You have been directed to this web page by an email from your schedule administrator, or by clicking the Help button from the "vCal" download window in WebSked. This page contains detailed information about using the schedule available to you as a vCalendar file.

Important information for WebSked users: The vCalendar schedule downloaded from WebSked is a "Calendar Snapshot". It is a static calendar that will not automatically update for changes in the original calendar. An iCalendar Subscription is also available from WebSked. Unlike a Calendar Snapshot, an iCalendar Subscription is updated automatically. For details, please see the information at Subscribing to your WebSked iCalendar feed.

OVERVIEW OF VCALENDAR PROGRAMS

EPSKED, the emergency physician scheduling program, and WebSked, the web-based scheduling solution, can distribute schedules as vCalendar files. vCalendar files can be easily imported into most handheld Personal Information Managers (PIMs) and calendaring programs. In seconds you can transfer complete schedules to your handheld Personal Information Manager or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA, a process that would otherwise require time consuming and error-prone manual entry.

vCalendar is designed as a format for exchange of calendaring and scheduling information. Two different but related versions of vCalendar files exist – vCalendar 1.0 (referred to simply as vCal files) and vCalendar 2.0 (referred to as iCal files). Unfortunately, while most recent calendaring programs support both vCalendar 1.0 and 2.0 files, some support only one or the other file type. For this reason, when EPSKED sends a schedule as a vCalendar file, it sends both a vCalendar (.vcs) AND an iCalendar (.ics) file, virtually assuring compatibility with any program used by anyone receiving the schedule files.

When importing vCalendar files, some applications require only that you click on the vCalendar file icon. Other applications require that you locate and import the file. Instructions are separately given below for importing schedules into a variety of PDAs, including iPhones and 'Droids. If you are using another calendar application, the general concepts below should provide enough information to allow you to use the vCalendar schedules.

If you find information that might be useful to other users of the vCalendar files, please let us know and we will make it available on this page.

GENERAL PRECAUTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

• The first time you receive a schedule file in vCalendar format, we recommend that you create a temporary user named 'Test' (if your calendar program offers that option of creating multiple users). Make that Test user the active user, then import the schedule for that user. Detailed instructions for this are given below for both Palm Datebook and Microsoft Outlook. By doing this, if you decide you don't want the schedule, or if there is any problem, you don't have to keep the schedule. If the schedule import works the first time, it should work thereafter. Delete the Test user after you are done and import the schedule to your normal user name.
• A deficiency of most calendar programs is that they do not recognize or prevent duplicate schedule entries. Do not import the same vCalendar file more than once for the same schedule or your schedule will have duplicate entries, which would be time consuming to remove!
• After you have successfully transferred your schedule to your calendar application, we suggest that you delete that vCalendar schedule file from your desktop or email attachment folder. This should help avoid confusing future schedule files that you receive with the old ones, which might result in duplicate entries due to mistakenly importing a schedule twice.
• If your "significant other" wants to have a copy of your schedule, you can forward the email sent from EPSKED by your schedule administrator to them along with the schedule file attachment. From WebSked, simply attach the vCalendar file to an email and send. That person can then follow these same instructions to transfer your schedule into their calendar application, giving them a copy of your schedule. The individual schedules listings include your name and the shift name to help clarify entries used for this purpose.

IMPORTING AND SYNCHING FOR iPHONES, iPODS AND iPADS

In order to get the WebSked schedule calendar into your portable Apple devices, you can first download the free Apple iTunes from the Internet. Below is a link for downloading to PCs with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7
Download iTunes

Once iTunes is downloaded and installed, instructions for synching can be found by doing a Google search for "How to sync an iPhone" or similar wording. Below are a couple of useful links.

Apple Support
How to synch your iPhone

Getting a WebSked iCal file into your iPhone

Step 1:

Download the .ics (iCal) file from WebSked to an easily found spot on your Mac; we recommended downloading to the desktop.

