Versions Compared

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

Back to Activities Main Page

Excerpt
hiddentrue

Find out how to create a new Activity

What does this section cover?

Learn to work with Activities

Panel
nameblue

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
minLevel2

Navigating to Activities

Info

CRM > ACTIVITIES > MANAGE ACTIVITIES

Explaining Activities Fields

 

Name

Description

NumberAn auto-generated number that uniquely identifies each ActivityType *The type of the ActivityStatus *The status of the ActivityCategoryThe category of the ActivityLife Cycle State

The life cycle state of the Activity which can be one of the following:

  • Pending
  • In Progress
  • Completed
  • Cancelled
Contact Information 

Using Activities

Activities which consist of stand-alone Tasks are planned through the Activities Data Entry Page.  Activities that are part of Subscriptions, Jobs, Service Requests or Leads are planned through a dedicated Action available from each entity's Data Entry page. 

Activities for entities, such as Service Requests, Jobs or Subscriptions, can also be automatically scheduled by setting up Workflow Rules.

Note

View Scheduling Activities for more information on planning Activities through other entities.

 

  • Navigate to Activities and explore existing entries via the Summary page
  • Click on the link (Name or Number) of the entry of your interest to enter the Data Entry page and see more detail. 
  • Use the Actions Menu to create a NEW Activitiesmodify (EDIT) or DELETE an existing one. 
  • Use BACK to return to the Summary page and CANCEL to revert any unwanted changes made to the Activities. 
  • Click on ACTIONS to discover other possibilities available for Activities. 
  • Click on the Audit Trail button to view a log of changes performed on the displayed Activity.

View the Attributes Table and the Action Panel Table below for a comprehensive description of the Activities fields. Check the Validations & Restrictions Table for a list of available Actions when working with Activities including each Action's related restrictions, validations and additional information.

Info

Action Panel is available for Activities as from R10.0.0.
Up until R9.0.0, Actions can be selected and applied through the Actions Menu at the top of the page and the following fields are found in the Activity Data Entry page Sections:

  • Status
  • Life Cycle State
  • Owned by Group
  • Shared Notes
  • Assignments

MANAGING ACTIVITIESImage Added

Anchor
validations
validations
Validations & Restrictions

ActionValidationsRestrictionsAdditional Information
Create
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Save
  • Mandatory fields must be defined.
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Edit
  • Life Cycle State:
    • Pending
    • In Progress
  • Mandatory fields must be defined.
  • Contact Information and Activity Type cannot be changed once the Activity is created.
  • Activities that are assigned to a specific Unit and not to a specific User (pending acceptance) can have all of their fields modified except the 'Assign To' field (must be done through the respective Action).
  • Not Applicable

DeleteLife Cycle State:
  • Pending
  • In Progress
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Start Progress
  • None of the submitted Resource Requests should be in a 'Pending' Life Cycle State.
  • Business rules and restrictions applied through 'Active' Activity Definitions.
  • Business rules and restrictions applied through Activity Type.
  • Business rules and validations applied through Resource Scheduling Definitions.
    • If "Conditions Forcing Resource Requests on Activity Services" are met then, the Activity won't be able to be saved unless an "Accepted" or "Pending" Resource Requests is present.
  • Existing Life Cycle State is 'Pending'.
  • Validation on mandatory Services is not applicable while the Activity is in this Life Cycle State.
  • It is not mandatory to specify the time spent on each Activity Service while the Activity is in this Life Cycle State.
Accept
  • All Users can accept an Assignable Entity in CRM.COM provided they are authorised through their Security Profile. For example, Users can accept the assignment of an Activity if the "Accept Activities" additional process is 'Enabled' in their Security Profile.
  • The User's Unit during login should be the same as the 'Assigned To' Unit or it should be within the same Group or higher in the Units hierarchy.
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Cancel Activity
  • Any Resource Requests that were submitted against Services of that Activity should be Rejected or Cancelled.
  • The Activity should not have a 'Completed' Life Cycle State Completed.
  • Not Applicable
Complete Activity
  • Existing Life Cycle State is 'In Progress'.
  • Not Applicable
Communicate Activity
  • Mandatory fields must be defined.
  • If Tags are used, the Referring To Entities must be defined first.
  • If unrestricted Tags are used, the values of each unrestricted tag under Unrestricted Parameters must be defined.
Billing Activities
  • Not Applicable
  • The Activity Life Cycle State is set to 'Completed'.
  • Each Activity Service has a Billing Directive which defaults to 'To Be Billed' by the System. 
  • The rates for each Service are specified in the Price Plan which is selected in the Job Billing Terms. 
  • The Price Plan rates for Activities are configured using the following Price Plan rates:
    • Flat rate, duration based
    • Tiered rate, duration based.
  • Activities are billed through Jobs.

 

Anchor
attributes
attributes
Attributes

An * indicates a field is mandatory.

System Processing

 

  1. The activity will be saved and a unique number will be assigned
  2. Relation will be created between the activity and the referred entity if one was defined.
     
