--- title: "Employee Directory: Local Time, Working Hours and Availability" description: "Learn how the Vitextra Employee Directory details pane shows a colleague's local time, time difference, working hours and today's free/busy schedule next to your own, where the data comes from, which Microsoft Graph permissions it needs and how administrators turn it on or off." url: https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10317 language: en published: 2026-10-18 modified: 2026-10-18 products: - "Employee Directory" author: "Vitālijs Kalniņš" tags: ["Employee Directory local time", "working hours", "outside working hours", "free/busy", "availability", "colleague time zone", "getSchedule", "Calendars.Read", "Presence.Read.All", "presence status", "SharePoint employee directory", "Microsoft Teams"] --- # Employee Directory: Local Time, Working Hours and Availability Learn how the Vitextra Employee Directory details pane shows a colleague's local time, time difference, working hours and today's free/busy schedule next to your own, where the data comes from, which Microsoft Graph permissions it needs and how administrators turn it on or off. When your colleagues work in different cities and time zones, the first question before you call or invite someone is simple: is now a good time? The details pane of the Vitextra [Employee Directory web part](https://vitextra.com/en/products/employee-directory) answers it at a glance. It shows the person's local time and how far ahead or behind you they are, their working hours with an "outside working hours" warning, and a free/busy timeline for today that you can compare with your own. This article explains what each element means, where the data comes from, and what administrators need to configure. ## Where to find it Select a person in the directory to open the details pane. Below the contact details, the pane shows: - **Local time** — the person's current time and the difference from your time zone; - **Working hours** — the person's working hours and, when relevant, an **Outside working hours** indicator; - **Availability** — two free/busy timelines for today: the person's and your own (**You**). ![Local time, working hours and availability in the details pane](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10317/details-pane-local-time-en.png) *Local time, working hours and availability in the details pane* The information is loaded for the person you open and for you, the signed-in user, in a single request. While it loads, the section shows a **Loading...** spinner. ## Local time and time difference The **Local time** row shows the current time in the person's time zone, formatted according to your browser's language settings (for example, `17:42` or `5:42 PM`). Next to it you see how the person's time relates to yours: - **Same time zone as you** — you and the person are in the same time zone; - **3 h ahead of you** — the person's clock is ahead of yours; - **2 h behind you** — the person's clock is behind yours. The difference is calculated against the time zone of your own device (browser), so it stays correct when you travel. Daylight saving time is taken into account for both sides, and time zones with half-hour offsets (for example, India) are shown as `5.5 h`. While the pane stays open, the clock updates automatically every 30 seconds. ## Working hours and the "Outside working hours" indicator The **Working hours** row shows the start and end of the person's working day in their own time zone, for example `09:00 – 18:00`. When the person is currently outside their working hours, an **Outside working hours** indicator with a clock icon appears next to the hours. The check considers both the time of day and the person's working days: on a day that is not one of their working days (typically the weekend), the indicator is shown all day. Night shifts that end after midnight are supported too. When the person is within their working hours, no indicator is shown. 💡 **Tip** The indicator is a polite hint, not a block: you can still chat, call or email the person. If they are outside their working hours, consider sending a message they can read in the morning instead of calling. ## Availability: today's free/busy The **Availability** section shows two timelines one under the other: **Availability ()** for the person and **Availability (You)** for you. Comparing them helps you spot a time when you are both free. - **Time range.** Each timeline covers today from 9 AM to 7 PM in **your** local time. It is divided into ten hourly columns labeled from 9 AM to 6 PM, and each hour is split into two 30-minute slots. - **Slot status.** A slot takes the status of the calendar event that covers the start of that half hour. Hover over a slot to see its status as a tooltip. | Slot appearance | Status | Meaning | |---|---|---| | Empty (white) | **Free** | No events in the calendar for this half hour. | | Solid blue | **Busy** | The person has a meeting or appointment marked as busy. | | Blue and white stripes | **Tentative** | The person has a tentatively accepted or tentative event. | | Purple with a pattern | **Out of office** | The person is marked as away from the office. | Events with other statuses, such as **Working elsewhere**, are displayed as empty slots. 