Overview
The Calendar Sync feature enhances scheduling efficiency within Administrate by integrating both instructor and resource calendars, such as Office 365 Rooms, directly into the system. This ensures that instructors' schedules, along with room availability, are always up-to-date with their bookings. Administrators can easily view both instructor and resource availability, streamlining the planning process for training sessions and improving overall scheduling accuracy.
Purpose
The primary objectives of the Calendar Sync are to:
- Establish a two-way sync between Administrate and Microsoft O365, enabling syncing of instructor calendars and Microsoft 365 Rooms bookings.
- Provide training administrators with up-to-date availability information for both instructors and resources, simplifying scheduling.
- Ensure instructors and resource managers have accurate, near real-time information about their scheduled training commitments on their calendars.
How Calendar Sync Works
Syncing Instructors Calendars
- Invitation Process: Administrators send invitation links to instructors.
- Sync Setup: Instructors follow email instructions to set up sync via OAuth, choosing between 'Full Private Mode' and 'Default Privacy Mode.'
- Data Flow: Calendar events are fetched from Office 365 to Administrate and vice versa.
Inviting Instructors to sync their calendars
Administrators with appropriate access controls can effortlessly invite instructors to synchronize their calendars. This process involves selecting the desired instructors and sending them an invitation link.
Administrators can effectively oversee the sync status and logs, including managing instructors who have successfully connected their calendars, tracking those with pending invitations, and more.
To invite instructors:
- Navigate to Control Panel > Calendar Integration
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Select the instructors whose calendars you want to sync.
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Click the "Send" button to send the invitations.
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Instructors will receive an email inviting them to sync their calendars with Administrate. They should follow the instructions provided in the email to complete the synchronization process.
Instructor Calendar Sync
After receiving the invite link via email, instructors will discover comprehensive instructions outlining the necessary steps and the information that will be shared. Utilizing an OAuth flow, instructors can seamlessly set up the sync and have the flexibility to choose their preferred privacy level. This includes a 'Full Private Mode,' where the sync retrieves only dates and times, without fetching any other information.
Alternatively, instructors can opt for the 'Default Privacy Mode,' aligning with Outlook's default behavior. In this mode, private events remain private, while public Events are imported as they are.
Instructors' Calendars to Administrate
The event data the calendar sync fetches are:
- Event Title (This would show 'busy' instead of the actual title when set in privacy mode)
- RSVP
- Dates and Times
Administrate to Instructors' Calendars
The events are immediately synced to the Instructor's calendar upon booking them onto Active Events.
- Event Title
- Location and Venue
- Virtual Meeting links (i.e. Zoom, MS Teams, Custom Links)
- The description will include additional information such as a backlink to the Event, other personnel on the event, the local time of the event, and resources booked
Syncing Resource / Room Calendars
- From the Settings tab > Sign in with an account that has the necessary permissions to manage the resources.
- Use the "Add Room" function to integrate Microsoft O365 Room calendars.
- Map the room calendars to corresponding Resources within Administrate.
- Calendar events are synced between Office 365 and Administrate in both directions, ensuring real-time updates.
Sync Frequency
Real-time
When you create or update an active event (i.e. not in draft mode), the schedule will be instantly synced with the calendars of the assigned instructors & resources.
Scheduled Sync
The sync pulls in 12 months of event data every hour from instructors' and room calendars into Administrate.
Manual Sync
You can run a manual sync ad-hoc by selecting the instructors or resource calendars and clicking on the 'Sync Calendar' button.
Availability Calendar, Scheduler, and Instructor Assignments
You can view instructors’ and resources' external events conflicts when scheduling and planning events throughout the platform.
Assigning Instructors on Events
If calendar sync is enabled, a calendar icon will appear next to the instructor's name. You can also expand the view to check any scheduling conflicts in the event's local time. The same applies when assigning resources, where you can easily see room availability and potential conflicts.
Removing a Calendar Sync
Both administrators and instructors have the option to disconnect a calendar sync. Doing so will remove all events that resulted from the sync from both the Administrate system and the instructor's calendar.
Admin
- Select the Instructor or Resource
- Click on Remove Calendar
Instructors
- Navigate to your Microsoft Account Settings > Privacy > Apps and Services
- Click on Edit under the Administrate App
- Revoke permissions
Admin Approval
If a user attempts to connect their calendar with the Administrate App without prior admin consent, they'll encounter a screen presenting an option for an Admin to sign in.
We suggest you request an administrator of your Microsoft Entra tenant to visit the following URL, replacing “{organization}” below with the ID of your Microsoft Entra tenant.
After signing in to Microsoft Entra, the administrator can grant permission for all users on the Microsoft Entra tenant to use the Administrate Calendar Sync.
Technical Specification Document
Please refer to the technical documentation manual