ACT! 2005 Tutorial

Setting Up Your Schedule

Calls, Meetings, and To-Dos

You can schedule an activity, such as a phone call or meeting, with one or more contacts (which include other users). These activities appear on your Act! calendar, and will pop up reminders when you set them to do so.

The Contacts toolbar contains three buttons for scheduling particular types of activities:

• Call
• Meeting
• To-Do

In addition, you can schedule a custom activity by selecting Other and then the activity type from the Schedule menu.

To schedule an activity:

1. Click the button on the toolbar for the activity you want to schedule (Call, Meeting, or To-Do).

The Schedule Activity dialog opens.

1. The Activity Type drop-down menu displays the type of activity based on the button or menu option you selected. If necessary, you can change the activity type by selecting a different item from the menu.
2. Enter the start and end date, start and end time, and duration of the activity.
3. If you select the Use Banner box, a banner for the activity will appear at the top of your calendar for that day. You can double-click the banner to access the activity.
4. From the Schedule With drop-down menu, select the contact with whom you want to schedule the activity.

To schedule the activity with more than one contact, click the Contacts button and choose Select Contacts from the menu that appears. This opens the Select Contacts dialog:

Hold down the Ctrl (Control) key and click each contact with whom you want to schedule the activity. Then click the right transfer (>) button to add the contacts to the list. Click OK to close the dialog.

1. If you want to associate a group or company with the activity, click the browse (…) button next to the Associate With field. In the Associate With dialog, select the groups and companies you want to add and click the right transfer (>) button. Then click OK to close the dialog.
2. Complete the remainder of the fields on the General tab as appropriate. For example, you can specify what the activity is regarding by selecting an item from the drop-down menu. You can also enter a location for the activity and set a priority and a ring alarm.
3. If you’re scheduling the activity for another user, click the Schedule For button. In the Schedule For dialog, select the user for whom you’re scheduling the activity.

Note that you can only schedule activities for those users whose calendars you can access.

1. Select the Private checkbox to make the activity private.
2. The Details tab of the Schedule Activity dialog lets you enter details about the activity:

The text box functions like a basic word processor, with menus and buttons along the top that allow you to format your text. To attach a file to the activity, click the Attach button; then browse to the file and click Open.

Activity details are displayed in the daily recap for your calendar, as well as in the Task List and on the Activities tab for the contact record.

Tip:

You can print the activity details by clicking the Print button in the upper left-hand corner of the toolbar over the text box.

1. If the activity is recurring, select the Recurrence tab:

1. Specify how often the activity recurs, and the start and end date.
2. Click OK to close the dialog and schedule the activity.

Invitations

When you schedule an activity, such as a meeting, with other users, the users receive an invitation, which they can accept, tentatively accept, or decline. When they accept or tentatively accept an invitation, the invitation is added to their calendars.