Especially when Gmail is smart enough to parse the body of the email, to determine if it is a potential meeting invite.
If it does look like a meeting or appointment, Gmail will provide a link on the right to create a new appointment.
If the email sender attach an .ics file, wouldn't that make Gmail's job easier? Unfortunately, Gmail does not seem to understand .ics file. You can only download it, but there is no option to add the appointment to Google Calender. How odd, when both products come from the same stable.
I have added the words "Add to Calendar" to show how it can be more intuitive.
In fact, someone emails you an appointment/meeting request directly from Outlook or another email client, Gmail seems to perfectly understand it, automatically blocking your calendar and allowing you to respond by Yes / Maybe / No.
Why not parsing the ICS file and offering a similar option? Google?
Another pain is when a meeting invitation is sent with a link to download the ICS file. So you try to add the appointment to Google Calendar by the URL.
Paste in the given URL and click Add Calendar. Should work right?
Nope, not for Google Calendar. You will get an error message.
The only option is to download the .ics file, and then manually import it to Google Calendar. So much so for Internet based product.
I know a lot of friends and colleagues who stay with Microsoft Outlook/Exchange because it simply works, and covers most of the real world situation.Take a look at a meeting invitation sent to your Inbox. Outlook automatically detects that it is a meeting invite and display it differently, with options to accept the meeting, propose a new time, etc.
Once you accept it, the meeting will appear automatically in your Calendar, all in a single application. One-click, and a meeting is confirmed.
Email, Calendar, Instant Message, they should all be made to work seamlessly and have Unified Communications. Microsoft has the first suite of Unified Communications applications in the form of Outlook 2007 (and Exchange of course) and Office Communication Server 2007. As much as I like Google's innovations and generally ease-of-use, they are still way behind what Microsoft offers in Outlook 2010 / Lync Server.
The ball is in your court, Google.
0 comments:
Post a Comment