You can synchronise your Brightpearl calendar with Google Calendar, which can then be synchronised with other calendars such as your iPhone, Outlook etc.
Google Apps Users
If you're logging into Brightpearl from your Google Apps account (using the Universal navigation bar), then Brightpearl already has access to your Google calendar data for each of your users. There's no need to add a username or password, but you do still need to set your calendar to be synchronised.
- Click your Username > My preferences.
- Select the Calendar sync tab.
- Tick the checkbox to activate the synchronisation.
- Click Save changes.
Note: The event is synchronised with the owner's calendar, so if you're logged in to Brightpearl as Bob, and create a new event for Jenny, the event will get placed on Jenny's Google calendar as long as she has set her calendar to be synchronised.
Standard Google Calendar Users
If you don't have Google Apps, or even if you do, and are just logging into Brightpearl the regular way, then you need to add your calendar email address and password into the settings:
- Click your Username > My preferences.
- Select the Calendar sync tab.
- Enter your Google email address and password.
- Tick the checkbox to activate the synchronisation.
- Click Save changes.
Each user in your Brightpearl system has their own calendar login information. You can have multiple staff within your Brightpearl account sharing the same Google Calendar if you like.
Synchronising
To import events from your Google Calendar into your Brightpearl calendar, hover your mouse over your username at the top of the screen and select Calendar:Month, then click Synch. This will add any missing events, and update any events that have changed in Google since you last ran a sync. You can't sync someone else's calendar.
Brightpearl >> Google
Every time you add an event for a user, Brightpearl checks to see if that user has Google calendar details. If they do, then the event is added to the relevant Google calendar immediately. The same happens when you update events for a user with calendar details.
However, if you change the owner of an event, Brightpearl won't be able to find the event on the new owner's calendar, so it will not be synchronised. The old event on the previous owner's calendar will not be removed (since there may be other attendees, extra information, or other things that we don't want to go removing in error).
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.
Importing Existing Events
To import events from your Google Calendar into your Brightpearl calendar:
- Click your Username > Calendar: Month.
- Click the blue sync link at the top right.
This will add any missing events, and update any events that have changed in Google since you last ran a sync. You can't sync someone else's calendar.
What gets synchronised?
Information that will be synchronised
- Start and end times
- Title
- Event description
- Attendees (contacts and subscribers) - if they exist in your Brightpearl account; contacts won't be created.
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
It's also worth noting that Tickets are never synchronised with Google Calendar.
If someone has their calendar set to "not sync" - then when they turn it to "sync", any existing events in Brightpearl will be created in Google when they are next saved.
Warning:
If you delete a connected event in the Google Calendar, then it will also be deleted from Brightpearl as part of the synchronisation. This will also delete all notes and attached files in Brightpearl.
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.
