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How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles a Calendar Entry

This topic describes how Siebel CRM Desktop handles a calendar entryand a meeting. CRM Desktop can only share a calendar entry or a meeting with the Siebel Server. It cannot share or synchronize to the Siebel Server any other type of IBM Notes calendar entry.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Correlates Siebel CRM Activities with PIM Data in IBM Notes

When Siebel CRM Desktop synchronizes a Siebel CRM activity to IBM Notes, it attempts to find the PIM data that resides in IBM Notes that corresponds to the activity. PIM data is a calendar entry, To Do item, or email. If it finds this item, then it shares it and correlates it with the Siebel CRM activity. CRM Desktop does this correlation for the following items:

• The IBM Notes calendar entry for a Siebel CRM record where the Display In value of the Siebel CRM activity is Calendar and Activities.
• The IBM Notes To Do item where the Display In value of the Siebel CRM activity is To Do and Activities.
• Each IBM Notes activity where the Display In value of the Siebel CRM activity is Activities Only.

For example, to do a correlation for the IBM Notes Calendar entry, it uses the following keys:

1. Key 1:
   1. The CRMD Integration Id equals the UniversalId field of the Calendar entryor the $MessageID field for an email. For more information, see How Siebel CRM Desktop Uses $MessageID.
   2. The owner is the meeting organizer of the Calendar entry.
2. Key 2:
   1. The owner is the meeting organizer of the Calendar entry.
   2. The description is the subject of the Calendar entry.
   3. The value in the Planned field in the Siebel database equals the start time of the Calendar entry. This Planned value maps to the value that the Start field in IBM Notes contains.

If the user creates an activity in CRM Desktop from the IBM Notes Calendar entry, and if the user shares this activity with Siebel CRM, then the CRMD Integration Id field in the activity record in the Siebel database contains a value.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Correlates Data if it Synchronizes the Notes Activity as a Siebel Activity

The following sequence describes how Siebel CRM Desktop uses key 1:

1. User 1 does the following work:
   1. Creates a meeting in IBM Notes
   2. Shares this meeting with Siebel CRM
   3. Sends the meeting request to User 2

      In this situation, Siebel CRM Desktop creates a Siebel CRM activity. It uses the value from the UniversalIdfield of the meeting to populate the value in the CRMD Integration Id field in this activity record. This value is a unique value for this meeting. To identify the meeting organizer and the meeting participants, CRM Desktop uses the corresponding values in the IBM Notes meeting.

2. User 1 synchronizes this activity and Siebel CRM adds it to the Siebel database.
3. Assume user 2 sets the user preference to not automatically create the PIM item that CRM Desktop shares with Siebel CRM. If user 2 receives the meeting invitation from user 1, then CRM Desktop does not share the meeting for this user in the calendar and it does not create a Siebel CRM activity.
4. When User 2 synchronizes, CRM Desktop synchronizes the activity that it added in Step 2 to IBM Notes. It uses the FindPimDocument function to find the IBM Notes item that corresponds to this activity. It finds the unshared meeting because the following situations are true:
   • This meeting contains the same UniversalId field that the CRMD Integration Id field of the Siebel CRM activity contains.
   • This meeting contains the same meeting organizer that the Activity Owner field of the Siebel CRM activity contains.

If the meeting attendee synchronizes the activity from the Siebel Server before this attendee receives an invitation, and if this attendee sets the preference in the Options dialog box to not share new PIM items, then CRM Desktop uses the FindProxy function to find the Siebel CRM activity. If it finds this activity, then it shares the meeting with Siebel CRM.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Correlates Data if it Does Not Synchronize the Notes Activity as a Siebel Activity

Assume the following situation is true:

• To track activities, a user uses IBM Notes and a Siebel CRM application, such as Siebel Call Center.
• This user has not installed Siebel CRM Desktop.
• This user enters activities in IBM Notes and Siebel Call Center.
• The user has an activity in Siebel CRM. The user also has a calendar entry in IBM Notes that matches this activity. This activity and this calendar entry each include the same subject, start date, and activity owner.
• Assume this user installs Siebel CRM Desktop and then synchronizes.

In this situation, CRM Desktop cannot use Key 1 because the Siebel CRM activity does not include a value in the CRMD Integration Id field. If this field does not contain a value, then CRM Desktop uses key 2. The following sequence describes how it uses key 2:

1. The CRMD Integration Id field is empty, so it skips key 1.
2. Correlates the activity:
   1. If the activity is a To Do item, then it uses Key 2 with the following differences:
      • The owner is the meeting organizer of the To Do item.
      • The description is the subject of the To Do item subject.

        For more information, see Step 2.

