For business travelers it is important that you know how your digital calendar works to ensure you get to meetings on time no matter where you are in the world. There are a lot of business travelers that still print out their calendars and take hard copies trying to keep them on schedule.

Now that the majority of business travelers uses smart phones like iPhones, Android and Windows phones they can automatically track their appointments no matter where they are in the world. Smart phones automatically adjust your calendar based on where you are in the world. This is demonstrated when you fly into a new time zone and your smart phone automatically adjusts to the current local time of your destination.

Setting the correct time zone for your appointments is especially important when you are meeting with someone in a different time zone. Even if you are not meeting in person, setting the time zones for appointment before sending participants an invitation will ensure that the appointment appears at the correct time no matter which email system they are using.

Google Calendar

When creating a new appointment in Google Calendar after setting the date and time just click on “Time Zone” link and choose the time zone the appointment will take place. If you are on the east coast and are scheduling appointments in Los Angeles your appointments will show up as 3 hours after the scheduled time (reflecting west coast time). When you arrive in Los Angeles and your smart phone resets to the local time (showing West Coast Time) all of your appointments will automatically show up at the correct scheduled time.

Microsoft Outlook

For people using MS Outlook time zones are managed in much the same way as with Google Calendar. When creating a new appointment you can click on the “time zones” icon in the toolbar then you can select the correct time zone for the meeting. If you are using a Microsoft Exchange email server to power MS Outlook, calendar appointment time zones will be automatically synchronized with your smartphone.

Conclusion

Digital calendars offer a variety of features and can synchronize your appointment information across all your computers, tablets and smartphones. Using the time zone feature with your calendars will enable you to keep track of all your important meetings regardless of which time zone it is taking place in.