Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Administration Guide > How Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Handles Oracle CRM On Demand Data > How Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Handles an Activity >

Overview of How Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop Handles an Activity

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

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

Oracle CRM On Demand can display an activity in the Home tab or the calendar. The Activity field of the Activities list determines where in Microsoft Outlook an activity displays. The following values are included:

• Appointment
• Task

The Type field specifies the type of activity. It can contain a wide range of possible values, including the following:

• Appointment
• Field Repair
• Email
• Research

An Oracle CRM On Demand activity does not map to a single native object in Microsoft Outlook. Instead, Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop synchronizes an activity from the Oracle CRM On Demand server to Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop as a custom activity record rather than as a Microsoft Outlook task or calendar item. After synchronization, Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop does the following:

• Creates a Microsoft Outlook calendar item that matches the appointment activity from Oracle CRM On Demand
• Creates a Microsoft Outlook task item that matches the task activity from Oracle CRM On Demand

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

You also have the option to determine how Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop shares newly created Microsoft Outlook items such as appointments, contacts and tasks with Oracle CRM On Demand. This is controlled by the SharedByDefault:NewItems Windows registry key. For more information on Windows registry keys, see Setting Behavioral Limits for Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop. The following procedure describes how to access this option in Oracle CRM On Demand Desktop.