Tungle.blog

Tungle Calculator: How much is scheduling costing you?

Do you know the real cost of scheduling the old fashioned way? 

With phone and email, you could be wasting countless hours every week just trying to get meetings booked.

For consultants who charge hourly rates, that's money down the drain because you probably don't factor in the time you spend scheduling with clients.

For sales professionals, time spent on administrative tasks like scheduling is time taken away from customers, and potentially missed commissions.

Take a spin on the Tungle Calculator to see just how much scheduling is costing you:

 

What do you spend on scheduling?

Meetings you organize per week:

Meetings you participate in per week:
(where you are not the organizer)

$

Your hourly rate:

You spend per week:

Time wasted on scheduling: 1.2 hrs

Money lost: 300

Ready to take back your time and your money?

Recalculate

How it's calculated:

• For every meeting you organize, we add 15 minutes (we're being generous here, as we know it actually takes closer to an average of 20 minutes to get one meeting booked).


• For every meeting where you are a participant (and have to contribute your input to the back-and-forth), we add 5 minutes. 

With Tungle:

• It takes less than 5 minutes to organize a meeting.


• As a participant, it takes about 30 seconds.

So, how much could you save with Tungle?

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Back to Basics - Schedule, publish, share (and sync!)

In a very short time, a lot of new features have come to Tungle.  Everything from quick links to your personal link has come along to help make your life easier.

To keep things even easier, let’s go back to basics. 

At the core of Tungle is syncing.  Tungle syncs with Outlook, Google, iCal and Entourage (and soon Lotus Notes will be added to the mix), so you don’t have to switch to a new system.

Once synced, there are 3 main features to Tungle:

1. Scheduling
2. Click-to-Meet Publishing
3. Cross-Calendar Sharing

Note that you can get easy scheduling and click-to-meet publishing without syncing, but syncing with your calendar makes them (and you) more efficient.

Scheduling

More than a basic calendar invite, with Tungle you propose multiple times to one or many people.  Tungle handles:

• Replies – With one invitee, they simply pick a time and it’s booked.  With many, Tungle narrows it down to times that work for everyone.  Invitees don’t have to sign up.
• Double bookings – Tungle dynamically updates pending meeting invitations if you add new events to your calendar that overlap proposed times.
• Time zones – Automatic time zone detection means your invitees always see proposed times in their own time zone.
• Auto-add to calendar – Once a meeting is booked, it’s automatically added to everyone’s calendar.

Click-to-Meet Publishing

Make it easy for others to meet with you via your custom Tungle.me link.  Personalize and enable your link, then add it to your:

• Email signature
• LinkedIn, Facebook, Xing or other public profile
• Blog or website
• Anywhere you connect online

You can even print it on your business cards.  Others can click your link, see when you’re free, and schedule meetings with you.  You get final say over who and when you meet.

Cross-Calendar Sharing

Tungle acts as an exchange server for your calendar, but better.  Tungle lets you share with anyone, inside or outside your company, even if they use a different calendar application.

• Share free/busy or details
• Start or stop sharing with anyone, at any time

The Best Part

You keep using your calendar.  Tungle is a calendar accelerator, so it doesn’t replace your calendar, it works hand-in-hand with it, giving you the control to connect, collaborate and be more productive.

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Business Cards That Work for You

You're at a networking event exchanging business cards with key new contacts.  So is everyone else.

Your business card has a simple URL printed on it, inviting people to schedule time with you.

Whose card do you think is more effective?  The one with a phone number, email and fax (if anyone even faxes anymore), or the one with a simple URL that lets others schedule time in just a few clicks?

I’d put money on the URL.

Before I came to Tungle (and before Tungle.me existed), I attended several conferences where I met people who could have helped with the challenges being faced by the company I was with at the time.

I always left these conferences with a stack of business cards.  Did I follow up with them all?  No. 

Each one would have required a voicemail or email suggesting we meet.  Times would be exchanged back and forth, and eventually a time for a call would be nailed down.  In the meantime, I’d be engaged in the same exchanges with every other new contact.  Chances were, I’d double book myself, or have to call contacts to tell them times I’d previously suggested were now booked.

I just didn’t have the time.  Opportunities were missed, I’m sure, but short of spending evenings and weekends glued to my phone and email, it simply wasn’t doable.

I also knew the contacts I’d made had exchanged cards with several other people too, and thus were in the same boat.  They wouldn’t have time for me either.

Now we have Tungle.me.  Unfortunately, my business cards were printed before we developed the product.  But there’s a simple fix – when exchanging cards, I simply take out a pen and write my personal URL on the card.  It makes the exchange more memorable, and the person feels like they’ve been given a more personal way to get in touch with me.

Here’s how it works:

Someone receives my card, with the penned on URL.  They type it into their browser and instantly see when I’m free.  They create a meeting invitation proposing multiple times, and send.

They have to confirm their email address (it’s how we prevent spam – people can’t send you invites through your link unless they first confirm their identity), but they don’t have to sign up.

I get the email, can see the proposed times overlaid on my calendar, and simply pick a time to book the meeting.

