In this article
Objective
Integrate GSuite with Coconut to provide staff members with the ability to sync and view appointments in either Coconut or their Google calendar.
This article provides an overview of how create, update, and remove actions on calendar events sync between Coconut and Google Calendar.
General Sync Info
Coconut receives changes from GSuite at 10 minute intervals and updates accordingly. If an event is updated in Coconut before the change is synced from GSuite, the latest changes in Coconut are used.
The average time for completing a sync is up to 5 minutes. This, however, can vary depending on how your organization has configured GSuite, the amount of data needing updating, network bandwidth, etc.
Coconut retrieves future events from GSuite (plus one day prior) relative to the date the user’s calendar is initialized. As a result, events created/updated/deleted in the past will not appear in a staff member’s schedule in Coconut.
Coconut to GSuite
Event requirements
In order for an event to sync from Coconut to GSuite:
The event must be assigned to a staff member in Coconut
The assigned staff member must be part of the user group in GSuite that is syncing with Coconut
NOTE: External absences in Coconut (absences that originated in a different calendar system) are not synced.
Create events
When an event (appointment or absence) is created for a syncing staff member in Coconut, an event is created in the primary Google calendar for that user.
When an event in Coconut is synced to the user’s Google calendar, the following happens:
The title of the calendar event reflects the name of the service for an appointment, or the title set for an away/busy block
The location for the calendar event reflects the branch location address
NOTE: If it is a virtual location in Coconut, the location will be blank in the user’s Google calendar
The Show As for the event is set to Busy and Visibility set to Public
Details included in the Notes tab in Coconut are saved to the calendar event’s description
First name, last name, and email for each attendee included in a Coconut appointment are saved to the calendar event’s description following any notes
Responses to custom questions are saved to the calendar event’s description following the notes and attendee info
Update events
When an event (appointment or absence) is updated for a syncing staff member in Coconut, the event is updated in the primary Google calendar for that user.
Updates to the user’s Google calendar event occur when the following changes are made to the event in Coconut:
The event title is updated
The service is updated
The location is updated
The event is rescheduled to a new date and/or a new time
The Notes section of a Coconut appointment is modified (notes are added or updated)
Attendees are added or removed from an appointment
NOTE: When a staff member is reassigned an appointment, the following takes place:
The original staff assigned has the event removed from their Google calendar
The newly assigned staff has the event added to their Google calendar.
Remove events
If an appointment or absence is canceled for a syncing staff member in Coconut, the corresponding event is canceled in the user’s primary Google calendar.
GSuite to Coconut
Event requirements
In order for an event to sync from GSuite to Coconut:
The staff member must be part of the user group in GSuite that is syncing with Coconut
The event must be created in the user’s primary Google calendar
The event must be set to Busy
A recurring event must have an end date or specified number of occurrences
NOTE: Coconut does not support emojis. Any emojis included in the Google calendar event will be overwritten upon syncing to Coconut.
Create events
When an event is created in the primary Google calendar of a syncing user, an external absence is created in Coconut for that staff member. The absence is assigned to one of the staff member’s assigned locations.
The external absence is created with the following details:
When the Google calendar event is set to Public, the title from GSuite is included
When the Google calendar event is set to Private, the title of the absence in Coconut is Busy
The start and end date and time reflect the staff member’s time zone
Update events
Updates to Google calendar events fall into one of two categories: (i) events that originated in GSuite, and (ii) events that originated in Coconut. Updates are handled differently for each.
Updates to events originating in GSuite
The following updates to a event originating in the syncing user’s Google calendar will trigger an update to the corresponding external absence in Coconut upon a sync:
The event is rescheduled
The event’s Show as setting is updated
If updated to Free, the external absence is removed from Coconut
If updated to Busy, an external absence is added to Coconut
The calendar that includes the event is changed
If moved out of the syncing user’s primary calendar, the external absence is removed from Coconut
If moved into the syncing user’s primary calendar, an external absence is added to Coconut
Updates to events originating in Coconut
The following updates to an event in a syncing user’s Google calendar that originated in Coconut will trigger an update to the corresponding external absence in Coconut upon a sync:
The event is rescheduled
The appointment notes in the Google calendar event’s description are updated
The title for an absence is updated
The following details will NOT be synced to Coconut if updated in Google calendar and will reset during an upcoming sync if changed:
The event title
The location address
The event organizer
NOTE: If a user has delegate permission for another user’s calendar, updating the organizer from the Google calendar event will cancel the event in Coconut; Coconut events must be reassigned from within Coconut to avoid accidental cancellation
Attendees added to the event
Modifications to the start/end date or times of a recurrence; it is not possible to update a recurrence after it is created
Hot Tip!
Ensure general notifications are turned on in Coconut if your organization wants to send notifications to staff and clients when a Coconut appointment is updated from a Google calendar.
To enable general notifications for Clients:
From the navigation menu, click Settings
From Notifications, click Clients
From General Notifications, select whether you want clients to receive notifications by email or text messaging
To enable general notifications for Staff:
From the navigation menu, click Settings
From Notifications, click Staff
From General Notifications, select whether you want clients to receive notifications by email or text messaging
Remove events
Removing Google calendar events falls into one of two categories: (i) events that originated in GSuite, and (ii) events that originated in Coconut. Removals are handled differently for each.
Removal of events originating in GSuite
The corresponding external absence for the staff member is removed from Coconut.
Removal of events originating in Coconut
The corresponding event for the staff member is canceled in Coconut.
A note on access and visibility
Admin users can connect the GSuite integration through Settings in Coconut. Note that setting up the integration may also require effort from your organization’s IT team, depending on how your permissions and access are structured for your Google domain admin panel.
Managers and staff members in Coconut can create and edit appointments. Creating or editing appointments for syncing users will sync to that user’s primary Google calendar.