Use working areas with the Calendar API for apps and workflows — Google for Builders Weblog

Posted by Chanel Greco, Developer Advocate

Giving Google Workspace customers the power to set their working location and dealing hours in Google Calendar was an vital step in serving to our clients’ staff adapt to a hybrid world. Sending a Chat message asking “Will you be within the workplace tomorrow?” quickly grew to become out of date as anybody might share the place and once they can be working inside Calendar.

To enhance the hybrid working expertise, many organizations depend on third-party or company-internal instruments to allow duties like sizzling desk reserving or scheduling days within the workplace. Till just lately, there was no method to programmatically synchronize the working location set in Calendar with such instruments.

Robin shows the working location from Google Calendar of their software and updates the person’s Google Calendar once they e book a desk in Robin

Programmatically learn and write working areas

We’re happy to announce that the Calendar API has been up to date to make working areas out there and this added performance is usually out there (characteristic is just out there for eligible Workspace editions). This allows builders to programmatically learn and write the working location of Google Workspace customers. This may be particularly helpful in three use instances which have surfaced in discussions with clients which we’re going to discover collectively.

Enhancing the Calendar API permits builders to synchronize person’s working location with third-party instruments like Robin and Comeen. For instance, some corporations present their staff with desk reserving instruments to allow them to e book their office prematurely for the times they are going to be on-site. HR administration instruments are additionally widespread for workers to request and set “Earn a living from home” days. In each conditions the person needed to set their working location in two separate instruments: their desk reserving instrument and/or HR administration system and Google Calendar.

Because of the working location being accessible by the Calendar API this duplicate work is now not mandatory since a person’s working location may be programmatically set. And if a person’s calendar is the only supply of reality? In that case, the API can be utilized to learn the working location from the person’s calendar and write it to any permissioned third-party instrument.

Comeen’s Google Workspace Add-on synchronizes the person’s’ working areas at any time when the person updates their working location, both in Google Calendar or in Comeen’s add-on

The API permits the surfacing of the person’s working location in different instruments, creating fascinating alternatives. As an example, a few of our clients have requested for tactics to higher coordinate in-office days. Think about you’re planning to be on the workplace tomorrow. Who else out of your crew will probably be there? Who from a neighboring crew could be on-site for a espresso chat?

With the Calendar API, a person’s working location may be displayed in instruments like directories, or a hybrid-work scheduling instrument. The purpose is to make a person’s working location out there within the programs which can be related to our clients.

The third use case that surfaced from discussions with our clients is analyzing working location patterns. With a lot of our clients having a hybrid work method it’s important to have a very good understanding of the working patterns. For instance, which days do areas attain maximal authorized capability? Or, when does the on-campus restaurant have to organize extra meals for workers working on-site?

The API solutions these and different questions in order that facility administration can adapt their sources to the wants of their staff.

How you can get began

Now that you’ve an concept of the probabilities the up to date Calendar API creates, we wish to information you on how one can get began utilizing it.

Try the developer documentation for studying and writing a person’s working areas.

Watch the announcement video on the Google Workspace Builders YouTube channel.

Test the authentic publish concerning the launch of the working location characteristic for an inventory of all Google Workspace plans which have entry to the characteristic.