It’s automatically added to my calendar, and the sender gets an email confirmation to add it to their calendar as well.

The whole process takes less than 5 minutes, and I could even reply from an iPhone or BlackBerry.

It’s quick and easy for me, and quick and easy for the other person.  Fewer opportunities are missed, less time is spent glued to my desk, and I can even decline invitations if I decide later that I don’t need to meet with the person.

So, do your business cards work for you yet?

Want to see how Tungle.me works?  Watch a short video >

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Did you know?  Tungle.me can accelerate your email signature, blog, website, LinkedIn profile and anywhere you connect online too!  Learn more >

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Have a Tungle account, but haven’t enabled your link yet?  Go to “Tungle.me” in your Management tab. 
Sign into Tungle >

Not a Tungler yet?  Oh my!  Where did you find the time to read this?  You need Tungle. 
Get a free account here >

The Ultimate Tungler - Marni Melrose

We’re happy to announce the winner of our Ultimate Tungler Challenge.  Marni Melrose, of MacAngel.com was our top Tungler during the challenge period.  She was one busy Tungler!

As our top Tungler, Marni will be getting a starring role in the Tungle video, which will be updated soon and available on Tungle.com.

A bit about Marni:

Marni, the first Certified Daylite partner, has created the MacAngel Method of business and life management, which incorporates David Allen's GTD and Stephen Covey's First Things First methodologies.  She specializes in helping individuals and businesses keep their lives in balance and their work on track with Daylite.

"With my busy schedule it was tough to keep track of and book everything, Tungle has made it simple and easy. It's been a real time saver and that's really important to me and my clients,” says Marni.

And here at Tungle, we’re proud have Marni on board, and happy to be playing a small part in her business.

To learn more about Marni and the MacAngel Method, check out MacAngel.com >

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Want to Tungle too?  Get a free account here >

It’s About Time

Tungle is fast, efficient, simple, intelligent, etc.  But what it really boils down to, is time saved.

When scheduling our weeks, we factor in time we’ll spend in meetings, preparing for meetings and closing meetings, but rarely the time we’ll spend scheduling meetings.  And yet, our research shows that it takes an average of 7 communications to book one meeting.

Let’s see how much time that is:

Each communication takes about 3 minutes – writing an email, replying, dialling the phone, etc.  7 communications x 3 minutes = 21 minutes to book one meeting.  If you have one meeting a day, that’s just under 2 hours (1.75 to be exact) every week on scheduling.

With Tungle, it takes an average of just 1.6 communications to book a meeting.  At 3 minutes per communication, that’s just 4.8 minutes.  Subtract that from the pre-Tungle way, and you’re saving 16.2 minutes with every meeting, just by using Tungle. 

That’s over an hour saved (81 minutes) each week.

Here are some things you could do with an extra 81 minutes in your week:

• Reply to 40 emails (giving yourself 2 mins for each)
• Return 16 phone calls (giving yourself 5 mins for each)
• Plan your to-do list for the following week
• Organize your desk drawers
• Start your Christmas shopping early (or am I the only one who does that?)
• Learn a new language
• Clean up your filing system
• Burn up to 1,472 calories
• Ride a bike
• Overhaul your resume
• Manage your finances
• Tell jokes
• Read a book
• Take a long lunch
• Outline 3 new ideas to bring to your next team meeting
• Close your email, unplug the phone, turn off the BlackBerry and breathe (hey, you would’ve been busy and unreachable during that time anyway, right?)
• Get a pedicure (just me again?)
• Leave early on Friday (now I know that’s not just me)

And that’s just if you schedule one meeting a day.  If you schedule 2, 3 or more meetings per day, just think of all the time you’ll save!  Now if only Oprah would do the math too...

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Ready to save time?  Get a free Tungle account >

The Trust Factor

If you use a web app to communicate with friends, family or business associates, you should be able to trust it 100%.  We firmly believe that this trust comes from respect and integrity.  That’s why at Tungle, you can rest assured that your privacy is high on our list of priorities.

When you sync your calendar and contact list with your Tungle account, it’s there for your use only.  

You can send meeting invitations, invite people to share with you, or even use the invite-a-friend feature to tell someone about Tungle.  You can do this with the assurance that Tungle will not spam you or your contacts.  

When you send something through Tungle, your contacts receive the message you send, and only the message you send.  In addition, only the contacts you explicitly select will receive the message – there are no hidden checkboxes or “select all” options that could be easily overlooked.

You also have full control over any information you bring to Tungle.  No one else has access to it unless you give explicit consent, and you can remove your personal information from Tungle at any time.

We know you’re busy, and we know that you need a service you can trust to help you save time.  That’s why our privacy and security policies are more than just formality – they are a core part of how we do business.

More about Tungle security >

Tungle Faster – Quick links

A web app is most useful if it’s right at your fingertips, right when you need it.  That’s why Tungle has quick links for Outlook and Google.

What are quick links?

When you’re reading an email and the sender has suggested a phone call to discuss, there’s a Tungle button right there that starts a new meeting invitation, complete with the email sender’s address and subject of the email pre-populated.  All you have to do is propose times and send.

