Online Measure Or Installation Diary
Online Measure and Installation Diary
During recent store visits members have made us aware of Google Calendar as an effective method of keeping an online diary for measures and installations. Keeping an electronic diary is particularly effective for members with offsite warehouses or several retail outlets. These Calendars can be accessed by users at any computer terminal providing it has internet access.
Google Calendar is a free service. It offers some great features such as free SMS Reminders of appointments, links to Google Maps and the ability to have individual Calendars for staff or shared ones to use for measures and installations. If you use a PDA mobile phone you can even logon to the same account from your mobile and have real time updates of the calendar on your phone without having to synchronise with a computer.
The following instructions are a basic overview for setting up Gmail and Google Calendars. More detailed instructions can be viewed on the Google web site at
Getting Started
- Create a User Account
First go to Google and the link to Gmail. If you are a new user to Gmail you will need to create a Gmail account. It is necessary to register for Gmail in order to use Google Calendars. Create an email address as a logon and register a password. Once you have registered you will be presented with a web based email service as shown below. Click on the Calendar Icon at the top of the screen.
Once you have created a Gmail account you can bypass the email service and logon directly to the Calendar via a shortcut from your computers desktop. Whilst logged into the Calendar screen, save the web address to your favourite’s folder then left click and drag this new favourite onto the computers desktop to create the shortcut.
- Create a Calendar
The next step is to create the calendars that you wish to use. Each user will need to create their own account and then be invited to join a common shared calendar that may be called “Measure Diary” or “Installation Diary”. You can create and share as many diaries as you wish. Click on the button on the left of the screen “Create” next to “My Calendars”. Enter the name and the details for the calendar and invite the others to join who will need to have access to this diary
Once created all the diaries are displayed on the left hand column. Entries can now be made into these calendars.
- Setting Up Alerts
Setup specific details for each of the calendars. At the top of the screen click on “Settings”. Three tabs will be presented. Complete the “General” details to suit your preferences. It is important to set the correct location and time for each of the users.
Click on and complete the “Calendars” setup for each Calendar including “Notifications” for each Calendar if you require SMS or Email reminders for each. Finally click on “Mobile Setup” and register your phone to receive messages if you wish to have SMS reminders sent to your phone.
- Create Diary Entries
Double click at any place on the calendar and a calendar entry window will appear. Select the diary for which the entry applies and enter the title for the entry such as customer name. Click on “Edit Event Details” and add further details such as address, appointment time and notes relevant to the appointment.
- Setting Up a Mobile Phone
If you only want SMS alerts on your mobile phone it is not necessary to setup Gmail. Simply follow step 3 in setting up Gmail preferences on the computer to send SMS alerts. If you want to view the diary on the mobile you will need to use the phones web browser. Open the browser in your phone and type in the web address to logon or alternatively go to Once you have logged on, save the address to mobile favourites. The phone should remember the details for next time. You can now view your calendar on your phone.