Time Zone Scheduling with Contact Location Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In today's global economy, effectively managing time zones for worldwide communication is challenging, especially when scheduling events across different regions, as existing technologies struggle to efficiently track and consider multiple participants' time zones, leading to potential scheduling conflicts due to time differences.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method that identifies the difference between participant and user time zones, reviews availability and time preference periods, and selects a suitable time range for events, allowing for coordination with both user and participant schedules, while also associating time zone information with contacts in information management systems to aid in scheduling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual tracking of multiple time zones is performed, then scheduling accuracy can be maintained, but time consumption and operational complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically retrieves and updates time zone information for contacts based on their location data, eliminating the need for manual time zone tracking. The scheduling system self-updates contact time zones whenever location information changes, providing accurate scheduling without additional time investment from users.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical tracking of time zones with an automated electronic system that uses location data to determine and update time zone information. This substitution eliminates the need for users to manually track and calculate time differences across multiple zones.
2Productivity
If automated time zone tracking is implemented, then time consumption is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system integrates time zone tracking as a multi-functional capability within the existing contact management and scheduling system. The same location data used for contact identification is also used to automatically determine time zones, eliminating the need for separate time zone management functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically retrieves, stores, and updates time zone information without requiring user intervention. When contact location data is available, the system self-updates the associated time zone information, reducing system complexity from the user perspective while maintaining automated functionality.
3Speed
If time zone differences are not considered, then scheduling speed is maintained, but scheduling reliability deteriorates due to conflicts
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides automatic feedback by calculating and displaying the local time at each participant's location based on their time zone information. This feedback mechanism allows users to verify scheduling appropriateness without manual calculation, maintaining scheduling speed while improving reliability through automated time zone consideration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculation and display of local times at different locations before the final scheduling decision is made. By showing the time conversion in advance, users can make informed scheduling decisions without requiring post-scheduling adjustments or corrections.
Data Source
AI summary
Information management systems with time zone information, including event scheduling processes are disclosed. One aspect of the invention is directed toward a computer-implemented scheduling method that can include identifying a difference between a participant time zone and a user time zone, reviewing availability information for the participant and/or one or more selected time preference periods for the participant, and selecting a time range for an event. The method can further include reviewing one or more selected time preference periods for the user. Another aspect of the invention is directed toward a computer-implemented method for associating time zone information with a contact in an information management program application that includes selecting a contact, analyzing contact information associated with the contact, and determining a time zone for the contact based on the analysis of the contact information.