When you’re looking at your calendar and decide you want to schedule a meeting this week, there’s a Tungle button in your Outlook or Google calendar that quickly links you right to Tungle.

There’s even a button on the main page of your inbox so quick and simple scheduling is always just a click away.

Make it even faster!

When you sign into Tungle, be sure to check the “Remember me” box.  That way, when you use your quick links, you won’t have to sign in each time – you just click and Tungle.

How do I get quick links

Outlook

If you’re an Outlook user, your quick links will be automatically added to your Outlook calendar and inbox when you sync with Tungle.  They’ll look something like this:

Google

Google quick links are available as a Firefox plugin.  Sign into Tungle and go to “Downloads” in your management tab.  Click “Download now” under Google quick links.  When you access your Google account through a Firefox browser, your quick links will look like this:

 

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Want to download the Google Firefox plugin, or sync your Outlook calendar?  Sign in to your Tungle account>

Not a Tungler yet?  Get a free account here >

Tungle - What's in a Name?

Proactively seeking feedback and listening to our users is part of our DNA.

Over the past weeks, since our GA launch, we received a lot of comments, from feature suggestions, questions, and sometimes even the funniest stories about how Tungle has helped people regain control of their schedules (we will keep these for a future post).  Thank you for the feedback and keep it coming.

What surprised us even more is how our name, Tungle, struck a chord with people.  The majority love it.  Some send us comments that they can’t seem to remember it.  And 2 or 3 people have said that it makes them feel a little bit dirty – although none specified whether that was a good or bad thing, or what they thought a “Tungle” might be.

Where does our name come from?  Unfortunately, only the Tungle team knows this secret.

For those that have problems remembering our name – don’t worry – it won’t be long before Tungle is part of the daily routine for you and everyone around you.  But, in the meantime, here are a few plays on words that may help you remember the name:

Tungle stands for (This is our marketing spin, not how we came up with our name):

Taming the Time Management Jungle

Other plays on words:

• Welcome to the Tungle
• Rumble in the Tungle
• Slip me a little Tungle (ok that may make you feel dirty)

Hope this helps.

p.s.  To be honest, we want you to remember our name, but we know you will remember it by helping you Make Meetings Happen.  That’s our sole focus.

Vive le Quebec!

We are as patriotic as the next guy -  so when we got a call from the builders of the Fête Nationale du Québec website (Quebec’s National Celebration) – we answered. 

Request: On the Fête National website (http://www.fetenationale.qc.ca) – Quebecers can view the list of the events for different cities.  For people interested in attending an event, they wanted a way where the details (time, location, etc) could be easily sent to them, but formatted in a way where it could automatically be added to their personal calendar.  So, that’s what we did.  

The Solution: As part of our main service, we had already solved this specific problem.  People who book meetings on Tungle automatically receive the meeting confirmation (ICS) formatted for their electronic calendar (Google Calendar, Outlook, Notes, iCal or Entourage).

Many sites offer a download link right from the website, but that requires several un-necessary steps; from choosing your calendar type, downloading the file, opening it, saving it, etc.  Not only does Tungle eliminate all these steps, but also permits updates such as changes in time or location to be sent to the user, and have their calendar automatically updated.

The Result: So, we opened up our APIs, added important security measures, and voila, try it out for yourself.  The integration was seamless, it took very little time – and now Quebecers can enjoy the power of Tungle.

Before anyone asks, yes the service is entirely in French for the Fête Nationale.

So, if anyone is interested in doing a similar integration, let us know.  We will be more than happy to share our APIs with you.

The Plan for Paid: Tungle is free and always will be

A recent Webware article on CNet reviewed Tungle, giving Tungle high marks because it just works; people invited to meetings just knew what to do and were not annoyed – some even liked the experience ;)

As part of the review, the author also raised some concerns regarding Tungle’s revenue model and made a few incorrect assumptions.

Thus, we thought it important to make our position and business model very clear.  Tungle’s plan is, has always been, and will continue to be to keep Tungle free.  Your account, and all the features you enjoy today at no cost, will continue to be free.

That said, how is Tungle going to make money?

Good question.  Tungle’s business model is based on what’s called a “freemium” model.  That means, the basic Tungle service will continue to be free (as promised), but we will add additional “premium” features as optional extensions of the basic Tungle service.  Premium features will be paid features.

Free + Premium = Freemium – get it?

If the basic service suits your needs, keep on Tungling for free!  For those with more advanced calendar accelerating needs, additional features will be available at an affordable cost.

Tungle has No intention to go down the advertising route.  We are a solution for professionals and we don’t want to annoy anyone with unwanted advertising banners.

Given that Tungle raised $5 million in funding just this past fall, our focus for 2009 is on building a service so simple and efficient that it becomes an indispensible part of your every day work life.  So keep an eye out for updates because we aren’t finished with your basic Tungle service yet.

So, to sum up – Tungle is free.  Tungle will always be free.  One day, premium features will be available at a cost, but basic Tungle will always be free.  And most importantly, basic Tungle has more to come (and there’s nothing “basic” about that)!