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Handling Timezones

Ensure consistent shift generation and display for distributed teams.

In Upstat, each roster defines its own timezone. That timezone is used to schedule shifts, send notifications, and align coverage to local time for the team assigned to the roster.

Roster Timezones

When creating or editing a roster, you’ll select a timezone. This timezone:

  • Determines when shifts begin and end
  • Controls when notifications and reminders are sent
  • Acts as the authoritative schedule reference for that roster

The roster’s timezone stays fixed and does not change based on the viewer’s local settings.

Timeline View: Primary Timezone

The timeline view allows you to change how times are displayed for convenience:

  • You can choose a primary display timezone
  • All rosters will visually shift to match that timezone
  • This is purely visual—it does not change the underlying schedule

This helps users in other regions understand when shifts occur in their local context.

Hourly View: Multiple Timezones

When using hourly view, you can add multiple timezones to the display:

  • The first timezone selected becomes the primary display anchor
  • Secondary timezones appear as overlays for comparison
  • This is especially helpful when coordinating coverage across global teams

Again, these changes affect only the visual layout—they do not alter how schedules are calculated or stored.

Example: Follow-the-Sun Coverage

To manage global 24x7 coverage, you can create a separate roster for each regional team, each with its own timezone:

  • APAC Support → Timezone: Asia/Singapore
  • EMEA On-Call → Timezone: Europe/Berlin
  • US Coverage → Timezone: America/Los_Angeles

Each roster runs on its local time, and the timeline view helps visualize handoffs and overlap.

Summary

  • Every roster defines its own scheduling timezone
  • Shift generation and alerts are based on the roster’s timezone
  • Timeline view lets you change how times are displayed, but not how schedules behave
  • Use multiple rosters with different timezones for clear, localized scheduling
  • Hourly view supports multi-timezone overlays for global coordination

Learn more