It is a nightmare calling from a todo list. I can see in a task list who I need to call (linked from the task) and the basic information about the client in the 3 pane view, but I need to see the contact history for the client all the notes and tasks ever recorded from them in a summary I can scroll up and down. I need to review the lcients info ni about 2-6 seconds. It takes taht long to look them up in a second daylight window.

Any way to do this in daylight? Failing that how about improving this in the next release?

Hey Doug,
How about creating your smart list from the Contacts screen? Your criteria on the Contacts screen is: Tasks>Due Date>is>Today

Then you can go through each Contact and read their history.

Hope this helps,
Cynthia

I need to see contacts with tasks due today or are overdue that have a category "call". The contact may have other tasks due that are in category "work" which means they are tasks I deal with outside of the time I reserve for making calls.

Can you make a smart list that filters both task and call?

Doug,

I agree. I believe I have posted this same request once before.

Cynthia has a good point, but with a lap top...too many smart lists and I lose space because I have to keep that side panel open.

Christian

quote:

Originally posted by Paul Baker:
Can you make a smart list that filters both task and call?

I don't think it is possible, unless I am missing something.

Is there anyone from marketcircle ready to admit the workflow for making calls is pretty much a disaster and in urgent need to repair?

Hey Doug

Why don't you give MC a detailed workflow you use and see if they implement it, in the next release. Proactive win over reactive all the time. Hope I didn't offend anyone. DL is the best out there. If we all give the best feedback, The engineers can make DL more feature rich as we would like it to be.

Hi all,
Here's how I handle my daily calls list:
1. I set up a smart list in Tasks to gather my phone calls for the day, and dragged that smart list up into the horizontal area above the list of Tasks (see screenshot)

2. when I'm ready to make my calls I just click on that smart list
3. if I need to review the history for a call's Contact, I can click the arrow-in-the-circle icon next to the Contact's name (in the 2nd of the 3 panes); this takes me to the Contact's record, where I can read history before I dial
4. still within the Contact's record, I see the phone call to be made in the Next Task Heads-Up-Display, so I can click on that to open the Task (allowing me to put my notes on the phone call into the Details field, mark the Task as Done, etc)
5. after that call is complete, because I dragged my phone calls smart list to the top of my screen I can just click that to quickly jump me back to my pending phone calls list

This procedure is actually very fast and has worked well for me. That being said, I am currently working on a Heads-Up-Display for the Tasks screen that lists the history for the Contact who's linked to the selected Task.

Hope this helps,
Cynthia

Thanks Cynthia, that is not a terrible workaround but if anyone from marketcirle is listening - IT IS A WORKAROUND.

Here is the user story:

- a list of 20 ish calls to make in the next hour on select topics for select purposes. I.e. I make prospecting calls together in an an hour.

- first call, dial (I dial manually). While ringing, review contact history. If I connect, I am prepared to talk. Make a note during/after call. create a new activity set or a ask. Move to the next call. Goal. 25 dials/8 conversations an hour. That does't leave a lot of time for clicking around.

- if its busy, press the busy button (I wish). The task disspears from the list for a while.

- if I leave a message, press the message button. Next time, its obvious whether I have left a message recently.

- if I have tried three times, send an email if I have failed to connect. Otherwise, make a note and give up.

quote:

Originally posted by Cynthia Shaffer:
Hi all,
Here's how I handle my daily calls list:
1. I set up a smart list in Tasks to gather my phone calls for the day, and dragged that smart list up into the horizontal area above the list of Tasks (see screenshot)

2. when I'm ready to make my calls I just click on that smart list
3. if I need to review the history for a call's Contact, I can click the arrow-in-the-circle icon next to the Contact's name (in the 2nd of the 3 panes); this takes me to the Contact's record, where I can read history before I dial
4. still within the Contact's record, I see the phone call to be made in the Next Task Heads-Up-Display, so I can click on that to open the Task (allowing me to put my notes on the phone call into the Details field, mark the Task as Done, etc)
5. after that call is complete, because I dragged my phone calls smart list to the top of my screen I can just click that to quickly jump me back to my pending phone calls list

This procedure is actually very fast and has worked well for me. That being said, I am currently working on a Heads-Up-Display for the Tasks screen that lists the history for the Contact who's linked to the selected Task.

Hope this helps,
Cynthia

I think the biggest problem to modifying the way the Task screen looks is the nature of a many-to-many relationship model (which Daylite has and which I love!). Because a Task can have unlimited other objects linked to it (contacts, orgs, opps, etc) it would be very difficult/slow to show ALL activity for ALL those objects. I just finished a Heads-Up-Display that shows the Tasks' linked Contacts and for each Contact his/her last note, last task, last appt. I'm working on one that will show ALL of each Contacts notes/tasks/appts, but for now the last activities works well for me.

Cynthia

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Ransom:
Is there anyone from marketcircle ready to admit the workflow for making calls is pretty much a disaster and in urgent need to repair?

Doug,

First and foremost, I've got to agree with a Michael here, you definitely need to have a little more tact with your comments. While you may be frustrated, perhaps you lack the experience to realize that MarketCircle is one of the most responsive, involved development houses out there. Further, you might also do well to realize that just because something doesn't work exactly the way YOU want it doesn't necessarily mean that it's "pretty much a disaster." I make my sales calls in a way which seems pretty close to your description and it's not a "disaster". Could it be more efficient? I'm sure. But, from what I've read (and I re-read your post several times) you don't seem to offer much of a solution.

Perhaps you would like to outline what you would like in detail because, quite honestly, whether you want to call it a "workaround" or not, I think that Cynthia offered you a pretty thoughtful post. Maybe you should give that a shot. I can tell you that one of the biggest benefits of DL is its flexibility. At first glance, that can seem to make certain tasks more difficult. However, I can attest to the fact that there many ways to approach the same task in DL and you may find that if you re-think what you're trying to do, you just might find a more efficient way.

I want to chime in agreeing that my call activities require way too many clicks. I link my call tasks to the opportunity/project, not the contact (so I can see at a glance what my activities have been when reviewing an opportunity), so the smartlist approach Cynthia outlined wouldn't work.

The smart list approach is the same, just instead of making the smart list in Contacts, you make it in Opportunities.

Take care,
Cynthia

quote:

Originally posted by George Qualley:

Doug,

First and foremost, I've got to agree with a Michael here, you definitely need to have a little more tact with your comments. .

Sorry everyone, don't mean to be hostile. I could suggest a user interface design - but I think the user story should be a better starting point for the dev team to understand my problem than "Here is how the UI should work". My story is review task, review contact history, dial, call,
if connnected
- assign a task or activity set
- note

if busy:
- the call should dissapear from my list for 10 minutes
if no answer
first time
make a note, remove call from list for 1 hour
second time
remove call for a day
third time


if answering machine
if first time...
if second time...
if third time
assign task to send something out


...