If you have freelance or temporary agents, there's a chance that they may not be included in the HR system your permanent team use to record time off.
For these cases, we usually recommend creating a new calendar that you can add to Surfboard. Here's how to do it in Outlook.
Step 1: Create a new time off calendar
Open Outlook and click Calendar on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.
Click Home, Open Calendar and Create New Blank Calendar.
Give this calendar a name and choose where to save it in your mailbox.
Click OK.
Step 2: Share the calendar with your team
Open Outlook and click Calendar to the left of the screen.
Right-click on your new calendar.
Select Share and then Calendar Permissions.
Click the Add button.
Select the user that you would like to view your new calendar.
Click on the Add -> button and click OK.
Select the user's name in the dialog box that appears.
Tick the box that says Folder Visible and click OK.
Click Calendar on the menu on the left.
Right-click on the calendar you want to share and select Share Calendar. This will send the recipient an invitation to view it.
Your shared calendar is now set up.
Step 3: Add the iCal link for this calendar into Surfboard
Open Outlook and go to Settings.
Search for Publish a calendar and click on it.
Select the calendar that you created earlier from the dropdown.
Select the permission labelled 'show all details'
Click Publish.
Click on the ICS link and then on Copy link to copy the calendar address in an iCal format.
Go to Surfboard and head to Settings > Time off and add that iCal link to Surfboard.
How do I add time off events in that calendar?
Create a new event in your calendar
Select the time of day this agent will be on time off
In the title of the event include:
the agent's first and last name, exactly as they appear in Surfboard, including any punctuation
Then, include any of these keywords so Surfboard knows which events are time off:
time off
holiday
vacation
absences
away
leave
absence
appointment
ooo
substitute day
sickness
sick
maternity
paternity
jury
floater day
🌴
substitute
not available
vacaciones
urlaub
Make sure that the calendar event is added to the time off calendar you created and added to Surfboard.
Once created, events will show up in Surfboard within 20 minutes.
FAQs
Will Surfboard also pull meetings from this calendar?
No, when a calendar is added as a time off calendar, Surfboard will only pull in events as time off blocks.
To sync in meetings or other events, invite block@teamsurfboard.com to the event and it will be synced into the schedule.
Why are my team's time off bookings not showing in Surfboard?
There are a few common reasons why bookings may be missing
The data hasn't refreshed yet: Surfboard syncs data from time off calendars every 20 minutes. Check back after a few minutes.
The agent's name did not match their name in Surfboard exactly: Check for spelling mistakes or missing punctuation, e.g. Fernandez instead of Fernández.
A keyword wasn't included: Check that the time off booking includes one of the keywords listed above. If there is a keyword your team use that isn't included (e.g. another language or time off policy) but vital for your workflows, then please make a request to our team via Intercom.
Can I add more than one calendar?
Yes, you can add an unlimited amount of time off calendars to Surfboard.