Another Time Zone Problem

[Matthew Schwarz]

Hello,

I'm in the U.S. Navy stationed on a ship. While floating around the oceans,
we extensively use a Calendar and Task List in the Public Folders.

All the appointments and meetings we set are for whatever time the ship is
using, or will be using. You see, as we float around going through one time
zone to the next, we are told when to change our clocks, and the computer
folks change the time zone settings through the server. This does not always
happen at an expected time. What I mean is, we may pass through to a new time
at 9 a.m., but they don't change our clocks until midnight. Or, we may pass
through a time zone a 9 a.m., but back into the old time zone at 3 p.m., and
they never change our clocks.

The point is, our time changing is not predictable. Missions and routes also
can change last minue, making it even less predictable. That is why we can't
use Outlook's multiple time zone feature to schedule appointments in their
intended time zone.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I hate waking up in the morning, logging
on to my computer, and seeing all my appointments screwed up.

Sincerely,
Matt

 

[Diane Poremsky]

they need to not change the computer time... otherwise, I'm not sure if
outlook 2007 would help - you can set appointments for specific time zones -
you could choose the time zone when you create the appointment and if
nothing else, force all items into 1 time zone and use the dually feature to
view that time zone.

 

[Matthew Schwarz]

I forgot to mention we are using Windows 2000 and Office XP.

 

[Matthew Schwarz]

Diane,

Thank you for the quick reply. They change the computer time for various
reasons, I really really doubt that I would be able to convince them to stop
doing it just so our appointments don't get out of whack.

What did you mean by forcing all items into 1 time zone?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Outlook 2007 lets you set the time zone on an appointment - i.e., you can
create an appointment for 1 pm EST and another for 4 PM PST without changing
the TZ or figuring out when the appointment should be.

If I understand correctly, your appointments are for whatever time zone you
are in (ie, a 1 pm appointment is for 1 pm no matter where you are), you
could create them for est and use EST in the dual zone - get in the habit of
ignoring the other time zone, which will keep changing. Reminders won't be
useful though. It's not really much different that working with dual zones
in Outlook 2002, except its easier to create the appointments.
Unfortunately, it will not work with windows 2000.. and if you need
reminders, its not useful at all.