How Does it Work? #
By linking a Google Calendar to our site, it will allow you to send out Reminders either by reading the first and last name of your customer from the appointment title, or adding a simple tag such as <Text Joe Smith 3035551212> in the event description.
Currently we only support Google Calendar but you can also link any calendar that syncs to Google such as Week or Cozi. Linking a calendar is not supported in express accounts. If you have an express account and wish to send Google Calendar reminders, you will need to upgrade to a standard account.
Linking a Google Calendar #
Sharing Your Google Calendar With Us #
The first step is to share your Google Calendar with us so we can read from it and/or write back to it.
Its easy and should only take a few minutes.
- 1. Log into your Google account and go to the Calendars page.
- 2. Click on “Settings and Sharing” for the calendar you want to share with us. (You can share unlimited calendars with us)
- 3. Scroll down until you find “Share with Specific People”.
- Click “Add People” and add the email address arcalendarshare@gmail.com.
- If you only want us to read from it, select “See all event details”. If you want us to write back or change event colors select “Make changes to events”.
- Then hit “Send”.
Obtaining Your Google Calendar ID #
Scroll down a little further on this page and you will see a section that says “Integrate Calendar”. You will see a subheading that says “Calendar ID”. Please copy this calendar ID to your clipboard.
Make sure you copy the entire ID but not the words “Calendar ID” and also none of the brackets.
Adding Your Google Calendar to Our Site #
To get to the “Calendars” page, ensure that you are logged into your account. Then go to the “Navigation Menu”, and select “My Data Sources” –> “Google Calendars”.
When you get to the “Calendars” page, you will be presented with a list of all your current linked calendars. If you have not added any calendars then the list will be empty. You can link as many calendars as you want. There is no limit.
Click on “Link a Google Calendar”
Google Calendar Link Settings #
- Calendar Name – Enter a friendly name for your calendar
- Calendar ID – Paste the Calendar ID from the “Obtaining Your Google Calendar ID” step.
- Active – You can uncheck this box if you want to disable the calendar but leave it linked.
Google Calendar Read Settings #
- Read TAGs: Will look for information inside the <> brackets. Click here for more info on calendar tags.
- Match Name: Will look for the First and Last name of your customer in the appointment title. Click here for more info on name matching.
- Default Reminder Type: Choose the default Reminder Type to associate with this calendar. You can still send different Reminder Types by using Calendar TAGS.
Google Calendar Write Settings #
This section will allow you to choose whether you want us to write back to your Google Calendar. Make sure when you shared your calendar with us you allowed arcalendarshare@gmail.com to “make changes to events”.
- Write Customers Responses to Event Description: Will write your customer’s response back to your Google Calendar event Description
- Change Event Color – Will change the color of your Google Calendar event based on the customers response to your reminder.
- First Expected Response Color – Set it to this color if the response matches the first expected response (from the Reminder Types page).
- Second Expected Response Color – Set it to this color if the response matches the second expected response (from the Reminder Types page).
- Third Expected Response Color – Set it to this color if the response matches the third expected response (from the Reminder Types page).
Save Your Settings #
Click the “Save and Relink Calendar Button”. We will attempt to link/relink your calendar with these settings.
If you run into any trouble Linking a Calendar, please contact us and we will help you!
