What is calendar integration?

In today’s always-on, digitally accelerated world, productivity is as valuable as time and money. And effective calendar management is an essential practice for maintaining high productivity levels. This presents a prime opportunity to bring added value to your app’s users. 

Empowering users to schedule and manage events and calendar availability directly within your platform will lead to many efficiency benefits. Instant visibility, reduced context-switching between applications, and automated workflows are just a few examples of productivity-enhancing features users will receive when you build a calendar integration in your app. 

Let’s take a closer look at calendar integration and examine the best approach for building one.

Why build a calendar integration?

Building a calendar integration is extremely helpful for businesses looking to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations. Let’s take a look at recruiting teams, for example. According to a recent survey of recruiters nationwide, nearly 70% of respondents report they spend between 30 minutes and two hours scheduling a single interview. Additionally, 60% of recruiters surveyed say they regularly lose candidates before they can schedule an interview. 

Whether juggling availability or rescheduling due to last-minute conflicts, these challenges lead to wasted time and a poor user experience — especially when users have to toggle between different applications to get their jobs done. Calendar integration enables organizations to add in-platform scheduling features, eliminating the need for users to switch between systems to create and manage appointments.

With integrated calendar functionality in your app, your users can keep workflows moving. Your users will have the latest scheduling information as they move between their mobile phones, laptops, or tablets. Additionally, a recent study found that over 40% of workers spend at least a quarter of their workweek on manual, repetitive tasks such as data entry. Calendar integration reduces the amount of data users have to enter into your systems. This means they can schedule appointments with multiple people in just a few clicks. Then, the appointment information seamlessly transfers to the applicable calendars and integrated applications.

Some additional examples of calendar integration benefits for end-users include: 

• Saved time — remove the need for property managers and client service professionals to manually update multiple websites every time they receive a booking 
• Increased efficiency — enable rental car and restaurant owners to manage reservations and cancellations in one place  
• Streamlined productivity — eliminate the burden of scheduling for accounting managers and investment associates during peak busy periods like tax season
• Decreased risk – empower recruiters to avoid scheduling mishaps during critical moments in time like candidate interviews 
• Improved client relations – alleviate common pitfalls such as double bookings and cancellation fees 
• Enhanced project management – allow project managers to organize activities and add milestone deadlines that sync across calendars, so working teams never miss a beat

Types of digital calendars and integrations

Users will expect your system to integrate with the most popular digital calendar providers, including Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

Google Calendar Integration

Google Calendar is one of the most popular calendar apps, used by more than 500 million people worldwide. Google Calendar allows users to create events, set reminders, and share calendars with other users. Its advanced features enable users to create custom views, set recurring events, and easily integrate with other Google tools such as Gmail, Tasks, Meet, and Docs. It can also integrate with many third-party apps and services such as Slack, Asana, Zoom, and more. 

Microsoft Outlook Calendar Integration

Like Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook Calendar is a widely used calendar app that empowers users to organize and schedule meetings, appointments, and tasks. Outlook Calendar lets users share their calendars, promoting better collaboration and communication. It also includes features such as task reminders and alerts for upcoming events, an integrated calendar view, and the ability to sync with other services. 

Whether it’s Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook Calendar, or another top provider (e.g., Apple iCalendar), one thing’s for sure: your users will have their provider preferences. However, the calendar API ecosystem is complex, and integrations with your app can look different depending on the calendar provider. 

A Google Calendar integration will differ from an Outlook Calendar integration because each provider’s API contains slight differences. For example, you would “create an event” in Google Calendar but “schedule a meeting or appointment” in Outlook Calendar. From a developer’s perspective, there is a discrepancy between “create recurring events” and “create repeating events.” These discrepancies matter when it comes to writing code.Unfortunately, for developers building in-app calendar functionality from scratch, this means creating and maintaining individual connections with each calendar provider. Fortunately, there’s a way to remove that burden: calendar APIs.

Why build calendar integrations with a calendar API?

Suppose you’re looking to integrate calendar functionality in your app while saving on internal costs like money, time, and developer resources. If that’s the case, a calendar API is the way to go. Building an integration for one service provider from scratch can take as long as 12 months for a team of four engineers. When doing so for multiple service providers, that undertaking becomes even more time-consuming and challenging.

A calendar API provides your application with a real-time, secure, and bi-directional point of integration across calendar providers. It removes the complexity of maintaining multiple integrations, allowing you to quickly and easily introduce robust calendar functionalities without worrying about ongoing maintenance.

With a calendar API, you can synchronize events, create private or public calendars, manage users, and more with a single integration. Furthermore, a calendar API can allow users to access their calendars from any device, providing a seamless experience that keeps them engaged and productive.

Experience the Nylas Calendar API

The Nylas Calendar API securely integrates with every major calendar provider, empowering you to launch fully customizable scheduling unique to your brand.

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Build engaging scheduling capabilities with the Nylas Calendar API

The Nylas Calendar API is the easiest way to integrate your app with all the world’s top calendar providers. Our solution accelerates product velocity, empowering you to launch fully customizable scheduling unique to your brand.

With the Nylas Calendar API, you can incorporate an end-to-end scheduling solution in your app, letting you: 

• Configure scheduling workflows unique to your app 
• Automate scheduling with collective, round-robin, and group event types
• Embed a front-end, customizable UI to book meetings instantly
• Enhance privacy by protecting sensitive calendar data

Not convinced? Don’t take it from us. Check out how talent platform Upwork leveraged the Nylas Calendar API and Nylas Scheduler to hire twice as fast and increase its customer satisfaction score (CSAT).