[ Feature Request ] New DocType for Call and Appointment

[giuseppelamatrice]

"To do" is not best way to manage call and appointment.

I suggest to do this:

• create "call" doctype: (
  call type: in/out;
  call purpose: demo/support/commercial
  contact name: John Smith
  releted to: campaign (Google AdWords)
  call details: current call / completed call / schedule call
  call duration: 36m 46s
  note: best interest save time to manage document

• create "appointment" doctype:
  title: get document
  location: Corso Garibaldi 3, 20143 Milan, Italy
  from: 18/09/2017 13:00
  to: 18/09/2017 14:00
  Partecipant: Me
  releted to: lead/contact/opportunity (ex. Giuseppe Lamatrice)

• add "call" on lead and customer app

• add "appointment" on lead and customer app

---

Call example:

---

Appointment example:

---

Customer example:

[joolsr]

When you send an email. If you unclick, 'Send as Email' at the bottom, you will see that you can set Communication medium, and a lot of the functionality is (albeit quite hidden) here already

[giuseppelamatrice]

It is more convenient read all information on lead/customer in one page.

[joolsr]

Yes agreed. I was just pointing out that the functionality bis there but it needs significant reformatting to make it work as required Julian ⁣Sent from BlueMail ​

…

On 20 Sep 2017, 12:07 pm, at 12:07 pm, Giuseppe Lamatrice ***@***.***> wrote: It is more convenient read all information on lead/customer in one page. -- You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: #10825 (comment)

[umairsy]

Just checking, would providing an option to create Timesheet from Lead/Opportunity/Quotation help for tracking appointment?

[giuseppelamatrice]

I propose to add 2 fields on "to do" and "calendar" tool:

• partner type: lead / opportunity / customer / supplier / employee
• partner name: John Travolta

[sbkolate]

@giuseppelamatrice
ToDo is working for us.
On top of ToDo we developed feature to add interaction. If you think its generic, then I can send pull request.

Please check screenshot in following pdf.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7hi3l0nL56dSHJ3SllQY2oxcjA/view?usp=sharing

[giuseppelamatrice]

@sbkolate
Good. I think "to do" is generic tool.

I propose to add 2 fields on "to do" and "calendar" tool:

• partner type: lead / opportunity / customer / supplier / employee / other...
• partner name: John Travolta

In this way we can use "to do" for all business process, not only CRM.
In fact "CRM label" attached on this issue is not correct.

[joolsr]

@sbkolate great piece of work. I need to look at more carefully but I think this would be a great benefit to be added to core ;-)

[joolsr]

@sbkolate For the 'Type of Interaction', what types are available?

Also - small note - on the Message box that says 'Interaction Submited Successfully', please note that Submitted on your PDF is spelt wrongly. ie it should be submi_tt_ed not submi_t_ed

Great piece of work :-)

[sbkolate]

@joolsr @giuseppelamatrice
Type of interaction we added Skype, Whatsapp, WebEx, call, Visit
I will fix message.

We have added popup for interaction, its creating communication and ToDo, So ToDo will give reminder for next call/ interaction
If expense claim is added then only it create expense claim.

@giuseppelamatrice Interaction is similar to your call doc, and for reminder we are using ToDo.

For adding core, I will work on mockup and feature request.

[joolsr]

@sbkolate I'm wondering if we should also add to the types of interaction 'Email'. Now I know this sounds counter intuitive as emails should be received into the Opportunity and history. But we have the situation occasionally that emails are received that may not be forwarded into ERPNext by a colleague and thus it could be useful to have this extra interaction type added.

That said, I appreciate this could be quite confusing for newcomers to ERPNext so if anyone has any further input on this I'd be pleased to hear it.

[basdereus84]

That said, I appreciate this could be quite confusing for newcomers to ERPNext so if anyone has any further input on this I'd be pleased to hear it.

Maybe call it "Email outside ERPNext" ?

This would be a very useful feature. I've posted a feature request a couple of months ago to be able to set a follow up for a quotation and sales order as well, just the way it currently works with leads and opportunity. This would be a very nice addition/integration for that. I hope it makes it to the core.

[sbkolate]

Hello,

Is this generic request?
We have one post on forum, to see all related communication.

https://discuss.erpnext.com/t/how-to-view-all-related-communication-with-a-contact-lead-customer-or-supplier/33421

If its generic, then I can send pull request to add Interaction/ Appointment/ Meeting Details
It will also enable to add expense claim for meeting and reports to see all interaction.

