Old Scheduling Dog Shows DEMO A New TrickOld Scheduling Dog Shows DEMO A New Trick

We often hear that business technology must look and feel more like personal technology, and Demo's kick-off presentation came from a company that's moving in that direction. TimeTrade Systems, whose enterprise scheduling software is used by 300 companies, demonstrated an innovative scheduler for individual users.TimeTrade has been selling appointment-scheduling software for eight years to enterprise accounts and government agencies. Its customers include David's Bridal, the Department of Homeland Security, the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles, and Petco.

Its new TimeDriver application incorporates the know-how gained from that business, but presented as a new software-as-a-service application for personal use. In other words, no IT department required.

As demonstrated at Demo, TimeDriver can be used by salespeople to schedule phone time with clients without the back and forth of phone tag or e-mail strings. The user defines blocks of available time, then sends an e-mail invitation to one or more people. As invitees respond, appointments get booked and available time slots are automatically adjusted.

TimeDriver is a browser-based app that works with a user's existing Google or Outlook calendars. The company points out this is not a calendar-sharing application so the user's calendar remains private.

TimeTrade president and CEO Ed Mallen says TimeDriver can be used by salespeople, hiring managers, or other professionals who need to schedule appointments. As a journalist, for example, I could use it to selectively schedule briefings during designated times of the week.

TimeDriver is in limited testing now; an expanded beta will begin in February and generally availability is planned for the second quarter. A basic version of the service will be free, while the company plans to license a professional grade version with additional features.