NoteVisit Understanding Activities for business examples related to Creating Activities
for contact information Shared notes for the Activity

Name

Description

NumberAn auto-generated number that uniquely identifies each Activity.
Contact Information
Contact Information*The person or company for which the Activity is planned. New and existing Contact Information can be used.
Activity Information
Type*The Type of the Activity which defines the nature and behaviour of each Activity.
CategoryThe Category of the Activity which classifies the Activity into generic groups based on specific common attributes.
DescriptionA description Description of the Activity.Shared Notes
Performed For

The entities which are related to the Activity and can include one of the following:

  • Subscription
  • Job
  • Service Requests
  • Leads
Key Dates *

The key significant dates of the Activity which include the following:

  • Start dateDate: Defaults to the date that on which the Activity is created , although it is editableEstimate completion timeand which can be modified.
  • Estimated Completion Time: Defaults to the estimated completion time as Estimated Completion Time set on the related Activity Type, although it is editable, . It can be edited and is measured in minutes, hours, days, weeks, years.
    It is the difference between the start date and expected completion date Start Date and Expected Completion Date and is updated automatically whenever the expected closing date is modified.
  • Expected completion dateCompletion Date: The date that on which the Activity is expected to be completed and it equals is equal to the start date Start Date plus the estimated completion time. Estimated Completion Time.
    It is calculated automatically when the estimated completion time Estimated Completion Time is set or modified, although it can also be set manually set. Automatically calculated or Manually Set 
  • Actual completed dateCompleted Date: The date that on which the Activity is actually completed. The actual completed date is read
    It is Read-only and is set automatically on completing the Activity, i.e. , on setting when the Activity on a status which is mapped on the completed life cycle state. Automatically calculatedis set to a 'Completed' Life Cycle State.
  • Time to completionCompletion: The  The time that is left up to the expected completion date. Automatically calculatedExpected Completion Date.
  • Time overdueOverdue: The time past the expected completion date. Expected Completion Date.
    This information is calculated dynamically, based on the expected completion date Expected Completion Date and the current date of execution, if the Activity is not completed yet and has passed the expected completion date.Automatically calculated
Assigned To *

The assignment information for the Activity 

Owned by group *The group owning the Activity 
Privacy LevelThe privacy level of Activity 
Services To Be ProvidedThe services that will be
  • by the Expected Completion Date.
Services To Be Provided
Services To BeProvided

The Services that are provided as part of the Activity and the time that was spent on each one, measured in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. Only one time services
Only One-Time Services can be specified, which should also be included in the list of the allowed services 'Allowed' Services as specified in the related Activity Type.

Note

Services

are optional, although they should be specified if they are

can be defined as optional or mandatory

in

through the

related

Activity

Type

Types. All

services

Services have a

billing directive

Billing Directive, which is always set to

"

'To Be Billed

"

' if the Activity is performed for a

job having a job type

Job with a Type classified as

billable

'Billable'. Finally

services

, Services might be added automatically if

they are configured to do so, again

so configured in the

related

associated Activity Type.

Attachments
Performed For

The entities which are related to the Activity and can include one of the following:

  • Subscription
  • Job
  • Service Requests
  • Leads

Log Information

Includes the standard log information plus shared notes

Attachments

The attachments related with the specific Activity

Creating and Saving, Validations and Restrictions

 

ActionValidationsRestrictions
Create

 

Save
  • Mandatory Fields:
    • Type
    • Status
    • Category
    • Estimated Completion Time (If not already filled in, based on the Activity Type)
    • Assigned To (Either a unit or a user)
    • Owned By Group (If you do not assign anything then the Group of the logged in user will be used)

 

 

Creating an Activity

  • Search using the criteria available in the summary page
  • From the top menu click on "NEW" to open the Activities data entry page
    Every time you complete a tab click on the "NEXT" button 
  • Contact Information

    Include PageSelect between new or existing Contact Information via another entity - GlobalSelect between new or existing Contact Information via another entity - Global

    Activity Characteristics

  • Type: Select the type of the activity
  • Status: Select the status of the activity. The life cycle state of the activity is set automatically based on the activity status selected
  •  Category: Include PageAdding a Category - GlobalAdding a Category - Global
  • Description: Add a description of the activity
  • Performed For
    1. Using the Search Boxes search add the entity that the Activity is related to. The selection can be between
      1. Subscription
      2. Job
      3. Lead
      4. Service Request
  • Services To Be Provided

    1. One time service information
      1. Click on Add to add a new row
      2. Search for the services that will be provided with the activity
      3. Select the service to be added
    2. Provide the time spent for each service
      If the time is set as fixed in the Activity Type then the "Time Spent" will be read only
    3. Scheduling a Resource

      You can either book a request directly  or you can save the activity and book a resource at a later stage either via the Activity Page or the Resource Request Page

  • Key Dated & Assignment

    1. Dates and times can be selected using the calendar icon

      1. Start Date: The date is set to the current date but can be manually updated
      2. Estimated Completion Time: Update if required. (Will automatically update Expected Completion Date)
      3. Expected Completion Date: Update if required
  • Communications

    Include PageViewing Communications related to a record - GlobalViewing Communications related to a record - Global 

    Attachments

    Include PageAttachments - GlobalAttachments - Global

    Log Information

    The following information is automatically set by the system on saving the Activities

    Include PageLog Information - GlobalLog Information - Global
  • From the Action Menu click on "SAVE"
  • AttachmentsThe attachments associated with the Activity.
    Log Information
    Privacy LevelThe privacy level of the Activity, which is always Read-only and can be changed through a dedicated action, or is automatically set by the Privacy Level Assignment Rules (PLAR).
    Log DetailsThe standard set of Log Details information available in all entities.  

