AirSet - Web Based Calendar, Contacts, Lists, WebLinks, and More

After the hype I heard about 30Boxes I went looking for a calendar that I could use. I wanted to be able to share my calendar with my wife and have it integrate with either Outlook or my Palm. I knew the Yahoo calendar would do this but I just could not get past the ads on the site.

I came across AirSet that seemed to fit the bill completely. It’s motto is: Life is stressful. Keeping it organized shouldn’t be. It has a calender and contact list that will sync with Outlook or a Palm - and since I sync it with Outlook it automatically syncs with my Palm. The contact list also syncs with Outlook, another plus. It can also send reminders to an e-mail address or a phone.

One feature I like is that it will send you a summary of the next day’s calendar. I have it email it to me the night before so I can make sure that I remember all I have planned.

AirSet has the default personal calendar where you can put private calendar items. But its strength is that it will let you create separate calendars for yourself and others. I have set up a calendar for Family, where I can put things I want to share with my family, and one for the Office, where I can keep track of days-off and vacations. The office calendar is even ‘published’ so that I can use it inside our internal office website for everyone to view.

Adding Events

Adding events is quite easy and well thought out. To add an event you just click New. There are 4 tabs available to configure the event. The first tab you are brought to is Edit. The Edit tab sets up the primary info; Subject, Location, Address, Start, End, Duration, Notes, which calendar, what participants, and any desired reminders. If an address is typed in then a link is created to Google Maps. Participants do not need to be AirSet users, but if they are it will be added to their shared calendar or if not an email will be sent to them.

The Series tab allows you to set up the recurrence pattern for an event if needed. The tools for this is quite robust. I was even able to set up a teaching event that I alternate 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off by setting 2 events that repeat every 4th week. You can also set the start and end date for the pattern which works great for a class schedule.

When an event is created, it is placed on the currently selected calendar. It can be made viewable to additional groups by using the Share tab. Anyone in the events default group can edit the event but those added as additional groups will only be able to view the event. Say you have an evening office meeting in your company group calendar. If you share the event with your family group your spouse will be able to see you will not be home that evening till later.

A tab for each group you share the event with. For each group, only the members you select as participants will receive reminders for the event. You can also mark the event as private and only those selected as participants will see the event. Using the company meeting from above as an example, if it was set as private and I only checked my spouse’s name, then she would be the only one in the family group that would actually be able to see it.

There is also a View tab which gives an overview of the event but I am not quite sure why it is necessary. The only info it gives that is not available on the Edit tab is details on who created and edited the event.

The More button allows you to save and start fresh on a new event or a duplicate for easily creating similar events. It will also allow you to email all event participants and view a summary of the event details on one page.

Other Stuff

There is much more that AirSet can do. It has a Contact Manager that allows you to share contacts with your groups and/or sync them with Outlook and you Palm.

There is a list making function that looks interesting. I have not used it yet since it does not integrate with Outlook and I use Shadow Plan on my Palm anyway for any lists I need. Although there may be some uses for it as a shared list in the office.

AirSet allows you to send text messages, make Skype phone calls, and even has a blogging feature. Special features. AirSet has plenty of cutting-edge features, such as sending text messages, making Skype phone calls, or creating a calendar-related blog. Also handy is the ability to search your AirSet calendar.