Adding Local Time and Time Zone to an Event

  • iPad
  • Browser

Admins can configure event times and dates to display in the local time and time zone of the event instead of the time zone of the user who is viewing an event record. This helps to reduce confusion when coordinating or communicating with team members, attendees, and speakers who may be in a different time zone than where the event is taking place.

For example, Sarah Jones is collaborating with Charles Levine on an event in San Francisco. Sarah is based in San Francisco, while Charles is based in Boston. When Charles views the event in CRM, the event displays with a time and time zone based on the event’s time zone, Pacific Time, rather than his current time zone, Eastern Time. This helps Sarah and Charles coordinate the event.

Considerations

  • This feature replaces the existing Start_Time_vod and End_Time_vod fields on the EM_Event_vod and Medical_Event_vod objects. After enabling this feature, it is recommended to either remove these fields from page layouts.
  • The existing Start_Time_vod and End_Time_vod fields are still maintained for external systems that leverage the UTC format
  • For reporting consistency, it is recommended that admins and event organizers update existing events with the new Start Time (Local), End Time (Local), and Time Zone fields after enabling this feature
  • This feature interacts with the TIME_ZONE_DISPLAY_vod Veeva Setting in the following ways:
  • When both this feature and TIME_ZONE_DISPLAY_vod are enabled, all other date/time type fields continue to display the current time zone of the platform. However, the zvod_Start_Time_vod and zvod_End_Time_vod fields display the value based on the Time_Zone_vod field.
  • If this feature is enabled but TIME_ZONE_DISPLAY_vod is not enabled, all date and time fields, including the zvod_Start_Time_vod and zvod_End_Time_vod fields, do not display any time zone value
  • After enabling this feature, all new events must have a time zone
  • In Lightning-enabled orgs with Lightning for Events Management enabled, the Time_Zone_vod field on the EM_Event_vod object becomes a required field when rescheduling an event

Configuring Local Time and Time Zone

To enable this feature:

  1. Grant all users the following permissions:

    Object

    OLS

    Record Types

    Fields

    FLS

    EM_Event_vod

    CRU

    n/a

    • Time_Zone_vod

    • Country_vod

    • Start_Date_vod

    • Start_Time_Local_vod

    • Start_Time_vod

    • End_Date_vod

    • End_Time_Local_vod

    • End_Time_vod

    • zvod_Start_Time_vod

    • zvod_End_Time_vod

    Edit

    Medical_Event_vod

    CRU

    n/a
    • End_Date_vod
    • End_Time_Local_vod
    • End_Time_vod
    • Start_Date_vod
    • Start_Time_Local_vod
    • Start_Time_vod
    • Time_Zone_vod

    Edit

    Preferences_vod

    RU

    n/a

    Time_Zone_vod

    Edit

  2. Add the Time_Zone_vod field to the appropriate EM_Event_vod object page layouts.

  3. Add the zvod_Start_Time_vod and zvod_End_Time_vod fields to the appropriate EM_Event_vod object page layouts.

    These zvod fields are used by users to input time data. Do not add the Start_Date_vod, Start_Time_Local_vod, End_Date_vod or End_Time_Local_vod fields to page layouts, as this can result in duplicate or discrepant data.

Defining an Event’s Time Zone

To define an event’s time zone, use the Time_Zone_vod picklist. This can be done by either editing existing events, or during the creation of new events.

See the Salesforce list of supported time zones for a complete list of available time zones.

When users select a value from this field, their selection is stored in the Time_Zone_vod field of their associated Preferences_vod record. The value of this field automatically populates as the default value of the Time_Zone_vod picklist.

Referencing Local Time and Time Zones in Tokens

The local time and time zone of an event can be referenced in Approved Emails sent as invitations, as well as Print Templates using the standard {{ObjectAPIName.FieldAPIName}} merge token:

  • {{EM_Event_vod__c.Start_Time_Local_vod__c}}
  • {{EM_Event_vod__c.End_Time_Local_vod__c}}
  • {{EM_Event_vod__c.Time_Zone_vod__c}}

The existing {{EM_Event_vod__c.Start_Time_vod__c}}, {{EM_Event_vod__c.End_Time_vod__c}}, and {{timezone}} tokens can still be used to render the time zone of the current user, rather than the time zone of the event.