Google and Microsoft have announced that their calendar applications will be more interoperable in an effort to keep users organized, regardless of which service they prefer. According to a support page, “users in both systems share their availability status so everyone can view each other’s schedules.” Furthermore, changes are being rolled out to how invitations are managed between the two companies.
In its announcement, Google explains that “Calendar Interoperability is the critical component to help ensure events created in one calendar system are accurately propagated for guests using different calendar systems.” This move to recognize and support third-party services will inevitably work in favour of the company, with many individuals and businesses preferring to split their digital footprint between multiple companies, all of whom have their own merits and preferred use cases.
As part of the update, Outlook users who also have a Google Calendar with the same email address can receive Google Calendar invitations and RSVPs directly in Outlook without having to be in the Google ecosystem. Non-Google Calendar recurring events are now expected to be more “systematically and accurately” reflected in Google’s portal as well. This is a Google-wide feature that applies to both business and individual customers and is already available.
With interoperability missions like Meet and Zoom, Google is trying to broaden its appeal by more subtly integrating into third-party platforms, thereby giving customers a central ecosystem with fewer limitations. This move is expected to increase Google’s customer base while also improving user experience and reducing confusion when dealing with multiple calendar applications.
