Google Calendar Sync
A few days ago, when I saw Google Calendar Sync announced on the Google blog, I became very excited. Surely, I thought that this would be the calendar synchronization solution that I had been hoping for for some time. I have found it very difficult to keep my work and personal calendars organized and Google Calendar Sync promised all of my calendars in a central location.
For those unfamiliar, Google Calendar Sync syncs an Outlook calendar with a Google calendar. However, unbeknownst to me at the time, there is a major shortcoming in this. I was noticing that the majority of my Outlook meetings were not being transferred to my Google calendar. I browsed the newsgroups and finally came on this FAQ entry:
To sync all events between Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar, the email address associated with Google Calendar needs to match the email address associated with Microsoft Outlook. To sync all events between Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar, the email address associated with Google Calendar needs to match the email address associated with Microsoft Outlook.
This would lead me to believe that I could do this by creating *ANOTHER* Google account… I already have two, I do not want another. I hope that Google decides to remove this severe limitation, but if not, so it goes… the search continues.
@don: Thanks for the tip. I cant believe I’ve missed that one. They’ve got a free version I’ll try out for a bit to see if it does what I need.
Also, if you use Plaxo then the Plaxo integration with Outlook does a pretty good job of two way synchronization with your Google Calendar.
@martin: Plaxo has always worried me a little bit. You hear horror stories about people in your contacts list getting mail-bombed when you update your profile or something. I’m hoping to find something a little less intrusive. SyncMyCal seems to be doing it so far. Now, the next thing I need is a contact synchronization tool (between Outlook, Windows Mobile, GMail and OSX’s Address Book). Plaxo seems to really fit the bill here, but the problem above still worries me about building up a Plaxo database.
Maybe with the introduction of the Google Contacts API some tools will be built that will support this well.
Its great to see Google recognize that their users want a sync to a desktop platform and this is a very good start. The sync itself works quite well, many of the people at our office have given it a whirl to see how it all goes.
Unfortunately it does not let you sync multiple calendars or calendars that have been shared with you. You can only sync your default calendar. But hey if someone needs that thats where the 3rd party suppliers come in. We offer a product (Connect) that allows this and there are other companies out there who do this as well, all you have to do is search around a bit.
Cheers!
Calgoo
http://www.calgoo.com
Thanks, Matt! Very helpful information!
Check out SynMyCal. It isn’t free, but at something like $30, it is well worth it. Hanselman recommended it, and I agree, it is the best way to sync Google Cal with Outlook.