Free/ Busy sharing
The Free/Busy sharing feature in Zoho Calendar, helps you figure out the best schedule to host an event. You can enable Free/Busy sharing for every calendar separately. If you have enabled Free/Busy sharing for a specific calendar, only the events from that particular calendar will be considered for Free/Busy status. You can also check for the Free/Busy status of the attendees while hosting an event.
In the Create Event, Duplicate Event and Edit Event tabs, there is an option to check the free/busy status of all the attendees of the event by just entering the email address of all the attendees. After checking the free/busy status, you can alter and fix the best time, add the attendees and create the event.
Note:
Free/ Busy sharing and status is applicable only for the attendees from within your organization.
Free/ Busy Consideration
You can enable the Free/ Busy consideration in your calendar Event settings to show yourself busy during non-working hours. This will be reflected while a host checks the free/ busy status of you while adding you to an event.
Steps to enable or disable free/ busy consideration
- Log in to Zoho Calendar.
- Go to Settings > Calendar > Event Settings > Free/ Busy consideration.
- Click on the check box - Show me as busy during non-working hours to show yourself busy during non-working hours.
- You will be shown busy during the non-working hours while a host checks your availability for an event.
The busy time will be denoted by a red band and the free time will be blank.
Calendar specific free/ busy sharing
In Zoho Calendar, you can add the calendars in My Calendars section to your free/ busy schedule. This will show you busy during the times when an event is created to a particular calendar.
You can add the calendar to free/ busy schedule while creating the calendar or editing the calendar.
Steps to include a calendar to your free/ busy schedule
- Log in to Zoho Calendar.
- Click the Add calendar icon next to My calendars in the left pane.
- Provide the Calendar Name, Description and Calendar color.
- Check the Include in my Free/ Busy sharing check-box.
You can also edit a calendar under the My Calendar section to include it in your free/ busy sharing.
Steps to edit a calendar to include in free/ busy sharing
- Hover over the calendars in the My calendars section and click on the More options icon in the calendar you want to include in your free/ busy schedule.
- Click Edit.
- Check the Include in my free/ busy sharing check-box.
Event specific free/ busy sharing
In Zoho Calendar, you can choose to add/ remove a specific event in your free/ busy schedule.
Steps to enable or disable free/ busy sharing for an event
- Log in to Zoho Calendar.
- Create a new event, edit an event or duplicate an event.
- Provide/ Edit the details of the event.
- Check or uncheck the Add to free/ busy schedule check box under the Calendar field.
- Click Save.
- Select an option from the Send event invitation pop-up and click Confirm.
Note:
You cannot add an event to the free/ busy schedule if the calendar in which the event is being created is not included in the free/ busy sharing. You should enable the Include in my free/ busy sharing check-box at calendar level to add/ remove an event to/ from your free/ busy schedule.
Manage and View Free/ Busy
When you create an event using Zoho Calendar, you can view the free/ busy schedule of the attendees from within your organization. You can choose a time which will suit all the attendees and create an event accordingly.
Steps to Manage and View Free/ Busy schedule of attendees
- Log in to Zoho Calendar.
- Create a new event, edit an event or duplicate an event. Provide/ Edit the details of the event.
- Type the email addresses of the attendees in the Attendees field. Click Manage & View free busy below the Attendees field.
- A Manage Participant & Check Availability pop-up window will appear. You can view the free/ busy schedule of the attendees from within your organization.
- You can also add attendees by providing the attendees' email addresses/ group name in the Enter Email address/ Group name text box.
- A "*" will be present to the left of attendees who are not part of your organization, and their free/ busy schedule will not be available.
- Check the Show based on my working hours check-box to view the free/ busy schedule based on your work hours.
- Select the date and time for the event to check the free/ busy status of the attendees. Click the Next free time button on top of the pop-up window to see the available free time for all the attendees from within your organization.
- Click Done.
- Provide other details of the event and click Save.
- Select an option in the Send event invitation pop-up and click Confirm.
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