Understanding Availability in Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook

When Chili Piper checks for availability, it relies on how calendar platforms interpret event status. Whether you're using Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook, understanding how availability is blocked is critical, especially when working with optional invites, recurring meetings, or shared/team calendars.

These nuances apply not just to Chili Piper, but to most scheduling tools that check for "free" time.

Table of Contents:

• Google Calendar Behavior
• Microsoft Outlook Behavior & Chili Piper Integration

Google Calendar Behavior

Chili Piper checks your Google calendar to determine availability. Only events marked as "Free" or open space are considered available time. You can customize your availability and working hours in 'Availability' in Myapp. Below is more specifics on what is seen as Busy or not available to Chili Piper.

Events That Will Block Availability (Read as Busy):

Standard Event Marked as Busy

Out of Office Blocks

Optional Invites Not Accepted

• Even if an invite is marked optional, if it's set to “busy,” it still blocks time, even if the user hasn’t accepted it.

Optional Invites Accepted

• Once accepted, optional invites still block time if the event is marked as “busy.”

Invites Not Accepted (Marked as Busy)

• Google Calendar treats all received invites as busy by default, whether accepted or not.

Declined Recurring Meetings (Marked as Busy)

• Even if a recurring meeting is declined, it can still block time if it was originally set as “busy.”

Tip for Google Calendar Users

When sending a non-critical or informational meeting, consider setting the event’s availability to "Free" before sending the invite. This way, it still appears on attendees' calendars but doesn’t block availability for Chili Piper or other tools.

Microsoft Outlook Behavior & Chili Piper Integration

Chili Piper checks your Outlook calendar to determine availability. Only events marked as "Free" or "Working Elsewhere" are considered available time. All other statuses are treated as busy, even if the event is optional or not accepted.

Event Statuses That Will Block Availability

• Busy
• Tentative
• Out of Office

If a calendar event has any of these statuses, Chili Piper will treat that time as unavailable, regardless of whether you accepted, declined, or ignored the invite.

Tips for Outlook Users

• The Outlook status “Working Elsewhere” is treated the same as “Free” by Chili Piper. Use this status if you want to show calendar presence (e.g., focus time or admin work) without blocking your availability.
• When sending optional, low-priority, or FYI meetings, set the status to "Free" (or "Working Elsewhere" if appropriate). This keeps your calendar visible and informative, but won’t interfere with scheduling availability in Chili Piper or other tools.

Priority Scheduling in Chili Piper

Chili Piper also includes a feature called Priority Scheduling, which lets you customize how meetings are prioritized and routed based on rules and availability preferences.

Learn more about how to use Priority Scheduling here.