Google Calendar & SMS

I have just finished converting my calendaring system to Google Calendar. I have used the alternatives and I have found that the Google Calendar has the best combination of features. There are a couple of features I miss but all and all, I really like the tools flexibility.

The main reason that I made the switch was the SMS (Short Message Service) features that Google has. First a little history.

I am a big fan of convergence. I want one device to do it all. Problem is, as a small business owner, I can not justify the cost of a handheld like the “Q”. I would rather put that into my other tools. I have a decent phone, Motorola e815, but this means that I need to print out or have my laptop with me to see my calendar.

Not so with Google SMS. With Google SMS, I can review events today and events tomorrow. I can create events at anytime in the future. All this from my phone. Every morning I get a text message with my agenda for the day.

There are a TON of features available with the Google Calendar. Sharing, comments, invitations, tie ins to Gmail and Google Maps. They are better documented here and here.

Google uses GVENT (48368) to SMS your calendar. I named the “GVENT” Google Calendar so I can find it quickly in my contacts. This will also allow me to quickly create an event in my calendar with the SMS tool. When you do create your event you can use the Quick Add syntax. Google will look at what you write and enter it into the right day and time. “Review Design 7PM Oct 20″ Will create an event, Review Design at 7PM on October the 20th. Pretty sweet.

One other tip. I key all my events by the company. So anything for the Noah Institute gets keyed NI. That way, when I do a search, for NI, only Noah Institute Events come up. Your Keys can be “Home”, “Church” or whatever makes sense.

Your text commands are available here. How to create an event is here.

For now, Google does not allow notifications from multiple calendars. Only your primary. Which is a real bummer. They have been promising for a while to make this feature available. Some day. We now have weather though!

If you need to communicate with your team, there is a possibility that is pretty cool.

1. Sign up for a Google Account for your team leader. Something like myteam@gmail.com.
2. Create a calendar.
3. Sync your phone.
4. Share the calendar, and publish it on your site.
5. Now, text your event to the calendar. It will publish it on your website at the same time. People can then leave comments on the event and communicate with you.

Now that is cool.