Handshake partners with Cronofy to provide a two-way calendar sync that helps manage appointment scheduling, so you can spend more high-value time with students!
Once two-way syncing is setup, Cronofy recognizes events on your edu calendar that are marked as unavailable/busy and pulls those blocks into Handshake, so students may not request appointments during that time. If an event on your calendar is marked as available/free, it will be bypassed and not impact your availability in Handshake.
- Note: if a fellow staff member schedules the appointment on behalf of a student, the appointment may still be added. Only students will be impacted by your availability.
When new appointments with you are approved in Handshake, the new appointment is automatically added to your edu calendar.
Topics:
- How to setup two-way syncing
- Cancel two-way syncing
- Availability Blocks in Handshake
- FAQs
- I am getting an error message when I click Authorize Calendar Sync, what should I do?
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Are recurring meetings in my edu calendar synced into Handshake?
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How long do changes in Handshake take to add to my edu calendar?
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I changed information that synced into my calendar, but now it's reverted my changes. What happened?
How to setup two-way syncing
1. Navigate to your User Settings by clicking your name in the upper-right corner of Handshake, then clicking on User Settings.
2. Click Calendar Sync from the menu on the left of the page.
3. Click Authorize Calendar Sync
4. You will be directed to Cronofy, the third party calendar syncing tool that we use, where you will choose your edu calendar provider:
- iCloud
- Office365
- Exchange
- Outlook.com
5. Click the edu calendar provider you would like to sync with Handshake, and the screen will update for you to review Cronofy permissions:
- create calendar events
- delete events that this app creates
- read events in your calendars
You'll also need to review and agree to Cronofy's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
- Google, Office 365, and Outlook.com each provide a basic prompt to review the above, check the box to indicate agreement, and click Link "X" Account
- iCloud includes the same basic prompts, as well as prompts for your Apple ID and an app-specific password for security:
- Exchange includes the same basic prompts, as well as prompts for the following:
- Email address (required)
- Password (required)
- Exchange Server URL (optional)
- Username (optional)
After linking the account, you may be prompted for an additional security review from your calendar provide, such as this example below from Google - if so, click Allow to proceed.
7. From the External Calendar Sync dropdown, choose which specific calendar you would like to sync with Handshake.
If the desired calendar is not listed, you can click the Refresh List link above the dropdown to reload options.
- Note: double-check that the calendar chosen is the primary calendar you use - if you have another calendar that events show up on, they will not be synced as part of this process!
8. When you have selected a calendar from the list, a confirmation will load that states, "Successfully Saved. We will sync existing appointments and events for 6 months into the future, and all new appointments going forward."
Cancel two-way syncing
If you accidentally selected the wrong calendar, or at any point you'd like to cancel the sync between your Handshake calendar and personal calendar via Cronofy, click Revoke Access.
At that time, you will be able to remove all unavailable blocks created in Handshake and all appointments added to your university calendar via the prompt Remove Events From Calendar: "Would you like to remove all events synced to your personal calendar that were created by Handshake and all appointment blocks created from events on your personal calendar?"
Click Yes to proceed.
Availability Blocks in Handshake
Handshake does not sync availability blocks into your university calendar because we want to continue to mark events in your university calendar as unavailable in Handshake.
If you would like your staff to see your availability for appointments in your edu calendar, then you should create repeating blocks of time directly on your edu calendar and mark them as open/available.
How does two-way calendar sync work in Handshake?
Action in Handshake or your university calendar |
Update in Handshake or your university calendar |
Requested appointment in Handshake |
Busy event on university calendar |
Approved appointment in Handshake |
Busy event on university calendar |
Declined appointment in Handshake |
Deletes the event on university calendar |
Canceled appointment in Handshake |
Deletes the event on university calendar |
Started appointment in Handshake |
Update event name on university calendar to include “Started:” |
Completed appointment in Handshake |
Update event name on university calendar to include “Completed:” |
No show appointment in Handshake |
Update event name on university calendar to include “No show:” |
Edit/Delete appointment in Handshake |
Update/Delete the event on university calendar |
Edit/Delete Handshake appointment on university calendar |
No change to appointment in Handshake ** |
Added event on university calendar |
Creates a one-time unavailable block in Handshake |
Edit/Delete event on university calendar |
Changes/Deletes one time unavailable block in Handshake |
Edu calendar refers to your institution's calendar provided: iCloud, Google, Outlook, Office 365 or Exchange.
** If you would like to make an update to the Handshake appointment they must be done in Handshake. Changes will be reflected on your edu calendar.
FAQs
I am getting an error message when I click Authorize Calendar Sync, what should I do?
- This application may be blocked by your IT department. Please reach out to your IT department with the security documentation available here and ask that they authorize Cronofy on campus.
Are recurring meetings in my edu calendar synced into Handshake?
- All recurring meetings will be synced into Handshake as unavailable blocks. If you remove them individually, or change the status to available/free, they will be removed individually from Handshake.
How long do changes in Handshake take to add to my edu calendar?
- Usually about 20 seconds to a minute. If you're noticing delayed updates, check your edu calendar settings for a setting that updates your calendars on a timed schedule, such as daily/hourly, etc.
I changed information that synced into my calendar, but now it's reverted my changes. What happened?
- Sometimes, Cronofy will periodically do a full resync of events to ensure accuracy. If you've changed any of the details on an event synced in from Handshake, those changes will be overwritten at that time.
- Also, when an event on your university calendar changes, Cronofy recognizes that changes, and performs a resync from the changed event forward.
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