ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 …eeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)/ProfitPress-MegaCDROM2.B6I/APPS/BUSINESS/ARCH_A41.ZIP/ARCH-A41.EXE/ARCHITEC.ACS/ACT1.DOC

Text File | 1991-09-27 | 8.9 KB | 204 lines

                       Help Screen For Activities File

                                 Overview

The Activities file serves 3 purposes:

1) As you contact  Clients over the phone, the screen will identify to  you ì
detail  information  on that Client as soon as you input the  company  name ì
into the Activity screen, or the first few letters of the company name.

2)  In your absence, your secretary may be receiving inquiries for you.  In ì
those  cases where the caller already has a record entered into the  Client ì
file,  your  secretary will see all of the detail  information  about  that ì
Client in 2 seconds.  If, on the other hand, that inquiry is from a  Client ì
not known to you, your secretary will then be able to enter a message  plus ì
some more detail information, such as name, address, and zip code.

This  achieves  two objectives:  a)  You or your secretary can  input  data ì
into  the Activity file on any Client, regardless of  whether or  not  they ì
are already in the Client file. b) Messages taken in your absence into  the ì
'NEW'  category  will  not  be lost but will be  grouped  together  in  the ì
activity  reports, with their comments and phone numbers. In this way,  you ì
can follow up on all inquiries made in your absence, even if your secretary ì
recorded partial messages.

3)   All of the activities--both incoming inquiries and outgoing  Clienting ì
calls--will  generate  reports,  sorted  by  name,  dates,  company   name, ì
comments, that will help you track and then follow up on those calls.


Observe  that  if  the  Client is already in the  Client  file,  a  lot  of ì
information is displayed either to you or to your secretary, but you  input ì
only  3  new items per activity: "COMMENTS", "DATE OF NEXT  APPOINTMENT  OR ì
COMMITMENT",  and   "HOW  MUCH  REVENUE/EXPENSE  DID  YOU  INCUR  ON   THIS ì
ACTIVITY".

                      ================================
                      |           OPTION "C"          |
                      |    Creating a Callback list   |
                      =================================


This 'callback' option is a special case of the Add option on the  activity ì
menu  that  you just came from.  It takes all commitments  or  appointments ì
that you had made for today, and then scrolls through each record as though ì
you had entered them one at a time from the report: 'Today's Appointments'.

It  shows  you the comment from the activity record  where  you  originally ì
created  the  future commitment that resulted in today's  appointment.   It ì
then  creates  a new activity record for each of today's  appointments  and ì
waits for you to enter in any comment or future commitment.


è                       ================================
                      |           OPTION "A"          |
                      |     ADDING A NEW RECORD       |
                      =================================
                               (A to Add  data)

To understand how to add a record into the activity file, go to tutorial  2 ì
in  PROGRAM.DOC/PROGRAM.REF.

Iεá brief¼á  al∞ record≤ iε thσ activit∙  filσ  arσ relateΣ  t∩ record≤á iε ì
thσá Clien⌠á file«á  An∙ onσ recorΣ iε thσ Clien⌠  filσ caε  havσá multiplσ ì
record≤á iε thσ activit∙ file«á   An∙ timσ yo⌡ attemp⌠  t∩ adΣá  ßá  recorΣ  ì
int∩ thi≤ file¼á thσ prograφ wil∞ firs⌠ seσ iµ  yo⌡  havσ  ß maste≥  recorΣ ì
fo≥á tha⌠ activit∙ iε thσ Clien⌠ file«á  Thσ prograφ ha≤á  one¼á exception¼ ì
though║á  iµá yo⌡á ente≥á aε activit∙ witΦ ß compan∙ namσá oµá  'NEW'¼á thσ  ì
prograφ allow≤ aε unlimiteΣ numbe≥ oµ 'unattachedº activitie≤  iε  thσ filσ ì
witΦ thi≤ name«


                      ================================
                      |           OPTION "G"          |
                      | RETRIEVING AN EXISTING RECORD |
                      =================================
                             (G to GET/EDIT data)


Once  you understand how to retrieve a record using the "G" option  in  the ì
Client  file,  then  you can do the same in about any  other  part  of  the ì
program.

