Scheduling Phone Calls

[JOLTED1]

Goldmine has been burned into my mind after years of use and I keep wanting
to make Outlook work the same way...I'm trying to to figure out how to:
"Schedule a Call"

In other words...I'd like to place an item on my calendar that lists the
name of the contact and perhaps a small note, such as "call," AND THEN when I
click on the said item, on my calandar, for it to open the contact so that I
can review notes for the call or use any of the calling features already
built into Outlook BCM.

Thanks for your help in advance...

Best Regards,

JOLTED1 - Zapped.Info

 

[Luther]

Goldmine has been burned into my mind after years of use and I keep wanting
to make Outlook work the same way...I'm trying to to figure out how to:
"Schedule a Call"

In other words...I'd like to place an item on my calendar that lists the
name of the contact and perhaps a small note, such as "call," AND THEN when I
click on the said item, on my calandar, for it to open the contact so that I
can review notes for the call or use any of the calling features already
built into Outlook BCM.

Thanks for your help in advance...

Best Regards,

JOLTED1 - Zapped.Info

Have you tried creating an Outlook appointment and linking it to the
pertinent contact?

 

[JOLTED1]

Yes...I tried creating an appointment and linking it, but there are several
problems with that. First is the fact that when creating an appointment, it
wants to "email" the prospect about the appointment and I certainly don't
want to do that if I haven't even introduced myself. The fact that it wants
me to have an email on file further exaccerbates the problem, but at least it
give me the option to create the appointment anyway. The next big issue is
that when I click on the appointment, it is a challenge to then open the
linked contact record. Is the linked contact record one of the attendees?
Perhaps you could elaborate in more detail how you would go about this,
because at present having all these steps just to make a sales call is
certainly not going to help sales

So being redundant: How can I schedule a phone call such that it will show
up on my calendar and pull up the contact by clicking on it: On the calendar?
I've got to be missing something because this seems like an elementary
function of a contact manager.

JOLTED1 - Zapped.Info

 

[Lon Orenstein]

Jolted:

I use the Task List for scheduling calls. I can view the calendar where the
appointments show one place and the activities show below them. Or, you can
use the ToDo Bar to view them. Or, the Task List.

I've gotten in the habit of going to the Contacts View (using a customized
Phone List view), then right clicking on the contact, and choosing Create,
New Task for Business Contact. That automatically links the task to the
contact, saving a number of clicks. In the Subject, I put "Call: Jolted
Cola re: get the order", or something like that. That shows me who it's
with. Yes, it's a more key presses than Goldmine where you don't have to
enter the name but it gets the job done and it's not many seconds out of my
life. If I need to make the call at a specific time, I set the Reminder for
that time. That way, it pops up at the right time and I don't clutter my
calendar with tasks.

HTH,
Lon

___________________________________________________________
Lon Orenstein
pinpointtools, llc
(e-mail address removed)
Author of Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies
Author of the eBook: Moving from ACT! to Business Contact Manager
www.pinpointtools.com

 

[JOLTED1]

Thanks Lon,
That's a great strategy and the one I'll probably end up using. I can't
afford Goldmine and the "Schedule Call" functionality just doesn't seem to be
in place in Outlook Business Contact Manager JUST YET, but if I'm wrong will
somebody PLEASE let me know. Do you know if Microsoft has anything like a
"Wish List" for feature submissions? I still find it hard to believe that I
can't schedule a phone call such that I could just click on it and have it
open the contact. I've got to be missing something. It just doesn't seem like
something so fundamental would be overlooked. Perhaps there are patent
issues? Hopefully somebody at MS will come along and give me closure

Thanks again!

JOLTED1 - Zapped.Info

 

[Luther]

Yes...I tried creating an appointment and linking it, but there are several
problems with that. First is the fact that when creating an appointment, it
wants to "email" the prospect about the appointment and I certainly don't
want to do that if I haven't even introduced myself. The fact that it wants
me to have an email on file further exaccerbates the problem, but at least it
give me the option to create the appointment anyway. The next big issue is
that when I click on the appointment, it is a challenge to then open the
linked contact record. Is the linked contact record one of the attendees?
Perhaps you could elaborate in more detail how you would go about this,
because at present having all these steps just to make a sales call is
certainly not going to help sales

So being redundant: How can I schedule a phone call such that it will show
up on my calendar and pull up the contact by clicking on it: On the calendar?
I've got to be missing something because this seems like an elementary
function of a contact manager.

JOLTED1 - Zapped.Info






- Show quoted text -

Double clicking on an appointment opens the appointment and not a
linked entity. That's the deafult Outlook behavior and what typical
Outlook users expect, although there may be a way to override; a VB
macro for ex-Goldmine users.

When you create an appointment with Subject "Call Mr. Smith", you
don't include Mr. Smith as a meeting attendant, unless you do want to
email him an invitation. Instead, use the "Link to Record" button in
the toolbar to connect the appointment to the Mr. Smith Business
Contact. Next time you open that appointment, you can click on the
"Link to Record" button to open the Mr. Smith record.