Task synchronization
A task is another type of activity. Where schedule items must have a start and end date, tasks in both NexJ CRM and Microsoft Outlook do not require a start date or a due date. Tasks synchronize two-way with Outlook by default.
By default, when you create a task in Microsoft Outlook, if the email address of a task participant or owner is associated with a contact in NexJ CRM, then the task is added to the contact's Activities tab in NexJ CRM. If the task participant's or task owner's email is associated with a user, then the task is added to the Tasks workspace for that user.
However, you can specify email addresses to include in a contact email blacklist, so that any tasks created in Microsoft Outlook for contacts or users with those email addresses are not synchronized with NexJ CRM. In this case, the tasks are not added to the contact's Activities tab or the user's Schedule workspace.
Info
If you create a task in Microsoft Outlook with Rich Text Format or HTML format and then update the item using NexJ CRM, then any text formatting will be removed from the item description in Outlook.
Related links
Configuring the email blacklist for inbound contact synchronization
Creating non-recurring tasks
When creating or updating non-recurring tasks, synchronization uses the following data mapping between NexJ CRM and Microsoft Outlook:
Non-recurring task field mappings
| NexJ CRM field | Microsoft Outlook task field |
|---|---|
| Description | Subject |
| Assign To | Appears in each user's task list in Exchange |
| Start | Start Date |
| Due | Due Date |
| Priority A | High Priority |
| Priority B (default) | Normal Priority (default) |
| Priority C | Low Priority |
| Notes | Task Body |
| Status Tentative | Status In Progress |
| Status Outstanding | Status Not Started |
| Status Canceled | Status Deferred |
| Status On Hold | Status Waiting on Someone Else |
| Status Completed | Status Completed |
Creating recurring tasks
When creating or updating recurring tasks, synchronization uses the same data mapping between NexJ CRM and Exchange that it uses for recurring schedule items:
Recurring task field mappings
| NexJ CRM field | Exchange Server field |
|---|---|
| Repeat Daily | Recurrence pattern Daily |
| Repeat Weekly | Recurrence pattern Weekly |
| Repeat Monthly | Recurrence pattern Monthly |
| Repeat Yearly | Recurrence pattern Yearly |
| End Never | Range of recurrence No end date |
| End After <#> occurrences | Range of recurrence End after: <#> occurrences |
| End By <date> | Range of recurrence End by: <date> |
Attachments in tasks
Attachments synchronize for both individual and recurring tasks.
Deleting tasks
Deleting a task from either NexJ CRM or Microsoft Exchange, whether it is a non-recurring task or a completed task that is part of a recurring task, deletes the corresponding task in the other system.
Deleting an outstanding occurrence of a recurring task, from either NexJ CRM or Exchange, deletes the corresponding task occurrence in the other system, and generates the next task occurrence in the series.
Tasks with multiple participants
A task delegated to multiple users in Exchange will be synchronized separately to NexJ CRM for each delegate, however, the owner will not have the task in NexJ CRM. Instead, this task exists as a stub in the owner's Outlook for tracking purposes and cannot be modified.
A task created in NexJ CRM and delegated to multiple NexJ CRM users will be synchronized into separate tasks in Outlook, one for each synchronized user in the Assign To field.
Configuring view and edit security for tasks
The following view and edit security rules apply to tasks.
- View and edit security is public by default in both systems.
- Setting view security to private in NexJ CRM synchronizes the task to Exchange only for the user who made it private. Other participants will not have that task in Exchange.
- Setting edit security to private in NexJ CRM has no effect in Exchange. However, only changes made to the task in Exchange by the user who made it private will synchronize to NexJ CRM. In addition, users can specify edit permissions for those with whom they share their tasks. Setting a view group security in NexJ CRM marks the task visible in Exchange only for those in the group, regardless of who is in the Assign To and For fields.
- Setting edit group security in NexJ CRM has no effect in Exchange. However, changes made to the task in Exchange do not synchronize to NexJ CRM, except for changes made by the task participants who are members of the security group. In addition, users can specify edit permissions for those with whom they share their calendar.
- Private tasks in Exchange have both view and edit security set to private in NexJ CRM, only if the task has one participant. Tasks in NexJ CRM with private view security are set to private in Exchange, only if the task has one participant. However, in Exchange, others that have permission to view that user's tasks can see the existence of a private item with details hidden. In NexJ CRM, users cannot see the existence of private items in each other's task screens.
Alarm synchronization for tasks
Alarms (reminders) on tasks will synchronize between NexJ CRM and Exchange Server if the Enable Task Alarm Synchronization user option is enabled in the User Options tab on the Personalization page of NexJ Admin Console. This option is disabled by default.
Archival deletes of tasks
NexJ CRM will reject an incoming delete for a task on inbound synchronization if the task's start date or due date falls within the archival period (set using the Keep items older than field of the Synchronization screen in NexJ Admin Console). If both dates are not populated for the task, the inbound delete will be accepted. Incoming deletes for recurring tasks will be accepted because Outlook does not archive such tasks.
As of NexJ CRM 22.06, negative values are supported for the Keep items older than field. This provides a path to prevent future non-recurring items deleted in Microsoft Exchange from being deleted in NexJ CRM.