How Timezones Work in Tellspin Schedules
Where Tellspin Sets the Timezone
Every Tellspin schedule has its own timezone setting. This setting governs all time-based operations for that schedule, including:
- When daily or weekly handoffs occur.
- When reminders are sent.
- How override start and end times are interpreted.
By default, a new schedule's timezone is inferred from the creator's Slack profile settings. However, it's crucial to verify and set this explicitly to avoid confusion, especially for teams distributed across multiple regions.
How to Change a Schedule's Timezone
You can view or change a schedule's timezone at any time.
Go to the Tellspin App Home in Slack.
Find the schedule you want to edit and click the three-dot menu (
...).Select Edit.
In the edit modal, locate the Timezone dropdown menu.
Time zone issues (1/2) Search for and select the desired timezone (e.g.,
America/New_York,Europe/London).Click Save.
Impact on Handoffs and Reminders
Changing the timezone will immediately affect the schedule's timing. For example, if a daily schedule has a handoff time of 9:00 AM and you change the timezone from America/Los_Angeles (PT) to America/New_York (ET), the handoff will now occur three hours earlier in absolute time.
The schedule preview in the App Home will update to show the new handoff times relative to your local Slack timezone.
Daylight Saving Time Explained
Tellspin automatically handles Daylight Saving Time (DST) transitions. By selecting a location-based timezone (like America/New_York) instead of a fixed offset (like UTC-5), your schedule will correctly adjust for DST changes in the spring and fall, ensuring handoffs always happen at the correct local time.
Troubleshooting Common Timezone Issues
- Handoffs at the wrong time: The most common issue. Verify the schedule's timezone setting is correct. It should match the primary timezone of the on-call team.
- Overrides not starting/ending correctly: Overrides are based on the schedule's timezone, not the timezone of the person creating the override. Ensure the start/end times are set according to the schedule's timezone.
- PagerDuty/OpsGenie Sync Discrepancies: If you are syncing from an external provider, ensure the timezone in Tellspin matches the timezone of the source schedule in PagerDuty or OpsGenie.