    Anchor
    action_panel
    action_panel
    Action Panel - 
    Status
    colourGreen
    titleAvailable from CRM.COM R10.0.0

    An * indicates a field is mandatory.

    Name

    Description

    Status & Notes
    Status*The status of the Activity.
    Life Cycle State

    The Life Cycle State of the Activity which can be one of the following:

    • Pending
    • In Progress
    • Completed
    • Cancelled
    Owned by Group*The Group that owns the Activity which automatically defaults to the Group of the signed in User or is automatically set based on the Geographical Area of the Contact as defined in Groups.
    Shared Notes

    Notes regarding the Activity. Each time the Notes are amended, the User and the date are logged.

    Assignments
    Assignments*The assignment information for the Activity.
    • Unit: The Unit which is to handle the Activity order.

    • User: The User who is to handle the Activity order.

      The User field may be left empty.  Users in the defined Unit will subsequently be able to Accept the Activity. Check the respective Action below.

    Activity Actions
    View History

    The Action that provides information regarding the Activity, concerning:

    • Communications
    • Approval Requests

     

    Anchor
    additional_actions
    additional_actions
    Additional Actions for Activities

    Accepting Activities

    The Accept Action is required to be able to assign the Activity on a specific User or Unit. The Activity will be assigned to the logged in User

    1. Navigate to Activities.
    2. Search for the Activity you would like to accept and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
    3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > ACCEPT.

    Starting Progress of Activities

    The Start Progress Action is required to be able to start working with the Activity. The Action will set the Life Cycle State to 'In Progress'.

    Status
    colourRed
    titleApplicable up to CRM.COM R9.0.0

    1. Navigate to Activities.
    2. Search for the Activity you would like to edit and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
    3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > START PROGRESS.

    Status
    colourGreen
    titleAvailable from CRM.COM R10.0.0

    1. Navigate to Activities.
    2. Search for the Activity you would like to edit and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
    3. From the Action Panel click on START PROGRESS.

    Canceling Activities

    The Cancel 'Action' is used to cancel Activities so that Users are no longer allowed to work on the Activity. The Action will set the Life Cycle State to 'Cancelled'.

    Status
    colourRed
    titleApplicable up to CRM.COM R9.0.0

    1. Navigate to Activities.
    2. Search for the Activity you would like to cancel and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
    3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > CANCEL ACTIVITY.

    Status
    colourGreen
    titleAvailable from CRM.COM R10.0.0

    1. Navigate to Activities.
    2. Search for the Activity you would like to cancel and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
    3. From the Actions Panel click on CANCEL ACTIVITY.

    Completing Activities

    The Complete Activity Action is used to complete Activities and mark them as completed, restricting Users from further modifying the Activity. The Action will set the Life Cycle State to 'Completed'.

    Status
    colourRed
    titleApplicable up to CRM.COM R9.0.0

    1. Navigate to Activities
    2. Search for the Activity you would like to complete and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
    3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > COMPLETE ACTIVITY.

    Status
    colourGreen
    titleAvailable from CRM.COM R10.0.0

    1. Navigate to Activities.
    2. Search for the Activity you would like to complete and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
    3. From the Action Panel click on COMPLETE ACTIVITY.

    Communicating Activities

    The Communicate Activity Action is used to create a Communication referring to the Activity. The Contact Information is carried over to the communication, and the referring Activity is set automatically.

    1. Navigate to Activities.
    2. Search for the Activity you would like to create a Communication for and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
    3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > COMMUNICATE ACTIVITY.

    Billing Activities

    Activities can be billed provided they are created as part of a specific Job with Type classified as 'Billable' and already completed. The billable information of each Activity consists of the Services that were provided and the time spent on it.

    The table below provides information on the two types of Rate models that can be used for defining prices on One-Time Services added on Activities.

    Flat rate, duration based

    Applies a single fixed price based on the duration of the Services, which starts from a base rate and changes as the duration that was required to provide the Service increases. Multiple flat levels are supported.

    Tiered rate, duration based

    Applies a price which starts from a base rate and progressively changes as the duration that was required to provide the Service increases. Multiple tiered levels are supported.


    Note

    View Understanding Activities for business examples related to Using Activities.

    Panel
    namegrey

    Related Areas

    Filter by label (Content by label)
    showLabelsfalse
    spacesV4Manual
    showSpacefalseexcerpttrue
    labelsactivities-basics-r7,activities-advanced-r7,activities-admin-r7

    Popular Labels

    heatmap
    Panel
    namegrey
    Popular Labels
    spaceKeyV4Manual
    style

    Helpful Links

    Filter by label (Content by label)
    showLabelsfalse
    spacesV4Manual
    showSpacefalse
    labelsglobal