Siebel CRM Desktop for Microsoft Outlook Administration Guide > How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles Siebel CRM Data > How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles an Activity >

Overview of How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles an Activity

In Siebel CRM, an activity is a work item that the user must track or display as an interaction. The following items are examples of activities:

• A To do item
• An email sent to a contact
• An appointment that includes a contact

In the client of a Siebel application, such as the Mobile Web Client, Siebel CRM can display an activity in the Activities screen or in the Calendar. The Display In field of the Activities list determines where in Microsoft Outlook an activity displays. The following values are included:

• Calendar and Activities
• To Do and Activities
• Activities only
• Communication and Activities

The Type field specifies the type of activity. It can contain a wide range of possible values. For example:

• Appointment
• Field Repair
• Email-Outbound
• Research

To support an activity in Microsoft Outlook, Siebel CRM Desktop uses one of the following custom Siebel CRM activity objects:

• Calendar item, which is a meeting or appointment.
• Task item, which is a To Do. For example:
  • Book a flight
  • Review new proposal
• Other item, which is a record of something that happened. For example:
  • Correspondence was sent
  • Demonstration was given

A Siebel CRM activity does not map to a single native object in Microsoft Outlook. Instead, Siebel CRM Desktop synchronizes an activity from the Siebel Server to the Siebel CRM Desktop Client as a custom activity record rather than as a Microsoft Outlook Task or Calendar item. After synchronization, Siebel CRM Desktop does the following:

• Creates Microsoft Outlook calendar item that matches the calendar item from Siebel CRM
• Creates a Microsoft Outlook Task item that matches the To Do item from Siebel CRM

If the activity is a Siebel CRM activity, then Siebel CRM Desktop creates a shared appointment in the Outlook Calendar.

Because Microsoft Outlook does not synchronize directly between native Microsoft Outlook items and records on the Siebel Server, Siebel CRM Desktop uses the Siebel CRM activity as an intermediary between a native Microsoft Outlook item that resides in the user mailbox and a Siebel CRM activity that resides on the Siebel Server. If the user creates a shared Microsoft Outlook appointment, email, or task, then Siebel CRM Desktop creates another item in Microsoft Outlook that represents the Siebel CRM activity record in addition to the native Microsoft Outlook item that is shared.