Time zones across Eloqua
By default, Oracle Eloqua servers are set to Eastern Standard Time (EST), and therefore require adjustment when activating your campaign for different time zones. This is applicable both to your input data and your contact's input data. Different aspects of Oracle Eloqua observe Daylight Savings Time (DST). Below, you will find ways to adjust time based on your needs.
Assets that require time zone configuration
The table below shows which features have date configuration. Features that specify EST must be input in that time zone regardless of which time zone the data was initially in.
| Component / Module | Time Zone Used | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Contact list upload | GMT-5 | DST Not Observed |
| Contact filters / Segment Filters / Shared Filters DateTime field | Eastern (North America) Time | Between GMT-5 and GMT-4 depending on Daylight Saving Time |
| Campaign Canvas Compare Contact Fields on a DateTime Field / Program Builder Date Comparison | Eastern (North America) Time | Between GMT-5 and GMT-4 depending on Daylight Saving Time. |
| Contact Details / Campaign Contact Entry and Next Evaluation Time / Contact Filter Results | Eloqua User Time Zone | Configurable under Setup>Profile |
| Insight Subscription Report Scheduling / Insight DateTime Fields / Insight DateTime Range Prompts | Eastern (North America) Time | Between GMT-5 and GMT-4 depending on Daylight Saving Time. |
| Form Submission Data (Export) / Form Submission Notifications | Eastern (North America) Time | Between GMT-5 and GMT-4 depending on Daylight Saving Time. |
| Program Builder Test Mode (System Date and Time Override Input) | Eastern (North America) Time | Between GMT-5 and GMT-4 depending on Daylight Saving Time. |
| Program Builder Test Mode (Display Entered Date and Time Override) | Eloqua User Time Zone | Configurable under Setup>Profile |
| Program Builder Entry / Exit / Evaluation Histories, Last Update | Eloqua User Time Zone | Configurable under Setup>Profile |
| CRM Integration External Calls - Date/Time Stamps (Date Modified, Date Created, etc.), Activity Dates/Times | Eastern (North America) Time | Between GMT-5 and GMT-4 depending on Daylight Saving Time. |
| API Integration (Input and Output) / Asset Last Modified Date through API | Eastern (North America) Time | Between GMT-5 and GMT-4 depending on Daylight Saving Time. |
| Asset Last Modified Date (View in Eloqua) | Eloqua User Time Zone | Configurable under Setup>Profile |
| CRM Integration Auto Synch Scheduling - Default Time | Eastern (North America) Time |
While the interface reads 10 p.m. EST, it follows Daylight Saving Time. |
API Details
Bulk API Exports
By default, all times are in Eastern Time and the same as shown in the UI, if your profile is set to Eastern Time. This applies to system-level fields as well as customer-created fields.
You can set the areSystemTimestampsInUTC parameter to "true" in your export definition to change only the system timestamps to UTC. Customer-created fields will remain in Eastern Time.
NOTE: Eastern Time in this context varies between UTC-4 and UTC-5 depending on the date value in that particular fields.
Example: a Date Created (system field) value of "2017-04-30 04:58:49.423" without the areSystemTimestampsInUTC parameter will return "2017-04-30T08:58:49.423Z" with areSystemTimestampsInUTC: set to true (UTC-4, as DST was active in the Eastern Time Zone on 2017-Apr-30). Similarly, a Date Created value of "2017-12-06 22:01:34.680" without areSystemTimestampsInUTC will return "2017-12-07T03:01:34.680Z" (UTC-5 as DST was not active on 2017-Dec-07) with that parameter set to "true".
Application API
Here, dates for both system fields and customer-created fields are exported in UTC, irrespective of user's profile settings. This is unlike the Bulk export, where even with areSystemTimestampsInUTC set to true, only the system timestamps are exported in UTC. The timestamps are in epoch time/Unix time (number of seconds from 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC).
Example: A date of 2017-12-06 22:01:34 as shown in the UI (profile in Eastern Time) will be exported as 1493542729 (2017-12-07 03:01:34, or UTC-5), while a date of 2017-04-30 04:58:49 will be 1493542729 (2017-04-30 08:58:49, or UTC-4).
Bulk API timestamps, e.g. sync / definition createdAt and udpatedAt timestamps are in UTC.
If you created a new Contact date field, the Bulk API will always export that value in Eastern Time (UTC-4/UTC-5 depending on that value's date), irrespective of the areSystemTimestampsInUTC parameter. However, the REST API will always export that value in UTC with no option to export the as-is database value.