Working with Tasks and Events

Working with Tasks and Events

Activities play an important role in daily business operations. Activities can be either time bound calendar events, such as meetings, seminars, appointments, etc., or status bound tasks, such as sending status report to manager, sending email to customer, etc. In Zoho CRM, most of the records have activities as a related list for a better 360 degree view. You can associate activities with modules, such as leads, accounts, contacts, deals, campaigns, etc. Under the Activities Module, you can store information related to Tasks, Events, and Calls.

Create Tasks

A task is a specific piece of work that is usually time bound. In Zoho CRM, tasks are listed in the record's Home page, Activities home page, and in other related records.

Availability
Permission Required
Access to Tasks that include View, Create, Edit and Delete permissions.



Task Details
Enter the task details such as Subject, Task Owner, Due date, and the contact or account to which the task is related to. You can also add custom fields to the Tasks module.

To create tasks
  1. In the Activities module, click New Task.
    You can also create a task from within a record by clicking the     New Task link in the Open Activities related list.
  2. In the Create Task page, specify the task details. 

  3. Click Save.

Note
  1. Tasks will be closed, only when the Status of the task is updated as Completed.
  2. The status, Completed, is a system defined field. An alternate custom field with the same label will not close the task automatically.

Set Repeat Type 

You can create recurring tasks that are set to repeat over a specific period of time. You can specify when the task should be completed. The repeat type can be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or custom repeat type - where you can specify your time period.

To set a repeat type
  1. Select the repeat type as Daily, Weekly, Monthly or set a custom repeat type from the drop-down list.
    1. If you choose Custom repeat type, do the following:
      1. Select the Frequency as Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly.
        1. Daily: In every [x] days, specify the number of days after which the task should be repeated.


        2. Weekly: In every [x] weeks, specify the number of weeks after which the task should be repeated along with the exact day.


        3. Monthly: In every [x] months, specify the number of months after which the task should be repeated along with the date or day of the month.


        4. Yearly: This allows you to specify the date or day and month in which the task should be repeated.


  2. In Ends, choose when the task should stop:
    1. Never - Task will never be terminated.
    2. After [x] Times - Task will be terminated after the number of times specified here.
    3. On [Date] - Task will be terminated on the specified date.


Note
  1. Due date should be specified to set repeat type.
  2. When the repeat type is chosen as Daily, you can choose to exclude Weekends and Holidays.
  3. When the repeat type is chosen as Monthly, you can choose to set the due date of your task to the next business day if the selected due date is not a working day.

Set Reminders 

You can reminders to receive notification before the task reaches the due date. You can choose to be reminded on the day of the due date or number of days/weeks/months before the due date at a particular time either via email or popup or both. This reminder can also be repeated if required.  
To set reminders
  1. Toggle on the Reminder switch.
  2. In the pop-up, specify when you want to be reminded.
    You can choose a specific date and time or number of days/weeks/months before the due date at a specific time.


  3. Choose a Repeat Type from the drop-down list.
  4. Select how you want to be notified from the drop down list.
    You can choose from Email, Pop Up or Both.

Note 
  1. If you are creating a task for other users, you can notify that user via email, by selecting the Notify Owner checkbox from the top panel.
     


    The user will be notified when:
    1. A new task is assigned to another user.
    2. Owner of an existing task is changed to another user.
    3. A task is completed. 

Edit tasks

You can edit a task or the repeat type of a task whenever required. 
 
To edit tasks
  1. Select the task and click the Edit icon.
Edit Repeat type
You can edit the repeat type after the task is saved. The recurring tasks can be extended or reduced based on your requirements.
  1. Single task to recurring
    If you have created a single task and want to change it to recurring type then you can edit the task and configure the appropriate repeat type. 
  2. Stop Recurring tasks 
    If you have created a recurring task and want to stop it, you can do so by editing it. You can toggle off the repeat configuration which deletes all your upcoming tasks too. 

Note
  1. When the repeat type is turned off, the task which you are editing along with all the upcoming tasks can be removed.
  2. If the repeat type is turned off for the first task in the repeat sequence, then the recurring task will be converted into a single task.

You can edit the reminder pattern of a recurring task. While doing so, you can choose if the change should be applied to all the upcoming tasks or this particular task only. 




