Sync Calender with Google?

[shawnone]

I started a scratch practice about 18 months ago. I have been using eaglesoft on a single computer to make treatment plans, claims, and accounting. I got the software basically for free so it was what I decided to use. Now the practice is picking up and we are open 3 days/week. So far we have been using Google calender and not the eaglesoft scheduling module. This is primarily because the days we are not in the office (phone is forwarded) my office manager can still access the schedule from her home and also from her blackberry (via google sync).

I am seriously contemplating switching to open dental. I want to know if/how we can remotely access the scheduling system. Is it possible to sync the calender to google calenders? Is there a way to remotely access from the internet?

thanks!

[jclaydds]

I also use google apps and google sync to sync info to my iPhone. I think that the google calendar would be far inferior as far as features, etc if you tried to use it to schedule your patients as compared to any scheduling module in most dental practice management system software programs no matter the brand. With that said, you are on an Open Dental Forum and you will likely find many very happy users of the Open Dental Software. As far as synching the Open Dental Software, I don't think you will find that capability. Instead, many Open Dental users remotely access the Open Dental Software across the internet. There is no need to sync, resync after making changes, etc if you are working on a live copy of your data base remotely.

I guess there are different ways or different software available for remote connections. In our office, we use LogMeIn which is a free program. LogMeIn does have an upgraded program that has some extra features such as remote printing, etc that has an annual fee. Depending on your needs, you can decide if the free program is sufficient or you need to pay to have the upgraded version. I would imagine your internet connections at the office and where you remotely access from would need to be high speed (cable or dsl) to be satisfied with its performance. I work from home almost on a daily basis and I am quite happy with the remote access to Open Dental as well as any other program on my computer at office. I don't access the server but my workstation on my desk. My partner accesses his workstation (computer) and my office manager acccesses her workstation (computer). As you can see, multiple remote connections are possible with LogMeIn. If you are all trying to remote in at the same time, your internet connection speed can be a limiting factor.

Hope this helps!

Jeff

P.S. I believe there is an effort currently where someone is trying to write an iPhone app to access Open Dental remotely. LogMeIn offers an iPhone app and I have it. I paid $30 one time fee for the LogMeIn app. Unless you have a WiFi or 3G connection, it is painfully slow. You might look up something in a pinch but I quickly realized that I was not going to do a lot of meaningful work from my iPhone. We will have to wait and see if the other app that is under development will function better with Open Dental.

[shawnone]

Thanks for the reply Jeff,

I understand google calender is probably inferior to the native scheduling modules, especially when trying to bring up reports on missed appointments etc. But my problem is that my office manager needs access from her blackberry on the go. She needs to be able to look up the schedule, add appointments, reschedule appts, from anywhere at anytime. Google calender gives us that privilege. Unless she can do that from her phone (not just from a laptop) the native scheduling would be worthless to me right now.

I think that is a feature others would probably benefit from, especially those with part-time practices in their infancy stage.

[jclaydds]

It sounds like your office manager is a blackberry user. Not sure this would help but here is the link I was thinking about when I mentioned the iPhone app that is currently being developed. It sounds like that is available not only for Open Dental but also Eaglesoft.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2862&p=12409&hilit=iphone#p12409

Jeff

[medicusjim]

If you end up going with Open Dental, you may want to consider using MyPatientScheduler (http://MyPatientScheduler.com) to help with your remote scheduling needs. It fully integrates with Open Dental, and will allow both patients and your office staff to make appointments from outside the office directly to your office schedule. It can automate your appointment confirmation process.

-Jim

[doctordoom]

bump, is there a way to sync with google calendar?

Is there a feature that I can vote on that will allow this? Thanks in advanced.

[mopensoft]

Google now syncs with most of calendar application out there. I think a simple solution is sending a an icalendar file to emails and get Google sync installed. I planned to make a plugin for it but still a bit lazy because of January . Will start it this week.

[doctordoom]

Google now syncs with most of calendar application out there. I think a simple solution is sending a an icalendar file to emails and get Google sync installed. I planned to make a plugin for it but still a bit lazy because of January . Will start it this week.

I figured google syncs with most calendar applications out there.... but how about open dental?

I saw this : http://www.opendental.com/manual/outlook.html

And i also know request #757 "Sync the appointments with other calendars (Outlook, google, iPhone, etc)" has been approved.

Please make this work soon?

[doctordoom]

bump to the top..

any updates? I really would like to be able to sync my open dental with google calendar. Or at least have that option.

[KevinRossen]

bump to the top..

any updates? I really would like to be able to sync my open dental with google calendar. Or at least have that option.

I have an idea on how to do it, but not completely sure how to automate it. You can create MySQL queries that save to csv (spreadsheet) files. You can then update those csv files to your Google Calendar. If you only have one op then it would be pretty easy. But if you have multiple ops you'd needs multiple calendars to make it work.

The downfall to this would be the lack of automation and that you'd probably have to do it one week at a time or so. I don't know of an easy way to automate it, but given enough time anything is possible.