Observe  that  when you search for a record in the Activity file,  you  are ì
looking  for a company name, using the  "S" option within the  "G"  screen.  ì
Once  you find the record, you have actually located the first  record   of ì
all  of the Activity records under that company name.  To then look at  the ì
records  "behind" that first one, use the "F" and "P" options (Forward  and ì
Prior) to flip back and forth to see each record.  All activity records for ì
any one Client are grouped together by date, then time of message.


                               ==============
                               |  OPTION S: |
                               ==============

Daily  Snapshot  of Appointments.   This gives you a quick listing of  your ì
appointments  for  any one day.    If you had entered a time  for  any  one ì
appointment, then that appears also.




                               ==============
                               |  OPTION 1: |
                               ==============

èCalendar.   This will show you the days of the week for any 4  week  period ì
that you select for the next 2,000 years.  Used for clarifying days of  the ì
week and numeric days of the month when establishing appointments.




                               ==============
                               |  OPTION O: |
                               ==============


                     O  for Open or Pending Activities


This  option gives you the ability to set aside activities into a  'bucket' ì
that you designate as still open or pending.  Some activities may not  have ì
a  future commitment date but are unresolved pending some other follow  up.  ì
You  can  think  of these 'Open' activities as existing in  an   'Open'  or ì
'Pending' folder.

By  default, all activity records are 'Closed'.  You can elect to make  any ì
single  activity  record  'Open' by entering the 'F10' key  on  either  the ì
Activity Add or Activity Get screen.





                         Treatment of FAX numbers:

This program will carry over your FAX number into each activity record as a ì
visual convenience for you if you observe these steps:

1)  Enter a 'FAX=' code into the comment line of the client file.
2)  At the end of the FAX number, place a '/'.


Each client record has two lines for comments.  Note that you can place the ì
'FAX='  code  into either line, in any place in that  comment  line.   Also ì
observe that case convention is irrelevant.  'FAX=' is that same as 'fax='.

Let's say, for example, that your client has a FAX number of [phone].  ì
You  would then enter this code into the comment line of the  Client/client ì
record:

                            FAX=[phone]/


The  program will interpret the '/' as the end of your FAX number and  will ì
then move over this phrase to the beginning of each new activity record:

                            FAX=[phone]

è                   Treatment of duplicate Company Names:

An option exists within the program to accommodate duplicate Company Names.

Remember that when you enter an individual name without a Company Name, the ì
program  will  create a Company Name consisting of 'first plus last'  name.  ì
Later,  when you print labels,  the label generator will look to see if the ì
Company  Name is the same as 'first plus last' name and will then skip  the ì
Company  Name in the label,  thereby freeing up one line of the  five  line ì
label.

To  insert any company name of your choosing in this skipped line,  observe ì
the following logic:

1)  Enter a 'DUPL=' code into the comment line of the client file.
2)  At the end of the duplicate name, place a '/'.


Each Client record has two lines for comments.  Note that you can place the ì
'DUPL='  code  into either line, in any place in that comment  line.   Also ì
observe  that  case  convention is irrelevant.  'DUPL='  is  that  same  as ì
'dupl='.

Once the program senses that you have entered a 'DUPL=' code,  that  entire ì
name will be placed into the label in the line where the company name would ì
have gone before.

Observe  that this duplicate company name logic will also work when you are ì
outputting data.  Recalling the Main Program Menu, option B:

                        "B)  Import or Output data"


Once you select 'B' on the Main Program Menu, you will then see the 'Import ì
or  Output  Data  Menu.'  If you select options 2, 3, 4,  or  5,  then  the ì
duplicate company name logic will work with these selections as well.

            "2)  Output records to Wordstar/Mailmerge[TM]"
            "3)  Output records to WordPerfect[TM] 4.2 or 5.0"
            "4)  Output records to dBASE III [Reg. TM]"
            "5)  Output records to Microsoft [Reg. TM] Word 4.0"