Google Calendar

ServiceCortex provides calendar integration through the iCalendar (ICS) standard, which works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, and any calendar application that supports URL subscriptions. Your team members can subscribe to a live feed of their appointments, and customers receive .ics attachments in appointment emails that add events to their personal calendar.

How calendar sync works

ServiceCortex generates a unique ICS feed URL for each team member. When subscribed, the calendar application periodically fetches the latest appointments and displays them alongside the user's other events. This is a one-way sync -- appointments flow from ServiceCortex to the calendar application.

Changes made in ServiceCortex (rescheduling, cancellations, new assignments) are reflected in the calendar the next time the application refreshes the feed. Most calendar apps refresh subscribed feeds every few hours, though Google Calendar may take up to 12 hours to pick up changes.

Subscribing to your calendar feed

For team members

1. Go to Settings > Calendar or click the calendar icon in the navigation bar.
2. Click Get Subscription Link to generate your personal feed URL.
3. Copy the URL.

To add it to Google Calendar:

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. Click the + next to "Other calendars" in the left sidebar.
3. Select From URL.
4. Paste the subscription URL and click Add calendar.

To add it to Apple Calendar:

1. Open Calendar on macOS or iOS.
2. Go to File > New Calendar Subscription (macOS) or Settings > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Calendar (iOS).
3. Paste the subscription URL and click Subscribe.

What appears in the feed

Each appointment assigned to you appears as a calendar event with:

• Event title -- the job name or appointment description
• Start and end time -- the scheduled appointment window
• Location -- the property address if set on the job

Only appointments that are assigned to you are included in your personal feed. Unassigned or cancelled appointments do not appear.

Customer calendar events

When ServiceCortex sends an appointment confirmation or scheduling email, it attaches an .ics calendar file. The customer can open this file to add the appointment to their personal calendar (Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, etc.).

The attached event includes:

• Appointment date and time (or arrival window)
• Property address
• Your company name as the organiser

This is a one-time download, not a subscription. If the appointment is rescheduled, the customer receives a new email with an updated .ics file.

Revoking and regenerating your link

If you need to invalidate your calendar subscription (for example, if the URL was shared accidentally):

1. Go to Settings > Calendar.
2. Click Revoke and Regenerate.
3. A new subscription URL is generated and the old one stops working immediately.
4. Re-subscribe your calendar application with the new URL.

Security

Calendar feed URLs include a secure token that is unique to each user. The feed does not require login -- anyone with the URL can view the appointments. Treat your subscription URL like a password and do not share it publicly.

If a token is compromised, use the revoke and regenerate feature to immediately invalidate the old URL.

Limitations

• One-way sync only -- events created or modified in Google Calendar are not pushed back to ServiceCortex. Scheduling changes must be made in the ServiceCortex app.
• Refresh delay -- Google Calendar may take up to 12 hours to reflect changes. Other calendar apps may refresh more frequently.
• No two-way conflict detection -- ServiceCortex does not check your Google Calendar for conflicts when scheduling. Use the built-in scheduling suggestions feature for conflict-aware assignment.

What's next

• Manage appointments in the ServiceCortex calendar view.
• Configure scheduling suggestions for conflict-aware team assignment.
• Set up appointment email templates to customise the .ics attachment emails.