📝 **Note** Only the free/busy status of each slot is displayed. Meeting subjects, locations, attendees and other event details are never shown in the directory, so the section reveals no more than the free/busy view in Outlook's Scheduling Assistant. ## Presence status Presence is a separate, real-time signal that complements the calendar. While the timeline shows what is planned in the calendar, presence shows what the person is doing right now in Microsoft Teams: - in the **Contact** (cards) view, a colored presence indicator appears on the person's photo; - in the **Details** (table) view, the **Status** column shows the presence as text: **Available**, **Away**, **Busy**, **Do not disturb**, **Offline** or **Out of Office**. When the person has an automatic out-of-office reply turned on, the status shows **Out of Office**, and the reply text appears as a tooltip when you hover over the status. 📝 **Note** Presence is shown on the directory cards and in the **Status** column, not in the details pane itself. For the full list of panel sections, see [KB10199. Employee Directory: Customizing the Details Pane](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10199). ## Where the data comes from All information comes from Microsoft 365 through Microsoft Graph; the Employee Directory does not store any of it: - **Time zone and working hours** come from the person's Outlook settings (**Settings › Calendar › Work hours and location** in Outlook on the web, or **File › Options › Calendar** in classic Outlook). Exchange returns them together with the free/busy schedule. - **Free/busy** comes from the person's and your own Exchange Online calendars, through the Microsoft Graph `getSchedule` request — the same source Outlook uses when you schedule a meeting. - **Presence** comes from Microsoft Teams, through the Microsoft Graph presence API. ### Required Microsoft Graph permissions These permissions are requested by the Employee Directory solution package and must be approved by an administrator on the **API access** page of the SharePoint admin center: | Feature | Permission | |---|---| | Local time, working hours, availability | **Calendars.Read** | | Presence status | **Presence.Read.All** | No separate mailbox settings permission (such as **MailboxSettings.Read**) is needed: the time zone and working hours arrive with the free/busy schedule. 💡 **Tip** For how to approve API access requests after installation, see [KB10035. How to Install a Vitextra Product in SharePoint Online](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10035). ## When data is missing The section is designed to degrade gracefully: if some information is unavailable, the corresponding part is simply hidden, and the rest of the details pane keeps working. | Situation | What you see | |---|---| | The person has no work email (no mailbox) | The whole section (local time, working hours and availability) is hidden. | | Working hours or time zone are not set or cannot be recognized | The **Local time** and **Working hours** rows are hidden; the availability timelines can still be shown. | | Working hours have no start or end time | **Local time** is shown, the **Working hours** row is hidden. | | The free/busy of the person or your own calendar cannot be read | The **Availability** timelines are hidden; local time and working hours can still be shown. | | The **Calendars.Read** permission is not approved, or the request fails | Nothing from this section is shown. | | The **Presence.Read.All** permission is not approved, or presence cannot be read | The **Status** column shows **Offline**, and cards show no presence indicator. | ❗ **Important** Free/busy information is available only for people with an Exchange Online mailbox in your organization. Guests, shared accounts without a calendar and users whose calendar sharing is restricted may show no availability. ## Settings for administrators Administrators control this section in the web part properties, in the **Panel** group, using two toggles: - **Availability** — turns the whole section on or off: the free/busy timelines and, together with them, local time and working hours. It is on by default. - **Local time and working hours** — shows or hides the **Local time** and **Working hours** rows. It is on by default. It takes effect only while **Availability** is on. Both toggles are available in the **Employee Directory** and **Employee Directory (Entra ID)** web parts. ![The Availability and Local time toggles in the Panel group](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10317/panel-settings-en.png) *The Availability and Local time toggles in the Panel group* 📝 **Note** Turning off **Availability** also hides local time and working hours, even if **Local time and working hours** stays on. To show only local time without the free/busy timelines, there is currently no separate option.