Step 2:

Import the .ics file downloaded in step 1 to the Mac iCal program by either:

    a. Drag and drop the .ics file into the iCal program window
    or
    b. Double-click on the file to open it in the iCal program (this works if the iCal program is the default program for opening)

Step 3:

Connect your iPhone to your computer with iTunes installed. iTunes should open automatically and show a window with several tabs for syncing your iPhone or iPod. Select your device in iTunes under Devices on the left-hand side and click the Info tab.

Step 4:

Choose which iCal calendars you want to sync under the "Info" tab.

Note: iTunes will also allow automatic syncing with Entourage calendars on a Mac. To import the WebSked .ics file into Entourage, right-click (or Ctrl+Click) on the file and select "Open with Entourage". Entourage 2004 has known issues with importing .ics files. Please be sure you are using Entourage version 2008 or newer.

Note: iTunes will also allow automatic syncing with Outlook calendars on a PC if you use Outlook 2007 or newer. See instructions elsewhere on this page for importing the WebSked calendars into Outlook.

Step 5:

Click Apply in the lower-right corner of the screen. iTunes syncs your iPhone or iPod with your computer calendar according to your settings.

Setting the correct time zone on your iPhone OS and computer

The way the iPhone OS works with time zones is confounding. In order to display the correct shift times in your iPhone, it is important that the time settings on both your computer AND the iPhone be correct! Incorrect time displays from vCalendar imports are the result of incorrect time zone settings either on the computer, the iPhone into which the vCalendar file is imported OR in the time zone settings used to create the vCalendar file in the first place.

Solving your problem will require making sure that your Time Zone settings are correct in WebSked and on your iPhone. For the iPhone, the solution turns out to require two separate settings: not only does the iPhone have a time zone change setting on the phone, you also need to go into the calendaring section of the phone and select the correct Time Zone!

So...

Step 1:

Make sure that your WebSked time zone setting (used to create the vCalendar file) is correct. This is located at the bottom of your My Profile...Options screen in WebSked, and is currently set to:

Is this correct? The original setting is based on the Time Zone setting of your schedule administrator's computer. If the setting is incorrect and you correct the setting, it will fix all future vCalendar schedules that you import but will (unfortunately) not help with any files you have already created and imported when the settings were incorrect.

Step 2:

Make sure that your iPhone time zone setting is correct. The current setting can be found and edited from:
Settings -> General -> Date & Time -> Time Zone
Entering the name of a major nearby city in your time zone (you'll select from a list displayed as you type) allows you to pick your time zone.

Step 3:

Make sure that the separate time zone setting used for calendar applications on your iPhone is set correctly:
Settings...Mail, Contacts, Calendars...Time Zone Support

In the Time Zone Support screen, you see Time Zone Support (On/Off) and Time Zone (see “Time Zone Support”). When Time Zone Support is off, the time of any events in the Calendar app – whether created on the iPhone or in iCal and then synced to the device – will shift, based on the time zone in which the iPhone or iPod touch currently resides.

So, for example, if you live in London and create an event for 1pm on Monday, if you and your iPhone journey to Paris, the event’s time will shift to 2pm.

When Time Zone Support is switched on, the time for the events will be based on the time zone selected in the Time Zone Support screen. So, if that time zone reads London, an event on the iPhone or iPod touch originally created for 1pm GMT will remain 1pm regardless of the time zone in which the device sits.

The trick is understanding when it’s best to allow events to shift and when it’s better to leave them alone. The rule of thumb we use is this: if the bulk of your work involves dealing with the folks back at home, allow events to shift by switching off Time Zone Support. So, if you have a call scheduled for 6pm on Tuesday at home in New York and you’re in San Francisco, the iPhone lets you know that this event will take place at 10am.

On the other hand, if while at home in Miami, your work shifts are scheduled in, say, Denver, you would like the events’ times to stay exactly where they were. In this case, you would turn Time Zone Support on.

