The Schedule workspace is a visual representation of your and other users’ schedules. You can manage schedule items in the main calendar and open schedule items to retrieve information. A schedule item is a type of action item that has defined start and end times, such as a meeting or phone call.

Schedule workspace

The Schedule workspace helps you keep your time organized and plan items involving entities and other users. From this workspace, you can:

• Add and modify non-recurring and recurring schedule items
• Associate entities and users with schedule items
  
• Change the schedule view to display a specific date range in the main calendar
  
• Display a team schedule
• Set reminders
  
• Add call records to schedule items
• Mark schedule items as complete
• Add delegate permissions
  
• Add delegated schedule items
• Send invitations for schedule items
• Remove yourself from schedule items
• Run reports by clicking the Reports button  in the toolbar (for more information, see Schedule reports)
  

Optionally, the schedule can also include one or both of the following:

• A monthly reduced calendar, which does not contain any schedule item details, but identifies the current date and the day, week, workweek, or month currently displayed in the main calendar
• A team schedule that allows the user the ability to view multiple user schedules simultaneously

The following screenshot shows the calendars for two users with a monthly view that has multiple schedule items that can't all be displayed in some time slots (for example, December 28th and 29th). To display the additional schedule items in the drop-down menu, click the more button that displays a count of the additional schedule items. Click on the name of a schedule item in the drop-down menu to open the Edit dialog.

Changing schedule views

You can toggle between schedule views in the main calendar by clicking the More Actionsbutton in the main calendar toolbar and selecting Today, Day, Workweek (five day work week, Monday to Friday), Week (7 day calendar week, Sunday to Saturday), or Month.

To change the schedule's dates, click a different day in the schedule navigator in the upper left section of the Schedule workspace, or select a different month.

Displaying schedules for other users on your team

You can simultaneously display the schedules for other users on your team by clicking the More Actions button in the toolbar, selecting Edit, and selecting the required users. By default, the visibility button displays next to the user or users you selected in the Schedules card in the lower-left section of the workspace. If you do not want to view a user's calendar at this time, but will want to view it later, click the visibility button to toggle between hiding and showing their calendar. You can also display other users' schedules by clicking the Edit button on the Schedules card and selecting the required users.

To change the order of the schedules that display for other users on the Schedule workspace, click the Edit button on the Schedules card, click Manage Selection, hover over the name of the related user in the Selected items dialog, click the Up or Down arrow buttons to change the order as required, and click OK. You can also remove a user's schedule by clicking the Delete button in the Selected items dialog.

Adding schedule items

To add a schedule item, click the Add button  in the toolbar, and select the schedule item template, or double-click on the time slot on the calendar.

When adding a new schedule item, the New Schedule Item dialog includes the following tabs and fields:

By default, schedule items are assigned to you and associated with the entity you last selected on the Contacts workspace.

Setting reminders

Set reminders for schedule items or tasks to notify you at a specified time. If NexJ CRM is running at the time for which the reminder was set, a Reminders dialog opens, displaying alarms for the task or schedule item. It also displays alarms for any other activities whose reminders have not been cleared, such as a reminder that occurs when NexJ CRM is not running.

You can remove the reminders by clicking the Dismiss button  or Dismiss All , which removes the selected reminder and all reminders, respectively. You can mark reminders as done by clicking the Mark Completed button . To delay a reminder, select a delay time from the Remind me again (in) drop-down list and click Snooze . You will receive another notification dialog after the specified amount of time has passed. You can also click Snooze All to delay all the reminders. When you click Snooze All, and you have selected values in the Remind me again (in) field, the values in the Remind me again (in) field are ignored, and all items or tasks are delayed for 15 minutes.

Adding recurring schedule items

Create a recurring series when you want a schedule item to occur at set intervals over a long period of time. For example, you may want to meet with a client on the first of the month for one year. You can create a recurring series for new schedule items, or add, or delete a recurring series for existing schedule items.

A recurring series is scheduled according to a specified pattern and within a set scope of time. When you create a recurring series, all of the related schedule items populate the Activities tab and Calendar tab of associated entities, as well as the Schedule workspaces and Microsoft Outlook calendars of assigned users.

To create a recurring schedule item, navigate to the Recurrence tab in the New Schedule Item dialog and select from the following Recurrence Pattern options to determine how frequently the schedule item will repeat:

• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly
• Yearly

Each of these intervals has different additional configuration options:

• If you select Daily, you can specify whether the item should recur every day or every weekday. You can also set the item to recur a given number of days apart, such as every 2 or 3 days.
• If you select Weekly, you can specify the day or days of the week when the item should recur. You can also set the item to recur a given number of weeks apart, such as every 2 or 3 weeks.
  
