Global Deployment Guide > Configuring Global Applications >

Using the Global Time Zone Feature

Global deployments typically span multiple countries and have users working in several different time zones. The Global Time Zone feature allows you to track dates and times consistently across time zones by using the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) setting definition.

NOTE:  UTC does not observe daylight savings time and should not be considered equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which observes daylight savings time.

The Global Time Zone feature allows you to store date and time data in a common format and provides the following key benefits:

• Users can view dates and times in their local time zone regardless of where work items were created.
• Users in different time zones can jointly handle team-based activities, such as managing service requests.
• Customer needs can be met by sales or service assistance based in various locations and time zones. For example, a service request can have fields showing the customer's date and time, which would help agents provide timely customer service.

  NOTE:  Windows regional settings on the application server or client machines do not affect UTC. It is recommended that you set the database to UTC because some components have time stamps that are used with system dates in the database.