Re: Time

["Wing, Michael J" <mjwing -at- INGR -dot- COM>]

> I like the idea of using "Central Standard Time" if most of your
> customers are in this hemisphere, and Greenwich Mean Time (or whatever
> the EC is calling that now) if you have many European customers. Or
> why
> not use both? "Our business hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm US Central
> Standard Time (1700 to 2500 Greenwich Mean Time)"
>
>
> Tracy
>
>
I believe the original question asked about communicating time
internationally (which includes both hemispheres).  Part of the question
specifically gave the "other side of the globe" as an example.
Therefore, answering in terms relative to most customers being "in this
hemisphere" or being "European customers" is not in the same scope in
which the question was asked.

-- Begin Original Question --

Is there an intenational standard for communicating time? I'd like to
include our company's business hours in a user guide but I don't know
whether to
say "weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Central Standard Time," and leave it at
that, or to say something more for customers on the other side of the
globe.

-- End Original Question --

If stating 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. US Central Standard time then how do you
account for the 1 hour offset introduced by daylight savings time?
Sure, your company still opens at 9 and closes at 5; however, 9 and 5
have moved relative to other time zones (I think CST toggles between 5
and 6 hours after Greenwich).  If I'm a customer in Perth Australia
trying to contact a US company in Chicago, I must now determine not only
that US Central time is the proper time zone but I must also determine
if they have 'sprung forward' or 'fell back' an hour.  If I'm contacting
Phoenix Arizona, I must determine if they are in Pacific or Mountain
time (Arizona does not adjust their clocks, thus the two time zones
(Pacific and Mountain) change relative to them).  How about Gander
NewFoundLand whose time zone is offset by 1/2 hour?  Therefore an
international standard (GMT or UTC) may be less confusing.  However,
using a delta (GMT -0500) is still subject to daylight savings time
whereas a time such as 05:00:00 UTC is not subject to seasonal shifts.

Mike Wing

> Michael Wing (mailto:mjwing -at- ingr -dot- com)
> Principal Technical Writer
> Intergraph Corporation; Huntsville, Alabama
> http://www.ingr.com/iss/products/mapping/
> (205) 730-7250
>
> "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good"
> -- Paul (1 TH 5:21)
>
>
>

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