Office: Managing meetings like a polite pro

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Do you use the Outlook Calendar? This column’s for you. Ameliorate many meeting problems like a pro. A polite pro. Outlook can do it with the aid of t
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Dear Ms. Babinchak,

Welcome to “Ask Woody”

I hope you have more info to contribute in the future.  I appreciated your concise, well-written how-to article for utilizing Outlook’s calendar features.  Microsoft Office incorporates so many useful features, but querying Microsoft Help for practical advice is a tedious and unfruitful task.

On the subject of booking appointments into personal calendar applications, like Outlook, I have an idea to air.  Maybe this idea has already been invented, but not gained widespread support.  Here it is…

Solution:  A standard universal calendar event “bar code” format to be scanned by a cell phone camera and calendar app.

Problem:  Upon making an appointment in person, the time, date, location, etc. must be booked into a calendar app, whether it be Outlook, Google Calendar, iCal, etc.

Example:  After a dental appointment, the receptionist and I schedule a follow-up appointment.  We settle on a date and time that works.  The receptionist already has my info on her screen and clicks the time and date into the computer.

I on the other hand, am standing there fumbling with my phone and its touchscreen.  I select the correct day on my calendar and add an event.  I try to quickly fill in the name of the event before I forget the exact time.  When I have plugged in the time, I check that I got the event on the right day.  I may want to add the address in the location field to make things easier later on.  After everything is entered and saved, I look at my calendar app to confirm that I have got it all right, especially the time and date.

By now the receptionist has already moved on to the next patient and is wondering why I am still standing there.  They have already cleared the calendar screen from their computer.  The work flow is disrupted if I want to read back the time and date for the receptionist to confirm that I got it into my phone correctly.

How this would help:  In this example, after the appointment is made, the receptionist could display a standard universal calendar event “bar code” on their screen.  I would scan it with my cell phone camera into my calendar app.  I’ll be on my way, knowing that my next appointment is already correctly booked in my calendar app, with the time, date and location.  The essential information has been captured conveniently and accurately.

Optional features:  Standard universal calendar event “bar codes” could also incorporate optional information such as the name of the event or business, a website URL, or a phone number or email for cancellations and rescheduling.

Utility:  The possibilities are endless.  A calendar event “bar code” could appear on the website when you buy airline tickets or book hotel reservations.  Calendar event “bar codes” could be printed on event ticket stubs.  Posters and advertisements for sports or theatrical events could include a calendar event “bar code.”   Even the neighbor’s yard sale signs or party invitations could include a calendar event “bar code.”

Anyway, that’s my big idea.  I just thought I’d put it “out there.”  Maybe somebody can help make it happen.  Maybe it already exists.  Seems like a good idea, though.

Thanks again.

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Lars220

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Latka wrote:

On the subject of booking appointments into personal calendar applications, like Outlook, I have an idea to air. Maybe this idea has already been invented, but not gained widespread support. Here it is…

Solution: A standard universal calendar event “bar code” format to be scanned by a cell phone camera and calendar app.

Yep, exists already and hasn’t been widely adopted – QR Code for calendar events.

https://addons.thunderbird.net/fi/thunderbird/addon/lightning-qr-code-add-on/ for example.

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Lars220

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Hi Amy,

I and my customers have started using the recommendations in your “FindTime” article. Thank you very much for providing this. There is one recommendation I haven’t used:
If you want to make sure the meeting is placed into the sender’s calendar, reply with a calendar attachment — they can then double-click to quickly update their calendar.
When I right-click or insert I get the entire calendar as an attachment, not just the one event. Is this what should be attached?

Thanks, again, for such a useful article.

Edit to remove HTML. Please use the “Text” tab in the entry box when you copy/paste.

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No but that can happen in some versions. Once you have that calendar open just click the accept button that should be visible in the ribbon menu.

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