Thanks,
Sam

[basdereus84]

Although I don't think your solution will allow us to see all related communication as I was asking for in my forum post, I do think it would be a very nice addition to the CRM module of ERPNext.

I did some playing around with Odoo 11 and the ability to schedule and view calls, meetings etc. with contacts seems to be far better integrated into Odoo. I think your solution is good step to get this same type of integration into ERPNext.

[joolsr]

As I mentioned before a few times there IS a somewhat hidden feature with everything you want. The ability to add phone calls, messages, etc is there but its really, really hidden. See video below:-

I think this functionality in terms of the underlying capabilities is fine, but its a far better method to show Phone messages and different forms of Communications. Its almost as is it was hidden on purpose ...

But the Doctype supports some of what you need so we should improve upon the GUI to start with so its far more obvious to use rather than adding to the infrastructure IMHO ..

[basdereus84]

@joolsr I agree with you that the function to log a call or visit is ridiculously hidden away in the send email window. I think that this solution presented by @giuseppelamatrice adds more than only a way to log a phone call. I see it as a way to easily log but also to schedule calls, meetings etc.
If you look at this video from Odoo 11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Wq2ka1DMU You'll see that you can schedule events from a record.

We have the similar ability by using the "Assign to" function but it's very limited. You can only add one todo for each user. If you change the message inside the ToDo record it's not trackable from within the record from which you created the todo in the first place. It's also not possible to get an overview of the scheduled events for a certain record.

[joolsr]

@basdereus84 Just a note to say that you obviously feel strongly about improving CRM and email facilities. Why don't you join the ERPNext Community CRM/Email group of which I'm a member so you can add your voice and help improve the application ? We will meet virtually tomorrow at 7.30am GMT

I cant remember how you join as such but you need to speak with Antonius Tara who is mainly heading things for now

[joolsr]

If you want to join us for the meet tomorrow, let me know and I'll add you to the group

[basdereus84]

I would like to but unfortunately, I've got other obligations I have to attend.
Will the session be recorded?

[sbkolate]

@basdereus84 We have another doctype as interaction, it will enable so see all communication and reminders to users to take follow ups with communication.

[chdecultot]

Hi guys,

I just pushed a PR to Frappe to provide the basis for this feature.
I have also added a new DocType called "Call" in ERPNext. Some proposed fields are still missing because I wait for Frappe's validation before going further.

Please don't hesitate to review this proposal and give some feedbacks.

Thanks!

[joolsr]

Hi @chdecultot
Many thanks for your PR! I think this is well overdue and many thanks again for actually getting something proposed and coded. I am not developer but I am happy to test and offer suggestions.

I presume this is too late now for v11 but as it would be so useful I hope it wont have to wait another 9 months till v12? Perhaps we can get it into v11.1 in a couple of months time

[chdecultot]

Hi Joolsr,

Thanks for your kind words.
I am still working on it and actually based on the first feedbacks I have received, I have changed my mind regarding creating new Doctypes for Call and Appointment.

Whereas I do think that it could be better managed by having its own documents, the current design of Frappe/ERPNext would not allow a user to see all his events/calls/appointments in a single calendar. Which is a huge UX problem.

It is already an issue experienced with the ToDo/Event doctypes and I think we should be careful about introducing further siloed information.

Therefore, I am currently trying to tweak the Event doctype to allow the creation of categories (Call, Meeting,...) and improve the general experience with this doctype.

The general design of Frappe's PR frappe/frappe#6113 is still similar as what you can see in the Gifs.

If you have any comment, proposition regarding how we could enhance the UX of the integration between events/interactions in the CRM please don't hesitate !

And yes, let's hope it could be rapidly merged into the core once it is finalized.

Have a nice day!

[joolsr]

Hi again Charles Henri @chdecultot

Yes, its obvious you've got a good handle on this. I wasn't aware of the issues of viewing different types of date related doctypes on the same calendar for one user but it did occur to me that a calendar view is kind of essential and expected.
I'll keep an eye on your updates and if you have a staging server I can access to try your branch I'm happy to.
I think you've linked to the wrong issue number above BTW I couldn't see that it was related .. ;-)

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