Scheduling meetings can often feel like herding cats. There’s a whole load of back-and-forth involved in synchronizing department commitments, individual schedules and time zones to find a golden overlap between participant calendars. So as a classic shallow task that we could all do without, it’s fed a huge new market of meeting scheduler apps which try to simplify the task. But while well-meaning, not all meeting schedulers are created equal. Here’s why automatic meeting schedulers are the only realistic option for those looking to completely free themselves of low value meeting admin.
Meeting scheduler apps seek to simplify the unproductive and time-consuming task of setting up meetings. They mainly come in the form of email plugins and web applications, connecting directly to your work calendar app to help manage meeting coordination. You just need to download your preferred app and connect your calendar to get started.
Most meeting schedulers offer a simple calendar interface where people can book a time slot within your predefined hours of availability. Others use polling features to let meeting participants vote on a preferred meeting time. Most apps will send meeting invitation emails to participants once a time has been selected, and update everyone’s calendars accordingly.
While many meeting schedulers simplify meeting coordination, they don’t actually automate it: group polls and open calendar time selectors still require people to spend time consciously considering and synchronizing calendars. In contrast, automatic meeting schedulers actually outsource the task.
The difference lies in artificial intelligence. By understanding how meeting participants work and comparing their schedules for them, AI technology can do all the meeting scheduling leg work for you.
Here’s how the AI meeting scheduler Dewo works to illustrate:
3. By considering your team’s productive patterns, timing preferences and calendar event distributions, Dewo’s AI will find meeting times with minimal disruption to everyone’s schedules. You can hover on a time suggestion to reveal its net impact on productivity.
4. Just click a time suggestion and Dewo will get busy scheduling your meeting — sending invitations, adding calendar entries and handling any email back-and-forth automatically.
Automatic meeting scheduler apps don’t simply save you time; they actively optimize your schedule to create more space for what’s important. Instead of simply showing your availability to others, they qualify and protect it. Unlike the majority of manual meeting schedulers currently, automatic schedulers can: