Google Calendar to SMS Zap

Meetings — what else more do we need to say. They always seem to come at the worst times, right when we’re in the middle of 10,000 lines of code and in our “flow.” Which usually means that after “snoozing” Google Calendar across the 15 open tabs, I end up looking at the clock, slamming my computer shut, and running to the conference room (only to arrive 5–10 minutes late — on a good day).

Thankfully, it seems like I’m not the only one. But then the next challenge is juggling which meeting is next and when. A continuous cycle that results in almost every meeting running over, with quite possibly the only benefit to my tardiness being a good amount of exercise.

So how is it that I can master API integrations (at least in my head) — but can’t even make it to ONE meeting on time? That doesn’t make sense — and it shouldn’t. If only there was a way that a few minutes before my next meeting I received a text message — something I couldn’t ignore. And if only that was something I could build in 5 minutes or less.

Thankfully, using Zapier, I can!!! So without further ado, let’s zap to it.

Step 1:
Create a New Zap by selecting the Google Calendar Trigger and choosing “Event Start:”

Step 2:
Connect to your Google calendar:

Step 3:
Choose the calendar you want to monitor, the time before the event you want to be notified, and the time measurement unit.

In this case, I figure 3 minutes is enough time to get me to my next meeting. Of course, you can also add a search term to only be notified for specific meetings (such as “CEO” or “DO NOT MISS”):

Step 4:
Select the RingCentral app as the second action:

Step 5:
Select Send SMS:

Step 6:
Connect your RingCentral account:

Step 7:
Select the phone number to send the text from (this needs to be a phone number associated with your RingCentral account).

Next enter the phone number you want to send it to. To send to a number not associated with your RingCentral account select “Use a Custom Value.”

And finally setup the message. In this case, I want to know what the meeting is, and where it is:

And then click “Continue.”

Step 8:
Finally be sure to test your zap, name it, and turn it on to receive your friendly meeting reminders:

And just like that we’re all set — and our excuse for missing meetings has been “zapped.”