   2. If the activity is an email message, then it uses the following keys:
   • Key 2.2:
     • CRMD Integration Id can contain part of the $MessageID field of the email message. For more information, see How Siebel CRM Desktop Uses $MessageID.
     • Owner is the current user.
   • Key 2.3
     • Uses the same information as Key 2.2, plus includes Planned, which is the date that CRM Desktop sends or receives the email. The value in the Planned field in the Siebel database equals the start time of the Calendar entry. This Planned value maps to the value the Start field in IBM Notes.

Note the following:

• If the Display In value of the Siebel CRM activity is To Do and Activities, then the activity is a To Do item.
• If the Display In value of the Siebel CRM activity is Activities Only, then the activity is an email message.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Uses $MessageID

Siebel CRM Desktop uses the $MessageID variable to identify the unique ID of an email message that it receives. The message syntax might vary depending on if it receives the email from the IBM Notes client or Domino Server, or from some other email client, such as Microsoft Outlook or Web mail. $MessageID uses the following format:

<OFhex_value_1-ONhex_value_2-hex_value_3@domain_name>

where:

• OF is the beginning of the hexadecimal code.
• hex_value_1 is a hexadecimal value that includes two, eight digit values, where a period separates these values as a full stop. For example, 9264F990.72075AF4. The entire hexadecimal value typically identifies the originator of the email.
• hex_value_2 is another hexadecimal value that uses the same format as the first hexadecimal value. $MessageID ignores hex_value_2.
• hex_value_3is another hexadecimal value that uses the same format as the first hexadecimal value. $MessageID ignores hex_value_3.
• domain_name identifies the domain name of the mail client of the sender. $MessageID ignores domain_name.

Example $MessageID Usage

Assume the sender mail box uses the Domino Server and the recipient mail box also uses the Domino Server. CRM Desktop uses the following $MessageId in this IBM Notes to IBM Notes email message:

<OF9264F990.72075AF4-ONC2257A3A.0059D96B-C2257A3A.0059E71C@LocalDomain>

where:

• 9264F990.72075AF4 is hex_value_1. It identifies the $MessageId.
• C2257A3A.0059D96B is hex_value_2.
• C2257A3A.0059E71C is hex_value_3.
• LocalDomain is the domain_name.

$MessageId uses this same syntax for the following communications:

• IBM Notes sender to a IBM Notes recipient
• IBM Notes sender to a POP3 recipient
• POP3 sender to a IBM Notes recipient

Example $MessageID Usage With Multiple Recipients

If a user sends a single email message from a POP3 mail box in IBM Notes to two IBM Notes accounts, and if the first account uses the Domino Server and the second account uses POP3, then $MessageId uses the following two, individual corresponding codes:

<OF19ABE5FC.FFEB1AEC-ONC2257A9A.004F2A95-C2257A9A.004F30C1@LocalDomain>

<OF19ABE5FC.FFEB1AEC-ONC2257A9A.004F2A95-C2257A9A.004F30C1@ld8.example.com>

where:

• 19ABE5FC.FFEB1AEC is hex_value_1. It identifies the $MessageId.

$MessageID Usage With Web Mail

If a user sends an email message from a Web mail client, such as Gmail, to an IBM Notes email account that uses POP3 or the Domino Server, then CRM Desktop uses the following syntax:

<CAAZgRMT1vmoPfWQjnwNgJqC3xLNj-hgHA6tmEecha4sDN04+CA@mail.example.com>

where:

• CAAZgRMT1vmoPfWQjnwNgJqC3xLNj-hgHA6tmEecha4sDN04+CA is hex_value_1. It identifies the $MessageId.
• mail.example.com is the domain_name.

$MessageID Usage With Microsoft Outlook

If a user sends an email message from Microsoft Outlook to an IBM Notes email account that uses POP3 or the Domino Server, then CRM Desktop uses the following syntax:

<00fa01cdac74$b5b0f770$2112e650$@Cheng@example.com>

where:

• 00fa01cdac74$b5b0f770$2112e650$ is hex_value_1. It identifies the $MessageId. In this example, @Cheng represents the user surname, such as Casey Cheng. $MessageID ignores this surname.
• example.com is the domain_name.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Uses Natural Keys to Identify Duplicate Activities

Siebel CRM Desktop uses natural keys to detect a duplicate between IBM Notes data and Siebel CRM data. It uses the following natural keys for an activity:

• Activity Owner and CRMD Integration Id. These items match the UniversalId of a calendar entry.
• Activity Owner and Description. These items match the subject of the calendar entry and the Start Date.

