Google Calendar
Connect your calendar to enable automatic meeting brief delivery.
Google Calendar is the foundation of Formata's meeting preparation system. By connecting your calendar, Formata knows exactly when you have customer meetings scheduled and can deliver your prep briefs at the perfect time.
Why Google Calendar Integration is Required
Formata uses your Google Calendar to:
Identify customer meetings by detecting external attendees (customer email addresses)
Schedule brief delivery automatically 30 minutes before each meeting
Extract meeting context from titles, descriptions, and attendee information
Prioritize relevant data based on meeting participants and timing
Without calendar access, Formata cannot determine when you need meeting preparation, making this integration essential for the platform to function.
What Formata Accesses
When you connect Google Calendar, Formata requests permission to:
✅ Read your calendar events
Meeting titles and descriptions
Start and end times
Attendee email addresses
Meeting locations (if specified)
✅ Identify meeting patterns
Recurring meeting series
Meeting frequency with specific accounts
Historical meeting data for context
Formata operates with read-only access and never modifies, creates, or deletes calendar events.
Setup Process
Setting up Google Calendar integration takes less than a minute:
Step 1: Initiate Connection
Navigate to the Integrations page in your Formata dashboard
Find the Google Calendar section
Click Connect Google Calendar
Step 2: Authorize Access
You'll be redirected to Google's authorization page
Review the permissions Formata is requesting
Click Allow to grant access
You'll be automatically redirected back to Formata
Step 3: Confirm Connection
Once connected, you'll see:
✅ Google Calendar: Connected status in your integrations dashboard
Your primary calendar name and email address
Connection timestamp
Total setup time: 30 seconds
How Meeting Detection Works
Formata automatically identifies customer meetings using these criteria:
Meetings That Trigger Briefs
External attendees present: At least one attendee with an email domain different from your organization
Future meetings: Scheduled at least 30 minutes from now
Standard meeting types: One-on-one calls, group meetings, recurring series
Meetings That Don't Trigger Briefs
Internal-only meetings: All attendees from your organization
All-day events: Events without specific start times
Past meetings: Historical events won't generate new briefs
Very short notice: Meetings scheduled less than 30 minutes in advance
Brief Delivery Timing
Standard Delivery: 30 minutes before meeting start time
Why 30 minutes?
Gives you enough time to review and absorb the information
Close enough to the meeting to ensure relevance
Allows for any last-minute meeting preparation or adjustment
Multiple Calendars
If you have multiple Google calendars:
Primary Calendar: Formata monitors your primary Google Calendar by default
Additional Calendars: Currently, Formata focuses on your primary calendar to avoid duplicate briefs and ensure consistent delivery
Shared Calendars: Meetings from shared calendars where you're listed as an attendee will be detected if they appear in your primary calendar view
Troubleshooting
"No briefs are being delivered"
Check these common issues:
Meeting attendees: Ensure your meetings include external email addresses (customers)
Timing: Meetings must be scheduled at least 30 minutes in advance
Calendar permissions: Verify the integration shows as "Connected" in your dashboard
Slack setup: Confirm your Slack integration is also configured to receive briefs
"Briefs for wrong meetings"
Possible causes:
Personal meetings with external attendees (friends, family) may trigger briefs
Vendor meetings might be detected as customer meetings
Solution: Formata learns from your patterns over time and improves meeting detection accuracy
"Missing some meetings"
Common reasons:
Meeting invites sent from external organizers may not appear in your primary calendar view
Very last-minute meetings (under 30 minutes notice) won't generate briefs
All-day events or events without specific times are excluded
Privacy & Security
Data Protection:
Formata uses enterprise-grade encryption for all calendar data
Calendar information is processed securely and never shared with third parties
You can disconnect the integration at any time from your dashboard
Access Control:
Integration uses OAuth 2.0 for secure, revocable access
No passwords are stored - only secure access tokens
You maintain full control over your calendar data
Managing Your Integration
Reconnecting
If your integration becomes disconnected:
Go to Integrations in your dashboard
Click Reconnect next to Google Calendar
Follow the same authorization process
Disconnecting
To remove calendar access:
Click Disconnect in your Formata integrations dashboard
Note: Disconnecting Google Calendar will stop all meeting brief delivery since Formata won't know when meetings are scheduled.
Next Steps
Once your Google Calendar is connected:
Set up Slack integration to receive your briefs
Add Gmail integration for richer meeting context
Schedule a test meeting with an external attendee to see your first brief
Last updated