What is Google Calendar?
Google Calendar is Google’s time and schedule management tool and calendar service, available as freeware from the giant tech company. This simple yet powerful utility allows users to define and modify calendar events, providing a vibrant and sleek view of one’s calendar with schedule, daily, weekly and monthly views. Calendar events are fetched from one or more Google accounts associated with the application, from events that a user has created or is an invitee of and from events mentioned in emails. Google’s Calendar also features birthday and holiday calendars and a reminder function. It is also part of Google Workspace, Google’s subscription service for businesses, education and government customers. This application is available as a service and is available in desktop and mobile application formats. It is a simple utility with a lot of nifty features such as support for multiple calendars, efficient scheduling guides for group meetings, syncing with third party applications and desktop and mobile notifications.
What is Whale?
Whale is a knowledge-sharing and training platform that allows collation and management of SOP’s business policies, company information and documentation in a secure and collaborative solution. To learn more about Whale, read our review by clicking on this link (hyperlink).
Integration between the two platforms
Google Calendar and Whale solutions can be integrated, through an integration tool such as Zapier, to automate the creation of a Google calendar event or appointment whenever a new assignment has been created and is assigned, an assignment is marked as done, a review is overdue or a review is marked as done. This integration point will ensure that a meeting invite or calendar entry will be created for a particular user every time there’s a new review created in Whale. This will ensure that the concerned resource will be reminded of the review by making use of the calendar view, reminders, and notifications in Google Calendar. This will be beneficial for companies that are maintaining their knowledge base in Whale to ensure that key resources would be promptly reminded of scheduled and regular reviews thus keeping the information in Whale relevant, reviewed, and up-to-date.
This document explains the steps needed in integrating Google Calendar with Whale using Zapier whereby a new invite or calendar event will be created in Google Calendar when a new card or playbook review is assigned to a user.
Prerequisites:
- Whale account with Administrator role or access to the User Management menu
- Google Calendar
- Zapier account
1. Obtain an account in Whale, with access to and view of User Management. Take note of the API key/token for integration.
2. Identify the Google account to which the Google Calendar where email notifications will be sent to is associated with.
3. Configure the link between Google Calendar and Whale with any of the following steps:
- Configure the link in Zapier
- Choose a pre-defined template in Whale for the Google Calendar + Whale interaction
3.1.1. Let us first go through the first option, by configuring the link in Zapier.
In Zapier, choose Whale as the source application and Google Calendar as the target application for the integration.
3.1.2. Specify the triggering event and the automated event that will be effected by the trigger.
For this walkthrough, triggering event is a new review from Whale.
The automated event is a creation of a detailed event in Google Calendar.
3.1.3. Choose the account associated with Whale and Zapier.
For new Zap items that will be created, the Whale and API key should be specified.
If there is an existing Zap or connection already, the existing accounts associated with the Zapier account can be chosen from the drop-down list.
3.1.4. Test the Whale connection.
The test will pull any new or pending reviews from Whale to ensure that the connection to Whale is working.
3.1.5. Specify the Google Calendar account that will be linked to Whale by signing in.
Grant access to the chosen Google account.
You must be able to edit the selected calendar from the Google Calendar account you connected.
3.1.6. Specify the action that needs to be performed when the triggering event occurs.
After choosing Google Calendar, specify Created Detailed Event as the event.
3.1.7. Fill-in the details prompted for in the form in order for Zapier to create the detailed calendar event.
3.1.8. Test the trigger.
3.1.9. Publish and enable the Zap.
3.1.10. Name the Zap for proper identification and documentation.
3.2.1. Link can also be established in Whale itself.
Go to Settings > Integrations.
3.2.2. Choose the ‘Create detailed Google Calendar events for new Whale reviews’ template.
3.2.3. Repeat the steps in creating the Zap.
4. To test the link, create a new library or playbook or edit an existing item and assign it for review.
5. Assign the expert or administrator that can perform the review and the review frequency/internal.
6. An alert will be sent to the concerned party. A new entry will be created in Google calendar.
