Main Tab

The Main tab captures details of who the communication is with, the method, direction of contact and status. This tab also contains a general text field where you capture the detail of the Communication. A short and precise summary enables other CRM users to keep track of prior discussions.

Options Reference

Each option and field on the form is described below. Mandatory options and fields are highlighted in red.

Number

Enter a unique number. This field is alphanumeric. You can set the Numbers to be generated by Greentree Desktop. (see CRM System Settings).

Summary

Enter meaningful text to identify the Item. If the Communication is created from a Support Call, then the Summary defaults to the Summary of the Support Call. If the Communication is saved and a Summary has not been entered, then the Summary defaults to the Conversation text (first 50 characters). If Conversation text has not been entered, then the Summary defaults to Organisation + Create Date.

View

This field determines which records you have access to. The default view is set in CRM > System > Module Control. You can modify your view (depending on your security level) by selecting one of these options:

All: All records are available, no limitation based on the owner of the record.
Mine: Only the records that are assigned to you are available.
Team: Only the records that are assigned to your team(s) are available.

Note: The View field respects the security settings defined in User Preferences. Logging in as super gives you access to all records.

Organisation

Select the Organisation for the item from the list of Organisations. All organisations contained in the CRM database display in the list of options.

Contact

Select the Contact from the dropdown list, which contains all the Contacts registered against the selected Organisation. If you did not select an Organisation, the dropdown displays all Contacts in the Customer Relationship Management module and the Organisation field will automatically fill when a Contact is selected.

Created by

This field defaults to the currently logged-in user and indicates who created the Communication. You can select a different user from the dropdown list.

Type

This field defaults according to the module from which you open the Communication as:

Sales and Marketing - Defaults to Sales
Debt Collection - Defaults to Collection
Events Management - Defaults to Event
Service & Support - Defaults to Service

The fields that relate to Leads and quotes are hidden dependent on the type selected, as:

Collection - Neither Lead or Quote field available
Event - Lead field not available, Quote field available
Sales - Both Lead and Quote field available
Service - Neither Lead or Quote field available.

Status

This field defaults to the Default Communication Status selected on the relevant module's settings in CRM > System Settings > Module Control. You can update this field by selecting the Communication Status from the dropdown list. This list includes all the statuses entered in CRM > System Settings > Maintain Lookups.

Create Date

This field defaults to the Current Date and represents the Date that the Communication was created. You can update this field as required by selecting the date with the use of the calendar button.

Method

Select the method of Contact from the dropdown list, such as email or Fax. This list includes all the values entered in CRM > System Settings > Maintain Lookups, select Communication Source from the list of Lookup fields. If an email is sent from the Communication, then the Method is automatically updated to Email.

Direction

Direction defaults to Outbound, indicating that you initiated the Communication with the Organisation or Contact. You can select Inbound to indicate that the Contact initialled the Communication.

Conversation

Enter general text about the contents of the Conversation.

The Conversation is also used to pre-fill the body of the email, if no Email template is selected. In addition, the Conversation field updates to reflect the text of the email sent. You can press:

CTRL-Enter to create a line.
CTRL-T to insert a user name and the Date and Time. You can add a comment or more detail to the existing conversation, instead of creating a new communication for every additional discussion on the same topic.