CRM Desktop uses these keys to query the Siebel database. This query determines if a duplicate exists for this activity in the Siebel database. The following code is an example of the natural keys that Siebel CRM Desktop might use in the Ln_connector_configuration.xml file:

<natural_keys>
 <natural_key>
  <field>CRMD Integration Id</field>
  <field>Primary Owner Id</field>
 </natural_key>
 <natural_key>
  <field>Description</field>
  <field>Planned</field>
  <field>Primary Owner Id</field>
 </natural_key>
</natural_keys>

For more information, see Files in the Customization Package.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles a Repeating Calendar Entry

IBM Notes uses more repeating patterns than the Siebel calendar uses. Siebel CRM Desktop establishes a correlation between IBM Notes and a Siebel CRM repeating pattern in the following way:

• If the IBM Notes pattern matches an existing Siebel CRM pattern, then CRM Desktop uses the corresponding repeating pattern to create a Siebel CRM activity.
• If the IBM Notes pattern does not match an existing Siebel CRM pattern, then CRM Desktop uses a Siebel CRM pattern that occurs more frequently. It also uses more exceptions for an excess occurrence.

For example, assume the user creates a meeting in IBM Notes that occurs every two weeks for two months for a total of four meeting instances. If CRM Desktop attempts to synchronize this meeting with the Siebel Server, then it cannot directly support the repeating patterns that are available in Siebel CRM. Instead, it does the following work:

• Creates a weekly meeting that lasts for two months for a total of eight meeting instances.
• Creates four exceptions that cancel the intervening weeks.

To remain compatible with Siebel CRM data, CRM Desktop represents each occurrence that changed as a separate calendar entry in IBM Notes data.

CRM Desktop does the following work to handle a repeating calendar entry:

• Maps a repeating IBM Notes calendar entry to a repeating Siebel calendar entry
• Maps a repeating Siebel calendar entry to a repeating IBM Notes calendar entry

Table 2 describes the Siebel fields that CRM Desktop uses to create a repeating calendar entry.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles a Single Instance of a Repeating Calendar Entry

Siebel CRM Desktop handles an exception to a repeating calendar entry as separate records in Siebel CRM data. For example, to change the time of an instance of a repeating meeting, it creates a separate calendar entry. It follows standard handling practices for the Siebel calendar so that it handles the calendar entry series and exceptions in Siebel CRM appropriately.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles a Repeating IBM Notes Calendar Entry That Does Not Include an End Date

If a repeating IBM Notes Calendar entry that Siebel CRM Desktop shares with Siebel CRM does not include an end date, and if this repeating pattern:

• Matches a Siebel pattern, then it clears the value in the Repeat Until field of the Siebel CRM Calendar activity.
• Does not match a Siebel repeating pattern, then CRM Desktop limits this repeating pattern to a maximum duration. Table 3 describes the duration that CRM Desktop sets. It does this when it saves the Siebel CRM Calendar activity in IBM Notes.

How CRM Desktop Handles Invitee Lists for a Calendar Entry

The list of invitees in a calendar entry can contain contacts and employees. To process the email addresses that are specified in the list, Siebel CRM Desktop intercepts the call to the EAI Siebel Adapter business service. If the user creates a shared calendar entry in IBM Notes, then the client attempts to resolve the meeting attendees and categorize the attendees as related contacts or employees when the user saves the calendar entry.

The user might not possess all the contact or employee data that CRM Desktop requires to parse all attendees, so CRM Desktop repeats this process during synchronization. If it makes an insert or update request for a calendar entry record, then the Siebel Server validates the meeting attendees. If the server detects any changes in the attendee list, then the server returns the updated list to the client and the server updates the contact and employee lists that are related to the calendar entry.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles Invitee Lists for the Update Operation

To handle an invitee list for the update operation, Siebel CRM Desktop does the following work:

1. Updates the input to the EAI Siebel Adapter business service to reflect changes in the invitee list. This update occurs when Siebel CRM Desktop passes the List of Invitees in the Siebel message in the Email To Line field.
2. Marks the contacts and employees that Siebel CRM Desktop removes from the updated calendar entry in IBM Notes, and then updates these records in the message.
3. Marks and updates the contacts and employees that Siebel CRM Desktop newly added as insert records, and then updates these records in the message.

How Siebel CRM Desktop Handles Invitee Lists for the Query Operation

To handle an invitee list for the query operation, Siebel CRM Desktop does the following work:

1. It queries the calendar entry to return the invitee list in the To line of the email. To handle this query, Siebel CRM Desktop processes the output Siebel messages that the EAI Siebel Adapter business service returns.
2. Processes the output from a call to the Query method or the QueryByTemplate method of the EAI Siebel Adapter business service.
3. If the returned record is an activity record with the type as a calendar entry, then CRM Desktop modifies it in order to add the email addresses of the employees and contacts in the activity to the email To line. It uses a semicolon to separate each email address. It retains the employee list and the contact list.