Once again, entering the name of a major nearby city in your time zone (you'll select from a list displayed as you type) allows you to pick your time zone. Alternatively, another possible remedy is to just turn off the "Time Zone Support" on that same screen, in which case your calendar appointments are automatically shifted to the Time Zone setting used in Step 2 for the iPhone itself.

These problems occur because the vCalendar format saves event times in Greenwich Mean Time, which is translated by the computer displaying the calendar to give the local starting time depending on the current local setting. Saving the event times in Greenwich Mean Time is not our choice -- that is the format that the vCalendar specifications established for the files, presumably to aid persons traveling between time zones, though it certainly causes confusion at times!

IMPORTING AND SYNCHING FOR ANDROIDS

Most Android users have a Google account, since that lets them most easily use the Droid Marketplace and gMail. The easiest way to get the schedule into your Android is to import the schedule into your Google Calendar, which then automatically syncs with the Droid. To do this after you set up a Google account:

Step 1a:

[For WebSked only] Click the vCalendar icon at the top right of the schedule you want to import, then follow the directions to create an iCal file, saved to an easily found location on your computer.

Step 1b:

[For iCal files sent to you by your schedule administrator from EPSKED]: you will need to either know the location of the iCal file you received, or be able to drag and drop it from your email program to another program (depends on your email program whether you can do this)]

Step 2:

Go to www.google.com

Step 3:

Click on the more > Calendar option at the top of the window

Step 4:

In the Google Calendar screen, at the bottom left click Add calendar , then select the Import calendar option:

Step 5:

In the Import calendar window click the Browse... button

Step 6:

Find the iCal file on your computer, saved or located in step 1a or 1b above.

Step 7:

Click the Import button on the Import calendar window

Step 8:

The file should import into your Google calendar and automatically synch with the calendar in your Android if you have the default calendar settings. If it does not sync, open the Calendar widget on your Android, click the Menu button, then select More > Calendars. Your Goggle calendar should be listed by your gmail account name and be marked as "synced,visible". If not, touch the icon to the right of the gmail account name until it is.

IMPORTING INTO MICROSOFT OUTLOOK

To transfer the vCalendar schedule to Outlook and your handheld, please read the general precautions and suggestions above before you import the vCalendar file for the first time!

Step 1:

Open Microsoft Outlook and switch to the Calendar application.

Step 2:

Use the File > Import and Export... drop down menu to open the Import and Export Wizard window.

Step 3:

In the Choose an action to perform entry area, select Import an iCalendar or vCalendar file (.vcs), then click the Next button.

Step 4:

Use the Browse window to find and select the vCalendar schedule file (either .ics or .vcs) sent to you by your schedule administrator or downloaded from WebSked. Click the Okay button on the window, and the entire schedule is added to your calendar.

That's all there is to it. You're done!

OTHER CALENDAR PROGRAMS

Nearly all recent calendar programs will import the schedule files created by EPSKED. In general, the following instructions will allow you to import the schedules.

1. If the file does not open by double clicking on it, use My Computer or Windows Explorer to find the schedules sent to you as vCalendar files.
2. Open the calendar program you wish to use.
3. Size the calendar program window so that you can also see the vCalendar files you have saved.
4. Add the contents of the vCalendar files to your calendar. Common systems of importing these files include:

Double-Click: Double-click on the *.vcs file; depending on how your system is configured, this may launch a scheduling program and allow you to save the new scheduling information directly. (Note: you must be certain that the correct program is launched when you double-click the file name. If the Microsoft Outlook is launched, but you synchronize to a different calendar program, then the new schedule may not be transferred to your handheld.)

File > Import: Use the File > Import command. You may need to select "vCalendar" or "*.vcs" or "*.ics" from the list of file types to import.

Drag and Drop: Use your mouse to drag the file into your scheduling application.

Whatever system you use, confirm that the scheduling information appears as expected.

If you are unable to import the vCalendar file, please consult the documentation for your calendar program or the technical support service for that program (they're the experts!).