Creating Task in Bulk

You can create tasks in bulk by selecting the appropriate records from the module of your choice. The task will be created for those selected records.

To create recurring tasks in bulk


  1. Click the [Module] tab.
  2. From the list view select the checkboxes of the records for which you want to create recurring tasks.
  3. Click More Actions > Create Tasks.
  4. In the popup, specify the task details and enable Repeat toggle switch to specify the recurring details.
  5. Enter the Repeat Type and specify when the recurring task should end.
  6. Click Done and then Save.

Create Events

An event is an activity that happens at a given place and time. They are listed in the Zoho CRM's Home page of the user, Activities home page, Calendar and in other related records.

Availability
Permission Required
Access to Events that include View, Create, Edit and Delete permissions.


  

To create events

  1. In the Activities module, click New Events.
  2. In the New Event popup, specify the event details. 
  3. Click Save.

To create events from Calendar

  1. Click the Calendar icon and select the Day, Week or Month view.
  2. In the Calendar, click the Create link or click on a time slot in the calendar.
  3. In the New Event popup, specify the event details.
  4. Click Save.
Note
  1. Events are automatically closed at the specified end date and time. There is no status update for events.

Create Recurring Events

An activity can be repeated by using the recurring option while creating events. You can also create recurring tasks in bulk from the list view.

Availability
Permission Required
Access to the Task, Events that includes View, Create, Edit and Delete permissions.


To create recurring activities

  1. In the Activities module, click New Event.
    You can also create an event from within a record by clicking the New Event link in the Open Activities related list.
  2. In the Create Event page, specify the activity-related details.
  3. Select the Recurring Activity check box and do the following:
    • Specify the From and To dates for the event to be repeated.
    • Specify the Repeat Type for the event and select the options accordingly (Refer to the table below).
    • Click Save.
Daily - Fields
Description
Everyday
Select this if the activity should be repeated everyday.
Recur every ___ day(s)
Select this to specify how often in days the activity should be repeated.
Weekly - Fields
Description
Recur every ____week(s)
Enter how often in weeks the activity should be repeated.
Days of the week
Select the check box(es) that correspond to the day(s) of the week on which the recurrence should occur.
Monthly - Fields
Description
On day __ of every ___ month(s)
Enter how often in months and on the specified date the activity should be repeated.
On____ ____ of every ___ month
Select a particular day when the activity should be repeated every month.
Yearly - Fields
Description
On every___ ____
Enter how often in a year the activity should be repeated.
On ____ ____ of ____
Enter how often in a year and on the specified date the activity should be repeated.

Set Reminders for Events

There are two options for reminders:

  • Alert through Email 
  • Alert through Pop-up

Both the reminders options are enabled for Events and cannot be disabled while adding an event from the Activities tab. However, your Calendar may have different reminder options. In your calendar preferences, you can turn off just the Email reminder. The pop-up reminder cannot be disabled.

Availability
Permission Required
Access to the Tasks that includes View, Create, Edit and Delete permissions.

 

To set reminders for events

  1. In the Activities tab, click on the event for which you want to set reminders.
  2. In the Event Details page, click Edit.
  3. Select the Reminder from the drop-down list.
  4. Click Save.

 Add Invitees

To invite multiple users, leads, or contacts to the event

  1. In the Activities tab, click on the event for which you want to add invitees.
  2. In the Event Details page, click Actions > Add Participants.
    You can also click Edit and add participants for the event in the popup box.
  3. In Add Participants pop-up window, select the group from which you want to add participants.
    You can also directly search for Users, Leads, Contacts, etc.
  4. In the list of Users, Leads, or Contacts, select the corresponding check box(es).
  5. In the Invite by E-mail Address text box, specify email address of people you want to invite and whose details are not available in Zoho CRM.
  6. Click Add.

You will receive email notifications on the RSVP status each time an invitee accepts, declines or holds your invitation. And when you don't hear from them at all, you can also re-invite particitpants individually by clicking Reinvite under Actions from the Participant Status window.

Note
  1. Events in CRM are considered as meetings and thus the email notification sent to an invitee will contain the list of all the participants who are invited for the particular event.
  2. You can invite a maximum of 50 participants.

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