via an iPhone/Android cell phone?).

If your workers are all using Microsoft desktop environments, how are they connecting their Outlook to a mail system? That is the key, if you own the mail environment (Exchange, or the online equivalent Exchange Online), then you have the ability to set up sharing of documents and a calendar to a browser, a phone, or to their desktop environments on their laptops.

If not, then you can set up a shared calendar and collaboration space for all to access (via a browser) with your own license of Microsoft O365 or Microsoft Teams (desktop or browser version).

Or a shared Google calendar, which works too.

EDIT: Microsoft Outlook calendars are interconnected between workers in the same organization, so you could host a "construction calendar" that all could access.
Last edited by: fishgo: Nov 15, 19 14:02
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