This chapter’s objectives are:

• 8.1- Describe the capabilities of activity management (e.g., manage tasks, events, public calendars, multiday events, cloud scheduler)

8.1- Describe the capabilities of activity management (e.g., manage tasks, events, public calendars, multiday events, cloud scheduler)

There are two types of activities: Tasks and events:

Tasks:

• Tasks are used to represent to-do items or actions such as phone calls, emails, physical mailings, and so on. Tasks have a scheduled due date, with an optional reminder at a specified time.
• When creating a task, you can assign the task to multiple users (only Users) .
• This will create a duplicate task record for each user, not a single task that is assigned to multiple users.
• Tasks are moved from “Open Activities” to “Activity History” when the task status is “Closed”:
• You can create new Task or Event from:
  • Home Quick Create: Home | left pane | Create New
  • Home Calendar: Home | Main page | Calendar section | New Event
  • My Tasks: Home | Main page | My Tasks section | New
  • Calendar page itself
  • The record itself: Opportunity, Account, etc: Open activities means not complete yet. Activity history will be created as completed when you save them AND Open activities will move there when completed.
• You can create a “Call” or “Email” Task, directly from the “Activity History” Related List of a Record: go to the record, go to the “Activity History” Related List, and click on the button “Send an Email”, this will allow you to send an email, and optionally use an email template that you choose from the existing ones that you already configured beforehand. Once you click on Send, the task will be automatically placed in the “Activity History”.Related List.
• Mandatory Task fields:
  • Assigned To: single user, or multiple users
  • Subject: Call, email, send letter, send quote, other…
  • Priority
  • Status: not started, in progress, completed, waiting, deferred
• Optional Task fields:
  • Due date
  • Name: calling who? Contact or Lead.
  • Related to (record): what opportunity?
  • Description and Recurrence / Reminder

Events:

• Events are used to represent scheduled meetings, similar to appointments in your Outlook calendar. Events have a scheduled start and end time.
• Events are moved from “Open Activities” to “Activity History” when the start date of the event is in the past
• Mandatory Event fields:
  • Assigned To: single user only
  • Subject: meeting, other…
  • Start / End date and time
  • Status: not started, in progress, completed, waiting, deferred
• Optional Event fields:
  • Location
  • Name: calling who? Contact or Lead.
  • Related to (record): what opportunity?
  • Description
  • Reminder/ Recurrence
  • Invite other (users, contacts, leads)
  • Attachments

Task vs. Events:

Associating Activities to Custom Objects:

• Activities can be associated to most standard objects and all custom objects.
• In order to link an activity to a custom object, make sure that the “Allow Activities” checkbox is enabled in the object properties:
• Once you allow it in a previously not allowed Object, you must change Layout (Related List) if not added

Cloud Scheduler: (Schedule a meeting)

• The cloud scheduler provides a way to invite a group of users/leads/contacts to collaborate on finding a meeting time that works for all participants
• It is available when you click on Meeting Request instead of Event

  

• Steps: 1- specify the invitees (Users, Leads or Contacts), 2- specify your options for meeting time (more than 1 option) the calendar shows when other invitees are available, 3- or, alternatively, let SF propose time 4- now invitees will receive an email and will pick times that work for them, 5- you pick the final time to meet.
• https://help.salesforce.com/htviewhelpdoc?id=meeting_request_overview.htm&siteLang=en_US

Activity Object Settings: check the screenshot on the Right:

https://help.salesforce.com/HTViewHelpDoc?id=customizeactivities.htm&language=en_US

• Activities is like any other Object in SF
• You can change Activities Object options here – mainly add help text only as you cannot change standard Objects
  • Task Fields
  • Call Type (add help text)
• Go to “Activity Custom Fields” to add new custom fields

Public Calendar / Resource Calendar:

• Public calendar to manage group activities: track a group’s marketing events, training classes, annual vacations
• Resource calendar to schedule the use of a shared resource like a conference room or an overhead projector.
• View and edit your existing public calendars and resource calendars and create:

  Build | Customize | Activities | Public Calendars and Resources. (Treat Activity as custom Object)

• When you create, specify Public or Resource
• For example, Vacation 2016 is Public
• Specify the sharing: who can see this calendar by selecting Sharing

Calendar settings:

• Hide Details: Other people can see whether given times are available, but they can’t see other information about events in the calendar.
• Hide Details and Add Events: Other people can see whether given times are available, but they can’t see details of events. Other people can insert events in the calendar.
• Show Details: Other people can see detailed information about events in the calendar.
• Show Details and Add Events: Other people can see detailed information about events in the calendar, and they can insert events in the calendar.
• Full Access: Other people can see detailed information about events in the calendar, insert events in the calendar, and edit existing events in the calendar.

How to use calendars now:

• Once you create public or Resource calendars, you or any user can access them depending on the sharing
• To access, to the single User View
• Click on Change to change to another calendar
• Choose the Public Calendar that you want, ex. Vacation 2016
• Choose the start date/time, click on +

  

• Enter the details. Note that the Assigned to is the calendar name.