Need help configuring alerts

[Mariah]

I am using MS Project 07, I have figured out how to set a 3 day advance
warning alert for the start of a task to notify me via an Outlook
notification alert that a task is coming up so I can check on the status of
the task and its resources.

What I am trying to do is set up a second task alert for the day each task
starts. Also I want to have the notification sent not only to me but another
person in the Office who has a smart phone and recieves alerts from his
Outlook on his phone.

As it stands I am the only one who recieves the alerts.

1) How do I set up alerts to appear for multiple people?
2) How do I set up multiple alerts for a task?

 

[JulieS]

Hello Mariah,

I assume you are using Project 2007 with Project Server 2007. I suggest
posting your question to the Project Server newsgroup, if you have not
already. Although many people who respond to questions read all of the
newsgroups, I think you'll catch the attention of the "server gurus"
more quickly on the Project Server newsgroup.

I hope this helps.
Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

 

[Mariah]

Yes I am using Project 2007 however I am not using Project Server 2007. as
far as I know we use Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

 

[JulieS]

I apologize Mariah. I am unfamiliar with automatically creating alerts
from MS Project to Outlook. I always assumed (incorrectly, I guess)
that this was only possible with Project Web Access which requires
Project Server.

Perhaps someone else will weigh in here. Sorry I couldn't be of
assistance.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

 

[Mariah]

When I open project and go to "Help" "About MS Project" it says:
"Microsoft (r) Office Project 2007 (##.#.####.####) MSO (##.#.###.####)
(c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved."

There are real numbers where I put #'s but I didn't want to compromise the
security of my product. I'm not sure if those numbers are sensitive or not.

The front of the box the Install CD came in says "Microsoft Office Project
Standard 2007"

On the 1 sheet paper insert with the install disc there is a tiny little
byline that says:
"Includes Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Project
Portfolio Server 2007."

Steps I took to set up an alert:
While working on a project I noticed an icon in the tool bar that looks like
a small bell.
I clicked on it and it poped up a window that gave me options for the
parameters of a single alert.
I backed out and selected my entire project by clicking the upper left hand
corner.
I then selected the bell icon again and set the parameters to notify me 3
days before a task began.
I then closed the window, continued working on my project, saved & closed.

The next day I received alerts for each task that was scheduled to begin in
3 days in my Outlook alerts pop-up, the thing that notifies me of recurring
tasks I have set on my Outlook calendar.


My questions:
1) How do I set up alerts to appear for multiple people?
2) How do I set up multiple alerts for a task?

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Mariah --

The button to which you refer is located on the Tracking toolbar and is
called the Set Reminder button. I suspect that no one had the slightest
idea what you are talking about since this is a new feature in Microsoft
Project 2007, and nobody had ever discovered it. I know I hadn't, and my
company has written two books thus far on the Microsoft Project 2007 desktop
application. I tried looking in the Help system for information about this
feature, and there is no documentation whatsoever.

I have Project Professional 2007 and tried to work with the Set Reminder
feature, but to no avail. It crashed my Project Professional application
every time I tried to use the Set Reminder feature. My guess as to how to
send e-mail reminders to your team members is to specify an e-mail address
for each of them in the Resource Sheet view of your project. To do this,
apply the Resource Sheet view and then double-click the name of each
resource. In the Resource Information dialog, you will see a field into
which you can enter an e-mail address for each resource. Please know that
I'm only guessing, since I cannot get the feature to work on my own system.

Regarding how to set up multiple alerts, it appears you are limited to only
one alert per task. Again, I'm guessing, but I'll bet I'm right on this
one. Hope this helps.

 

[JulieS]

Hello Dale and Mariah,

Dale -- I always learn new information from you

After Mariah's description and Dale's explanation I was able to do some
more testing. I have Project 2007 Professional installed with no server
tie-in, so I am going to assume the feature works the same as your
installation, Mariah.

Using the Set Reminders button does work on my installation which is
also installed with Outlook 2007. Clicking the Set Reminders button
adds a task to the task list in Outlook 2007 with a reminder set on the
task.

To your specific question Mariah:
1) How do I set up alerts to appear for multiple people? Although I
cannot test, I assume as Dale said that setting up email addresses for
the resources assigned would sent the tasks to each resource and also
set up the alerts. You can also assign the task to others once the task
is in Outlook. See Outlook help for additional details.

You had asked about sending alerts to mobile devices, I suggest checking
the information in help for Outlook 2007 for setting up mobile alerts.
I don't believe mobile [SMS messaging] works for releases of Outlook
prior to 2007.

2) How do I set up multiple alerts for a task? Dale is correct -- as
always. The limitation on alerts is from Outlook. One reminder/alert
per task.

A couple of flaws also appear in the system:
if you get carried away in Project and repeatedly click the set
reminders button, it keeps sending the task again to the Outlook task
list.
if the schedule is updated in Project, the Outlook task is not
automatically updated. It appears to be a one-way push.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project