Creating and Editing Activities in the Windows Client

To access the activities for a contact, open the contact details for the contact and choose the Activities view.

Fields Entered for an Activity

When you create an activity, you need to complete the General, Contacts, Documents, and Other tabs of the dialog box.

The following table describes all the information you enter when creating or editing an activity.

Information You Enter for an Activity

Field	Description
Top of Dialog Box/General Tab
Summary	A short description of the activity. This is displayed when you view a list of activities.
Type	The activity type is used to classify the activity. This is useful for searching and filtering activities. For example, you could quickly filter the activity list to show only phone calls (activities with the type Phone Call).
Regarding	Indicates what the activity is about. This can be set to one of the following: • Contacts. • A specific folder. • A specific matter, engagement, or opportunity, if your organization has licensed one of these modules. This field helps users when choosing which activities to view, search, etc. For example, Web Client users can search for activities regarding a certain folder. Report managers using the Windows Client can create reports that include activities regarding contacts, a particular folder, or matters, engagements, or opportunities.
Who can see this?	Indicates who in your organization can see the activity. You can set this to one of the following: • Everyone • Specific group • Folder determines • Matter / engagement / opportunity determines For details, see Access to View an Activity or Document in the Windows Client.
Only allow me to edit this	If checked, indicates that only the person who created the activity can edit it. If this is not checked, anyone who can see an activity regarding contacts can also edit the activity. Activities regarding a folder or matter, opportunity, or engagement use different security to control who can edit this information. For details, see Access to Edit and Delete Activities and Documents.
Date/Time	Indicates the date and time of the activity. This is automatically set to the current date and time when you add a new activity.
Description	Contains the detailed text of the activity.
Open an e-mail to send a link to this activity	If checked, opens a new e-mail message with a link to the activity after you choose OK.
Contacts Tab
Originator	The person who created the activity. When adding an activity in the Windows Client, you can change this to a different user.
List of contacts on the activity	Each contact included on the activity is displayed in the list. You can add any number of contacts to the activity. Normally when you add a person to an activity, the person’s associated company is also included. For more information about why you should include the company, see Why Should I Include a Person's Company on an Activity? Activities regarding matters, opportunities, or engagements do not have to include contacts.
Documents Tab This tab is only included if your organization has enabled the document references feature.
List of documents on the activity	Each document included on the activity is displayed in the list. You can add any number of documents to the activity. For details about attaching documents to activities, see Attaching Documents to Activities and Contacts.
Other Tab
Expires After	Indicates when the activity expires. Expired activities are automatically removed from InterAction on a regular basis. Depending on the activity type, you may not be able to change this setting.

Add an Activity Regarding Contacts

1. Start the new activity, either for a single contact, or for multiple contacts at once.
   • To create an activity for a single contact, open the contact details for the contact and choose the Activities view. Choose Activities > New.
   • To create an activity for multiple contacts, mark each of the contacts in the list, then choose Mark > Add Activity.
2. Enter a brief Summary of the activity. Note, this field cannot be left blank.
3. Select the appropriate Type. Activity types are used when searching and viewing activities.

4. From the Regarding drop-down list, select Contacts Only.

   You can also create activities that are regarding a folder. For details, see Add an Activity Regarding a Folder.

5. Select the appropriate option from the Who can see this drop-down list. This determines which other InterAction users can see the activity.

   To	Do This
   Add an activity that everyone can see	Select Everyone. Note that any other user can also edit the activity, unless you select the Only allow me to edit this check box.
   Add an activity that only members of a group can see	Select the group from the list. All groups of which you are a member are displayed. Note that any user in the group can also edit the activity, unless you select the Only allow me to edit this check box.

   If you are creating an activity regarding a folder, there may be additional options available in the Who can see this drop-down list. See Add an Activity Regarding a Folder.

6. If you want to restrict editing of the activity to yourself, select the Only allow me to edit this check box.
7. If necessary, change the Date and Time for the activity.
   • By default, these fields are set to the current date and time.
   • For example, you may want to change these fields if the activity represents a meeting or event that has already taken place. You can change the date and time to the actual date and time for the event.
   • You can also select a date in the future. This is useful for creating a reminder of a future event.
8. Enter the text of the activity in the Description edit box.
9. If you want to send a link to the activity to another InterAction user, select the Open an e-mail to send a link to this activity check box.
10. Choose the Contacts tab to review the contacts included on the activity. You can add and remove contacts as needed.

    • To add another contact to the activity, type the contact’s name in the Contact edit box and choose Add.

      

      If you added a new contact to InterAction, it may not be available to add to the activity. See Why Can't I Add My Newly-Created Contact to an Activity? for more information.

    • To remove a contact from the activity, choose the Remove link next to the contact.
    • When you add a person to the activity, you can also select to add the person's associated company. For details about why this is a good idea, see Why Should I Include a Person's Company on an Activity?.
    • You can also change the Originator for the activity to a different user.

11. If you want to add any documents to the activity, choose the Documents tab. Note that this option is only available if your organization has enabled it.

    For details, see Attach a Document to an Activity.

12. If you want to review or change the expiration date for the activity, choose the Other tab. Select the number of days, weeks, or years before the activity should be removed from InterAction.

    You may not be able to change the expiration date for some activities. This is determined based on the type of activity.

13. Choose OK to finish and save the new activity.

Why Can't I Add My Newly-Created Contact to an Activity?

When you add a contact in the Windows Client, that contact is added to the InterAction database. However, if you attempt to immediately add the contact to an existing activity, you may not be able to. This is because the Windows Client views activity information through the Application Server’s memory cache. If the cache has not been refreshed since you created the contact, you will not be able to see it in the context of the activity.

