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Back to Activities Main Page

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Learn to work with Activities

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Table of Contents

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Navigating to Activities

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CRM > ACTIVITIES > MANAGE ACTIVITIES

Using Activities

Use Activities to: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 records entries via the Summary page
  • Click on the link (name Name or numberNumber) of the record 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 done performed on the Activity you are looking atdisplayed 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 Table for a list of available Actions when working with Activities including each Action's related restrictions, validations , and additional information and a description of its system process.

Info

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

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

MANAGING ACTIVITIESImage RemovedMANAGING ACTIVITIESImage Added

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validations
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Validations & Restrictions

 Active Activities Definition exists in the systemThe activity should not have life cycle state CompletedExisting life cycle state is in progress
ActionValidationsRestrictionsValidationsAdditional Information
Create
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Save
  • Not Applicable
  • 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 on to a specific Unit and not on to a specific User , meaning that they are (pending acceptance, can be modified, but the assigned to User cannot be set or modified. (Has to ) can have all of their fields modified except the 'Assign To' field (must be done through the respective Action)
  •  Completed Activities cannot be modified
  • Life Cycle State:
    • Pending
    • In Progress
  • Mandatory fields must be defined
  • Editable Fields:

    • Contact Information 
    • Status
    • Category
    • Performed For
    • Services To Be Provided
      • Resources
    • Key Dates
    • Owner Group
Delete
  • Completed activities cannot be deleted.
  • Not Applicable

DeleteLife Cycle State:
  • Pending
  • In Progress
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Start Progress
  • Existing life cycle state is Pending
  • Existing Life Cycle State is 'Pending'.
  • Validation on mandatory services are Services is not applicable while the activity Activity is in this life cycle stateLife Cycle State.
  • It is not mandatory to specify the time spent on each activity service Activity Service while the activity Activity is in this life cycle stateLife Cycle State.
Accept
  • Not Applicable
  • All users Users can accept an Assignable Entity in CRM.COM if they are allowed to do so by the security profile assigned to themprovided they are authorised through their Security Profile. For example, users Users can accept the assignment of an activity if the security profile assigned to them has enabled the "accept activitiesActivity if the "Accept Activities" additional process is 'Enabled' in their Security Profile.
  • The unit that the user used during log in User's Unit during login should be the same as the assigned to unit 'Assigned To' Unit or it should be within the same group and Group or higher in the units Units hierarchy.
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Cancel Activity
  • 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 will be Tags are used, you must first define the Referring to To Entities must be defined first.
  • If unrestricted tags will be Tags are used, you must then define the values of each unrestricted tag under Unrestricted Parameters must be defined.
Billing Activities
  • Not Applicable
  • The Activity life cycle state Life Cycle State is set to "'Completed"'.
  • Each activity service Activity Service has a billing directive Billing Directive which defaults to "'To Be Billed" ' by the systemSystem
  • The rates for each service Service are specified in the price plan Price Plan which is selected in the job billing termsJob Billing Terms
  • The price plan Price Plan rates for activities Activities are configured using the following price plan Price Plan rates:
    • Flat rate, duration based
    • Tiered rate, duration based.
 
  • Activities are billed through Jobs.

 

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attributes
attributes
Attributes

An * indicates a field is mandatory.

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 for. New and existing contact information Contact Information can be used.
Activity Information
Type *The type Type of the Activity which defines the nature and behaviour of each Activity.
CategoryThe category Category of the Activity which classifies the Activity into generic groups based on specific common attributes.
DescriptionA description Description of the Activity.
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 setAutomatically 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 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 calculatedby the Expected Completion Date.
Services To Be Provided
Services To Be ProvidedBeProvided

The services Services that will be 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
AttachmentsThe The attachments associated with the Activity.
Log Information
Privacy LevelThe privacy level of the Activity
It , which is always read Read-only and can be changed through a dedicated action or it will be , or is automatically set by the the Privacy Level Assignment Rules (PLAR).
Log DetailsThe standard set of Log Details information available in all entities.  

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Action Panel - 
Status
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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 Life Cycle State of the Activity which can be one of the following:

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

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

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

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

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

Activity Actions
View History

The action Action that provides information regarding the Activity, related toconcerning:

  • Communications
  • Approval Requests

 

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Additional Actions for Activities

Accepting Activities

The Accept action Action is required in order to be able to assign the Activity on a specific user User or unitUnit. The activity Activity will be assigned to the logged in userUser

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

Starting Progress of Activities

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

Status
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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 in order Number to go to the Data Entry Pagepage.
  3. From the Action Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > START PROGRESS.

Status
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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 in order Number to go to the Data Entry Pagepage.
  3. From the Action Panel click on START PROGRESS.

Canceling Activities

The Cancel action 'Action' is used to cancel Activities so that users Users are no longer allowed to work with on the Activity. The action 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 in order Number to go to the Data Entry Pagepage.
  3. From the Action 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 in order Number to go to the Data Entry Pagepage.
  3. From the Action Actions Panel click on CANCEL CANCEL ACTIVITY.

Completing Activities

The Complete Activity action Action is used to complete Activities to represent the completion of the Activity and restrict any user to modify further and mark them as completed, restricting Users from further modifying the Activity. The action Action will set the Life Cycle State to "'Completed"'.

Status
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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 in order Number to go to the Data Entry Pagepage.
  3. From the Action Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > COMPLETE 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 in order Number to go to the Data Entry Pagepage.
  3. From the Action Panel click on COMPLETE COMPLETE ACTIVITY.

Communicating Activities

The Communicate Activity action Action is used to create a Communication referring to the Activity. The contact information will be Contact Information is carried over to the communication, and the referring activity will be 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 in order Number to go to the Data Entry Pagepage.
  3. From the Action Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE ACTIVITY.

Billing Activities

Activities can be billed only if provided they are created as part of a specific Job having a Job type which is with Type classified as billable, and if they are 'Billable' and already completed. The billable information of each Activity consists of the Services that were provided by the activity and the time that was spent on each activityit.

The table below provides information on the 2 two types of Rate models that can be used for defining prices on one time services One-Time Services added on Activities.

Flat rate, duration based

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


Note

Visit View Understanding Activities for business examples related to Using Activities.

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