Comparing timezone-aware scheduling features

Compare three separate jobs: display local time in another zone, find a shared opening, and flag time outside working hours. Outlook pairs additional calendar time zones with Scheduling Assistant; Google Calendar has time-zone settings, Find times to meet, Working hours, and appointment schedules for booking.

Decide which scheduling job matters

An internal meeting may need an organiser to compare colleagues’ free and busy periods; a customer appointment may instead need a booking page offering only the host’s permitted times. Decide whether all invitees, a smaller group of decision-makers or one available host must attend.

A calendar gap does not, by itself, show that someone is available to work. A suitable overlap depends on attendee availability and whether the proposed local time falls within working hours.

Compare the calendar routes

Local-time display. In new Outlook, Calendar > View includes “Display my calendar in time zone” and “Add time zone”; an added zone can be shown in the calendar. The latest classic Outlook for Microsoft 365 can display up to three time zones, while Outlook 2019 LTSC and Outlook 2016 can display two. Google Calendar provides time-zone settings for working in different zones.

Shared-slot finding. Outlook’s Scheduling Assistant shows a row for each recipient: busy time is dark blue, tentative time is light blue with hatching, and time outside working hours is light grey. With a Microsoft 365 or Exchange account, it helps find availability for people and rooms; AutoPick applies selected criteria. Google Calendar names its meeting finder “Find times to meet” and has a separate feature, “Check your availability across calendars”.

Working-hours indication. Outlook’s Scheduling Assistant marks time outside attendees’ working hours in light grey; the organiser still decides whether the slot is reasonable. Google Calendar’s Working hours is a separate setting when assessing a proposed time.

Booking route. Google appointment schedules are a separate route for people to book an appointment. Outlook’s Scheduling Assistant is for meetings, and Room Finder helps find conference rooms; using Scheduling Assistant requires a Microsoft 365 or Exchange account.

Check the difficult case

For a recurring cross-zone meeting, inspect dates after a daylight-saving change and compare each attendee’s local time with their availability and the working-hours indication.

Choose by task: use Outlook Scheduling Assistant to compare attendee availability and find rooms, Google Calendar’s Find times to meet for meeting finding, or Google appointment schedules when people need to book an appointment.