The Application Server keeps the cache updated by refreshing it on a regular basis. The cache refresh rate is configured by your InterAction administrator, but most organizations set the cache refresh rate between 15 and 60 minutes (it is set to 15 minutes by default).

For more information, see your InterAction administrator or the Administering InterAction guide.

Add an Activity Regarding a Folder

You can create activities regarding folders. Typically this is used with working lists or marketing lists, but you can create an activity regarding any folder for which you have Add Activity access rights.

Note that an activity regarding a folder can contain any contacts - they do not all need to be contacts that are in the folder.

1. In the Windows Client, open the folder for which you want to create the activity.
2. Start the new activity, either for a single contact, or for multiple contacts at once.
   • To create an activity for a single contact, open the contact details for the contact and choose the Activities view. Choose Activities > New.
   • To create an activity for multiple contacts, mark each of the contacts in the list, then choose Mark > Add Activity.

3. Enter a Summary and select the Type for the activity.

   For details about these fields, see Fields Entered for an Activity.

4. From the Regarding drop-down list, select Folder and confirm that the name of the folder is displayed.

   You can only create an activity regarding the folder in the Name field. You cannot browse for a different folder.

5. Select the appropriate option from the Who can see this drop-down list. This determines which other InterAction users can see the activity.

   To	Do This
   Add an activity that only users with access to view the folder can see.	Select Folder determines.
   Add an activity that everyone can see.	Select Everyone.
   Add an activity that only members of a group can see.	Select the group from the list. All groups of which you are a member are displayed.

6. If you want to restrict editing of the activity to yourself, select the Only allow me to edit this check box.

   If you don’t select this check box, other users with access to edit folder-specific data can edit the activity. For example, for a marketing list, users with Edit Activity rights can edit the activity. For details about security for activities, see Security for Activities and Documents in Windows Client.

7. Complete the remaining tabs for the activity (General, Contacts, Documents, and Other). For details about these settings, see Fields Entered for an Activity.
8. Choose OK to finish and save the new activity.

[1] Set Regarding to Folder.

[2] The Name should default to the name of the folder from which you started the activity. You can only create an activity regarding this folder (you cannot browse for a different folder).

[3] You can choose Folder determines for the Who can see this field. In this case, the access rights for the folder determine who can see the activity.

Why Should I Include a Person's Company on an Activity?

When you create an activity, you can add the activity to multiple contacts. In addition, InterAction offers the ability to automatically include each person’s associated company on the activity. For example, if you add Jane Tarnoff to the activity, her associated company Telenorth Financial Services would also be added.

Including the person’s company on the activity is a good idea for the following reasons:

• When viewing a company in InterAction, you have the full list of activities that occurred with the company. You do not have to check all of the company’s employees for other interactions that may not have been recorded on the company record.
• When the person leaves the company, the activity is not lost from the company.
• Similarly, the person contact retains the activity as a record of your organization’s interaction with the person.

Edit an Activity

If the Only allow me to edit this check box was selected for the activity, you can only edit it if you originally created the activity.

If the Only allow me to edit this check box is not selected, then whether you can edit the activity depends on the kind of activity it is:

• For an activity regarding contacts, you can edit it if you can view it.
• For activities regarding a folder, you can edit it if you have Edit Activity access rights to the folder.
• For activities regarding a matter, opportunity, or engagement, security settings configured for the module apply. See the documentation provided with the module for details.

To edit an activity, do the following:

1. Open the contact details for the contact and choose the Activities view.
2. Select the activity and choose Activities > Edit.
3. Edit information for the activity. For more information about the activity fields see Fields Entered for an Activity.
4. When finished, choose OK.

Delete an Activity

If the Only allow me to edit this check box was selected for the activity, you can only delete the activity if you originally created the activity.

If the Only allow me to edit this check box is not selected, then whether you can delete the activity depends on the kind of activity it is:

• For an activity regarding contacts, you can delete it if you can view it.
• For activities regarding a folder, you can delete it if you have Delete Activity access rights to the folder.
• For activities regarding a matter, opportunity, or engagement, security settings configured for the module apply. See the documentation provided with the module for details.

To delete an activity, do the following:

1. Open the contact details for the contact and choose the Activities view.
2. Select the activity and choose Activities > Delete.

3. If multiple contacts were included on the activity, specify whether you want to delete the entire activity, or just remove the current contact from the activity and choose OK.

   

4. If only one contact was included on the activity, confirm the delete by choosing Yes.

Filtering the List of Activities for a Contact

There are several ways to adjust the activities view for a contact to focus on what is important to you.

Sorting the List of Activities

You can sort the Activities view by any of the columns by clicking on the column heading.

Filtering by Regarding

The context bar for the Activities view contains filters for including or excluding activities based on what they are regarding. You can view activities regarding a specific folder or all folders. You can also choose to include or exclude activities that are regarding contacts.

[A] Folder Filter. In this example, the view displays activities regarding all folders. You can choose a specific folder from the list.

[B] Global Filter. You can include or exclude activities regarding contacts.

Filtering by Date, Type, or Originator

You can also filter activities by date, type, or the originator:

The activities filter provides additional filtering capabilities beyond what the filters in the context bar provide.

1. Open the contact details for the contact and choose the Activities view.

2. Choose Activities > Filter to display the Filter Activities dialog box.

   

3. Choose one of the Date radio buttons to set the range of dates you want to be displayed. Change the date ranges if necessary.
4. If desired, choose an Originator and/or an Activity Type to further filter the list of activities.
5. Check the Save as default Activity Filter if you want InterAction to use this set of criteria as a default when you choose the Activity view.
6. Choose OK when you are finished defining the filter.

Clear the Activities Filter

1. Open the contact details for the contact and choose the Activities view.
2. Choose Activities > Filter to display the Filter Activities dialog box.
3. Choose Clear to clear all of the selected criteria.
4. Choose OK.