• If you select Monthly, you can specify a recurring date or the day of the month when the item should recur. For example, you can set a recurring date of the 5th of each month, or set a recurring day such as the second Thursday of each month. You can also set the item to recur a given number of months apart, such as on the first Monday of every second month.
  
• If you select Yearly, you can specify a recurring date or the day of the year when the item should recur. For example, you can set a recurring date of the 5th of May each year, or set a recurring day such as the first Thursday of May each year. You can also set the item to recur a given number of years apart, such as biannually.
  

In the Start of Series section, set the following options to determine when the recurring schedule item will begin:

• Date
  Specify a date when the first item will start.
• Start Time
  Specify the time when the item will start on each recurrence.
• End Time
  Specify the time when the item will end on each recurrence.

In the End of Series section, select one of the following options for when the recurrence will end:

• Never
  The item will continue recurring until you change this value.
• After
  Specify a number of times you want the item to recur.
• By
  Specify a specific date when the item should stop recurring.

Selecting time zones for recurring schedule items

As of NexJ CRM 9.3, users who have been granted the mda:TimeZonesEnabled privilege, can select one time zone that applies to both the start and end times for an item. For recurring items, users can select the time in the Recurrence tab for an item and also the time zone. In the classic version of NexJ CRM (8.X releases), users with this privilege can choose different time zones for start and end times.

In the classic version of NexJ CRM, the start and end times in the Recurrence dialog and Detail tab in the New Schedule Item dialog are different when a time zone is selected by a user with this privilege. As of NexJ CRM 9.3, they are both the same.

In the classic version of NexJ CRM, the Local Time drop-down menu is disabled when a user with this privilege selects All Day in the New Schedule Item dialog when creating an item. As of NexJ CRM 9.3, the Local Time drop-down menu is available when a user selects All Day.

Adding recurring schedule item attachments

When you add attachments during the creation of a recurring schedule item, your attachments will be available in every occurrence of the series.

You can add, edit, and remove attachments for a recurring series of schedule items. You can also add, edit, and remove attachments for a specific occurrence in a series. However, you cannot modify attachments for series and individual occurrences at the same time.

When you open a recurring schedule item, you are prompted to open either the selected occurrence or the whole series. Depending on whether you open the occurrence or the series, different editing permissions apply:

• If you open the occurrence, you can view series attachments, but cannot add, edit, or remove them.
• If you open the series, you can view, add, edit, or remove any occurrence attachments.

Editing and deleting schedule items

To edit an existing schedule item, click the item on the calendar, and make the required changes in the Edit dialog.

After you create a schedule item, dates are displayed at the bottom of the Edit dialog. The Created by field displays the date and time that the schedule item was created, and the initials of the user who created it. The Edited by field displays the most recent date and time on which the schedule item was edited, and the initials of the user who edited it.

To delete a schedule item, right-click the item in the calendar and select the Delete option.

Filtering the audit trail

NexJ CRM retains a history of actions that users have performed on records in the system. When you complete an action, such as viewing or modifying a schedule item record, the action is logged in the record's audit trail. Users with the appropriate privileges can view the history and details of these actions in a record's Audit Trail tab.

When modifying a schedule item, you can filter the data table on the Audit Trail tab to display specific event records.

NexJ provides the following filter chips that you can use to filter the audit trail:

• Action
  Select an operator and an audit action; for example, Read (view a record) or Create (create a new object).
  
• Date
  Select an operator and a date.
• User
  Select an operator and the required user or users.

To add additional filter chips, click the Filter options button and select Add filter fields. For more information, see Filter chips and Using operators.

In the data table, select the action whose details you want to view. Depending on the type of action, additional details might be available. The details for the selected action display in the data table at the bottom of the tab. Each row represents a field that was updated as part of the action. The field's name, old value, and new value are displayed. If a field did not have a value originally, the value in the Old Value column will be blank.

To change which columns display in the data tables, click the Select columns button .

Completing schedule items

To mark a schedule item as done, you can use one of the following methods:

• Right-click the item in the calendar and select the Mark as Complete option
• Edit the schedule item and select Completed in the Status field

Adding call records

A call record is an internal record documenting an interaction with a contact. To add a call record to a schedule item, right-click the item in the calendar, select the Add Call Record option, select the call record template, and enter the required information in the Edit dialog.

