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Operations Menu - Create Activity

You can use this function to create Activities from Customer Letters. This can be useful if you need, for example, to schedule a print run. The Activity Type given to Activities created by this function will be taken from the Activity Types, Subsystems setting. The Task Type of the new Activities will be To Do, the Symbol will be Other and the Start Date will be the current date.

When you select the function, the following screen appears, providing the Customer field in the Customer Letter contains a single Contact Number:

A new record is opened in a window entitled 'Activity: Inspect'. This means that it has already been saved, and is being opened for checking. Any text in the Header field of the Customer Letter will be copied to the Text field of the Activity, while the Signature in the Sign field of the Customer Letter will be copied to the Persons field of the Activity. As the Task Type will be To Do, the Activity will be placed in the relevant Person's Task Manager. After amendment if necessary, save the record in the Activity register by clicking the [Save] button in the Button Bar and close it using the close box. Alternatively, if you no longer require the Activity, remove it using the 'Delete' function on the Record menu. In either case, you will be returned to the Customer Letter window.

The Customer Letter and the Activity will remain connected to each other through the Attachments facility. This allows you to open the Customer Letter quickly and easily when reviewing the Activity, or to open the Activity from the Customer Letter. When viewing the Activity or Customer Letter, click the button with the paper clip image to open a list of attachments. Then double-click an item in this list to open it.

You do not have to save a Customer Letter before you can create an Activity. However, it is recommended that you save the Customer Letter first, because if you do not the attachment link mentioned in the previous paragraph will not be established.

If the Customer field in the Customer Letter contains * or a range of Contact Numbers (i.e. usually a range of Customers or Suppliers), the 'Activity: Inspect' window will not open when you select the 'Create Activity' function. This is because several Activities will be created, one for each Contact Number in the range. The Contact in these Activities will be the Primary Contact of each Customer or Supplier. If the Customer field in the Customer Letter contains * or a range of Contact Numbers and the One per Contact box is checked, separate Activities will be created for each Contact Person belonging to each Customer or Supplier in the range. In both cases, you will be able to find these Activities attached to the Customer Letter and in the relevant Person's Task Manager.

You can choose to have an Activity created automatically when each Customer Letter is approved. Again, this is controlled by the Activity Types, Subsystems setting. In this case, a single Activity will be created, even if the Customer field in the Customer Letter contains * or a range of Contact Numbers.

The 'Activity: Inspect' window is fully described here.

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