It’s a tough job juggling schedules for on-site employees and virtual employees in multiple time zones. Like most businesses, we needed a calendar that was reliable and allowed everyone to see busy/free time and to make updates in real time across time zones. And, since we’re a small business, we didn’t want to make a huge investment.

As a team research effort, we tested multiple calendar solutions including an exchange server, Mozilla, Now Calendar, and Hyperoffice. We finally landed on a free solution: Google Calendar.

Pros

• Free
• Calendar sharing
• It’s a Google product – so it’s generally reliable and always being improved. Our staff is also familiar with Google and its “suite” of online products, like Google Docs and Google Sites.
• Explorer, Firefox, and Safari compatible

Cons

• Support is limited to FAQs, discussion boards and blogs. I have been able to find answers to all of our questions, but it takes time to read the boards or post questions and wait for answers.
• It is not Microsoft Outlook. I may have come over to the Mac world, but I still miss Microsoft Outlook

For Bing it gives us one place to see what everyone is up to, so we can better plan our days. I liked the calendar so much that I have incorporated it into volunteer organizations that I am involved in.

Anyone else using Google Calendar?  If so, how do you like it?