Adding view permissions for schedules

You can grant view access to other users, allowing them to see your schedule.

To add view access on the Schedule workspace, click the More Actions button and select the Set Permissions option. In the View Access tab, click the Add button  to select users.

The users that you have assigned view access to can now view your schedule.

Adding delegate permissions

Delegate access allows other users to create meetings with you as the owner and to send email notifications on your behalf.

To add delegate permissions, click the More Actions buttonin the main toolbar and select Set Permissions . In the Delegate Access tab, click the Add button , and select the required users from the list of users who have delegate permissions.  

The users that you have assigned delegate access can now create meetings with you as the owner and send email notifications on your behalf.

Adding delegated schedule items

With the appropriate permissions and privileges, you can add schedule items where another user appears as the item's owner.

The user for whom you want to create a delegated schedule item needs to assign you the appropriate delegate permissions. Your administrator also needs to assign both you and the other user the appropriate privileges.

To add new delegated schedule items in the Schedules card, navigate to the calendar for the user that you want to add a schedule item for, and click the time slot where you want to schedule an item. In the New Schedule Item dialog, add the user you want to delegate the schedule item to in the Assign To field and complete the rest of the fields as required.

When the schedule item is created, it appears in the other user's schedule with them listed as the owner and every action performed on that item is on behalf of that other user.

Viewing and editing security for schedule items

You can define view and edit security settings which will impact schedule items in both NexJ CRM and Microsoft Outlook.

By default, view and edit security is public in both NexJ CRM and Outlook. You can change the view and edit security settings as follows:

Synchronizing private schedule items

Private schedule items in Outlook have both view and edit security set to private in NexJ CRM only if the meeting has one participant. A private meeting created in Outlook that has more than one participant will not synchronize to NexJ CRM.

Private schedule items in NexJ CRM are set to private in Outlook for the users that the meeting synchronizes for. Users that do not have permission to view the meeting in NexJ CRM will not see the meeting in Outlook unless meeting invitations are sent to them. In Outlook, other users that have permission to view that user's calendar can see the private item, but item details are hidden. In NexJ CRM, users cannot see the details of private items in each other's calendars.

NexJ CRM schedule item and Outlook synchronization examples

The following are examples of how NexJ CRM schedule items synchronize with Microsoft Outlook calendar items.

Example of synchronizing a public meeting to NexJ CRM

A financial advisor sends a public meeting invite to another advisor in Outlook. In NexJ CRM , both advisors can see the meeting. The following users can also see the meeting:

• Users who have been delegated calendar view access by either of the advisors. Those users can see the meeting by viewing the calendar of one the advisors.
• Users who have view entities permissions who are included in the meeting's For field.

Example of synchronizing a meeting for a contact with multiple company relationships

A financial advisor creates a public meeting in Outlook for a contact. In NexJ CRM , the contact belongs to one company, and is on the board of another company. A relationship custom field associates the contact with the company that the contact is a board member of.

In NexJ CRM , the meeting is synchronized to the contact's calendar and to the company's calendar that the contact belongs to. The meeting does not synchronize to the calendar of the company that the contact is a board member of.

Example of synchronizing a meeting for contacts with single and multiple contact records

A financial advisor who is synchronized with NexJ CRM creates a public meeting in Outlook and invites a contact:

• If a single contact record in NexJ CRM matches the email of the contact invited from Outlook, the contact is added to the For field of the meeting in NexJ CRM .

• If multiple contact records in NexJ CRM match the email of the contact invited from Outlook, each contact is added to the For field of the meeting in NexJ CRM .
• If no contact records in NexJ CRM match the email of the contact invited from Outlook, or the contact that matches is not visible due to security settings, the contact is added as an external contact to the meeting in NexJ CRM .

Example of synchronizing a meeting created by a delegate who is an external contact

An assistant who is external to NexJ CRM creates a public meeting in Outlook for a manager who is a NexJ CRM user. Any user that has explicitly been granted access to the manager’s calendar will see the personal meeting.

To make the schedule item visible to only the assistant and manager, the manager delegates access to create private meetings to the assistant in Outlook. The assistant then makes a private schedule item in the manager’s calendar.

Example of synchronizing a meeting created by an Outlook contact for a NexJ CRM user

An Outlook contact sends an invite to a manager who is a NexJ CRM user. When the manager accepts the invite, the meeting synchronizes to NexJ CRM.

