Activities in a Multi-Company Database
This page contains some suggestions for working with Activities and Tasks in a multi-Company database.
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If you have more than one Company in your database, it may be the case that a particular user will have access to some or all those Companies. There are two methods of achieving this:
- Create Person records for the user in each Company.
- Create a Person record for the user in one Company and a Global User record that will give the user access to other Companies.
You may need to create Person records in more than one Company. Several fields in the Person record are not in the Global User record. If the user will need to use the information in the Person fields in a particular Company, they will need a Person record in that Company.
In the first case (Person records for the user in each Company), Activities that the user creates will by default be saved in the Company in which they are currently working. These Activities will only be visible in the Company in which they were created, so users in other Companies will not be aware of the Activities. The user may end up with Activities in more than one Company, which may make their Calendar and Task Manager difficult to manage.
The user can specify where an Activity should be saved. After opening a new Activity, the user can choose the Company using the drop-down menu in the Button Bar:
This drop-down menu will only be visible if there is more than one Company in the database. It will not be available if you are using iOS or Android. When the user chooses a Company, they will be asked to log in to that Company. All 'Paste Special' lists (e.g. the 'Paste Special' lists for Activity Types, Contacts and Projects) will contain options from the chosen Company. The user will not be able to save Activities in Companies if they can't log in (i.e. if they don't have access).
In the second case (Global Users), you should specify a Main CRM Company in each Global User record:
Specifying a Main CRM Company for a Global User will have the following effects:
- By default, each Activity saved by the Global User will be stored in the Main CRM Company, irrespective of the Company the Global User is working in at the time. The Global User will be able to choose a different Company using the drop-down menu in the Button Bar of the Activity.
- When the Global User or anyone else opens the Global User's Calendar or Task Manager, they will be shown a list of the Global User's Activities stored in the Global User's Main CRM Company (again irrespective of the Company being worked in at the time).
- The Global User will need to be working in their Main CRM Company if they need to produce reports listing Activities (for example, when producing the Personal Calendar report from the Calendar).
If a Global User will save Activities in several Companies, you can specify an Additional CRM Company for that Global User (or several Additional CRM Companies, separated by commas):
Specifying an Additional CRM Company for a Global User will have the following results:
- If the Global User is working in their Main CRM Company or in one of their Additional CRM Companies, new Activities will by default be stored in the Company in which they are working. If the Global User is working in another Company, new Activities will by default be stored in their Main CRM Company. In all cases, the Global User will be able to choose a different Company using the drop-down menu in the Button Bar of the Activity.
- When the Global User or anyone else opens the Global User's Calendar or Task Manager, they will see the Global User's Activities that are stored in the Global User's Main CRM Company and in their Additional CRM Company or Companies.
You can use the SMS option on the
'Alarm' card of an Activity to specify that a Text (SMS) message will be sent as a reminder to carry out the Activity. The Text (SMS) message will be sent to the Person(s) or Cc Person(s) specified in the Activity. Each Person must have a Person record in the same Company as the Activity. These Person records will supply the recipient mobile phone numbers. For example, if a Global User has a Main CRM Company, they must have a Person record in the Main CRM Company. If a Global User is likely to save Activities in more than one Company, they must have Person records in each of those Companies.
If you need to move Activities from one Company to another, use the ‘Move Activities to Another Company’ Maintenance function in the CRM module.
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Activities and Tasks in Standard ERP:
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