Outlook should use BST not GMT for UK during DST

R

robosheep

When Outlook records meetings and appointments in the UK, it describes the
time during all the months of the year as GMT. The UK only uses GMT during
the five Winter months; during Daylight Saving Time, we use BST. Look at
http://www.npl.co.uk/time/leap_second.html from the National Physical
Laboratory for an explanation of what GMT means and why it does not change
during the Summer months.

I want to be able to send meeting invitations that do not incorrectly
describe the times as GMT when they are in British Summer Time (BST). This
becomes particularly misleading when sending invitations outside the UK.

An example of this issue can be shown by looking at the schedules of the BBC
World Service. This only ever uses GMT, so there is a different programme
scheduled for a specific local time in the Winter from that in the Summer. I
understand that the US military uses Zulu Time which follows the same pattern.

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http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...cfd7b&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.calendaring
 
J

J Young

I would like embellish this a little with an anecdote which repeatedly bugs me.

Having grown up in the UK, the true meanings of GMT and BST are ingrained. I
now work in the USA with many colleagues in the UK. When I get a mail in
October from the UK for a meeting invite at "1:00 PM GMT", I expect to join
at 9:00 AM EDT, but alas, my Outlook calendar is now telling me the meeting
is at 8:00 AM EDT. I nearly missed the meeting by an hour. And when the UK
goes back to Winter time, I'm likely to get caught out again.

After the DST changes in the US a couple of years ago, before we caught up
with the Outlook and Exchange patches, I'm especially nervous of DST
synchronization issues and ensuring cross-time-zone meetings are really at
the times I think they are. It's tiring checking and rechecking when DST
starts and ends in different countries. Having Outlook report meetings in
"BST" would be a big relief.

Thanks.
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

If you have your outlook properly configured for your time zone and daylight
time settings outlook would convert the time to the proper local time.

also - please include the original message in your replies so everyone can
follow the thread.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.
 
T

Tetleys

Diane,

The problem isn't with the time, it's with the time zone. Outlook correctly
converts the time to the correct local time, but still adds the 'GMT' label
to the email invite, for example...

This meeting quite correctly says 14:00-16:00, but it should say BST, not GMT.

If the invite saidThen that would be correct.


Diane Poremsky said:
If you have your outlook properly configured for your time zone and daylight
time settings outlook would convert the time to the proper local time.

also - please include the original message in your replies so everyone can
follow the thread.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


J Young said:
I would like embellish this a little with an anecdote which repeatedly
bugs me.

Having grown up in the UK, the true meanings of GMT and BST are ingrained.
I
now work in the USA with many colleagues in the UK. When I get a mail in
October from the UK for a meeting invite at "1:00 PM GMT", I expect to
join
at 9:00 AM EDT, but alas, my Outlook calendar is now telling me the
meeting
is at 8:00 AM EDT. I nearly missed the meeting by an hour. And when the UK
goes back to Winter time, I'm likely to get caught out again.

After the DST changes in the US a couple of years ago, before we caught up
with the Outlook and Exchange patches, I'm especially nervous of DST
synchronization issues and ensuring cross-time-zone meetings are really at
the times I think they are. It's tiring checking and rechecking when DST
starts and ends in different countries. Having Outlook report meetings in
"BST" would be a big relief.

Thanks.
 
B

Barrys

It is a pain but I've found that if you modify:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Time
Zones\GMT Standard Time\Display
to be BST instead of (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon,
London then you will avoid confusing non-Outlook recipients of your meeting
invites.

Unfortunately you'll have to remember to change this registry key twice a
year.


Tetleys said:
Diane,

The problem isn't with the time, it's with the time zone. Outlook correctly
converts the time to the correct local time, but still adds the 'GMT' label
to the email invite, for example...

This meeting quite correctly says 14:00-16:00, but it should say BST, not GMT.

If the invite saidThen that would be correct.


Diane Poremsky said:
If you have your outlook properly configured for your time zone and daylight
time settings outlook would convert the time to the proper local time.

also - please include the original message in your replies so everyone can
follow the thread.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


J Young said:
I would like embellish this a little with an anecdote which repeatedly
bugs me.

Having grown up in the UK, the true meanings of GMT and BST are ingrained.
I
now work in the USA with many colleagues in the UK. When I get a mail in
October from the UK for a meeting invite at "1:00 PM GMT", I expect to
join
at 9:00 AM EDT, but alas, my Outlook calendar is now telling me the
meeting
is at 8:00 AM EDT. I nearly missed the meeting by an hour. And when the UK
goes back to Winter time, I'm likely to get caught out again.

After the DST changes in the US a couple of years ago, before we caught up
with the Outlook and Exchange patches, I'm especially nervous of DST
synchronization issues and ensuring cross-time-zone meetings are really at
the times I think they are. It's tiring checking and rechecking when DST
starts and ends in different countries. Having Outlook report meetings in
"BST" would be a big relief.

Thanks.
 

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