Invitations

An invitation is an email notification for a schedule item that allows the recipient to respond automatically and updates the recipient's response and schedule in NexJ CRM , as well as their Microsoft Outlook Calendar when their Calendar is synchronized with NexJ CRM.

Assigning a schedule item to users, who can see their schedules in NexJ CRM , lets them know when and where the schedule item is occurring because they can review the item's Edit dialog. However, associating a schedule item with entities, who cannot access NexJ CRM , will not let them know about the schedule item unless you send them invitations.

Associated entities populate the For field in the Detail tab and the For Contacts data table in the Attendees tab of schedule item dialogs. A schedule item is said to be "for" entities because it is about or related to the entity. For this reason, when you sent invitations, entities are not automatically sent invitations to schedule items. 

Assigned users populate the Assign To field in the Detail tab and the Assign To Users data table in the Attendees tab of schedule item dialogs. A schedule item is said to be "assigned to" users because it is added to their schedule and they become attendees unless they decline the item. When you send invitations to a new schedule item, all of the users that are assigned will automatically receive the invitation.

Sending invitations

Schedule item invitations can be sent to entities with a valid email address.

To send schedule item invitations, open the schedule item for which you want to send invitations, and select the Attendees tab.

You can perform the following tasks in the Attendees tab:

• Invite additional entities that are not already included in the schedule item by clicking the Add button  in the For Contacts data table toolbar. Select the checkboxes beside the names of the entities you want to send an invitation to. The added entities appear in the For Contacts data table of the Attendees tab and in the For field of the Detail tab.

  If you are unable to select the checkbox next to an entity, it is because the entity does not have a valid email address.

• Invite additional users that are not already included in the schedule item in the Assign To Users data table by clicking the Add button in the data table toolbar and selecting the checkboxes for the required users.
  

When you click OK in the New Schedule Item dialog, the Send Email Notifications dialog opens, asking if you want to email invitations to the selected entities and assigned users. To send the invitations to the recipients, select Email all attendees and click OK.

The item appears in the Schedule workspace and Microsoft Outlook Calendar of the users assigned to it, and in the Calendar tab on the Contacts workspace for the entities in the For field, even if they have not yet responded to the invitation or did not receive one.

Inviting external contacts in Microsoft Outlook

When sending invitations for a schedule item created in Microsoft Outlook, you may need to invite external contacts in Outlook. Because external contacts do not have records in NexJ CRM , they cannot be viewed as an entity the item is created for or as a user the item is assigned to.

An external contact is a contact who is added to a schedule item through synchronization with Outlook but does not have any additional records in NexJ CRM .

A contact who is added to an Outlook meeting synchronizes to NexJ CRM as an external contact when their email address matches a contact's email address in NexJ CRM, and:

• The Outlook contact does not exist as a contact in NexJ CRM.
• The user that owns the NexJ CRM calendar does not have view access for the contact.
• A user in the meeting does not have access to view the contact and the Enable Security Check on Inbound For Contact Synchronization user option is enabled.

If you have the mda:DisplayExternalContactsEnabled privilege, you can view external contacts in the External Contacts data table in the Attendees tab of the item's Edit dialog for schedule items that you own.

Responding to invitations in Microsoft Outlook

When another user sends you an email invitation for a schedule item, you have the option to accept, tentatively accept, decline, or propose a new time for the item in Outlook. Also, you can send a custom response, a standard response, or no response to the invitation from Outlook.

When you send a response in Outlook, the schedule item owner automatically receives an email notification, and your response automatically displays in NexJ CRM in the Attendees tab of the item's Edit dialog.

If your Outlook is not synchronized with NexJ CRM, you will have to send an email response to the schedule item owner as your response will not automatically display to the item's owner.

Removing yourself from schedule items

When your Microsoft Outlook is synched with NexJ CRM, declining an email invitation in Outlook automatically removes the item from your NexJ CRM schedule and from your Outlook Calendar.

To remove yourself manually from a schedule item in NexJ CRM, right-click the schedule item on the Schedule workspace that you want to remove yourself from and select Delete . A confirmation dialog opens, asking whether you want to delete the entire item or just remove yourself from the Attendees list. If you have received an invitation for a schedule item, and you are not the schedule item owner, you can remove yourself by selecting Delete and clicking Just Remove Me . If you have edit permissions for schedule items, and multiple users are assigned to the schedule item, you can click Delete For All Attendees to remove the schedule item for everyone invited. 

After NexJ CRM removes you from the schedule item, it no longer appears in either your NexJ CRM schedule or Outlook Calendar.