Overview

When a user opens the "Book a video call" screen, our system tries to automatically guess their location to show the correct time zone. That time zone is then pre-selected (user can still select other one after). However, sometimes users may report seeing a time zone that doesn't match their current location (e.g., a US client seeing European time). 

 

This guide explains why this happens and how to help the client fix it.

Common Questions & Answers

Q: How does the system decide which time zone to show?

A: We use a tool (technically called moment.tz.guess()) that asks the user's internet browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge, etc.) what time zone it is currently in. If the browser knows where the user is, we display that time. If the system can't detect a location at all, it defaults to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

Q: A client in the US is seeing European time. Why is this happening?

A: There are three common reasons for this:

Browser/OS Settings: The user’s computer or browser is actually set to European time (perhaps they are using a VPN or manually changed their computer's clock).

Cached Data (Most Likely): The system "remembers" (caches) the last used time zone. If the user previously booked a call while in Europe, or if they are using a computer that was previously set to a different zone, our system might be holding onto that old information to load the page faster.

VPN Usage: If the user is on a corporate VPN that routes their traffic through a European server, the browser might think they are physically in Europe.

Q: Is the browser time zone different from the computer's time zone?

A: Usually, no. The browser almost always inherits the time zone from the computer's Operating System (Windows or macOS). If the computer clock is wrong, the booking calendar will be wrong.