Task Synchronization
A task (“to do” in Lotus Notes) is an activity that you create in the groupware client to track your pending activities. Client groupware integration synchronizes all tasks with the category SAP CRM
and for which the user assigned as employee responsible
between SAP CRM and the groupware client.
Note
Task reminders are currently not supported.
Features
Employee Responsible
For Microsoft Outlook, tasks without an employee responsible cannot be synchronized. The employee responsible can only be assigned using the Relate to SAP CRM
add-in in Microsoft Outlook. There is no automatic assignment of the user as employee responsible.
For Lotus Notes, the employee responsible is automatically determined from the user properties in Lotus Notes during synchronization.
Creation of Tasks for Another Person
Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes allow a task to be created for another person and tracked. Client groupware integration also supports this. When you create a task for another person in the groupware client and the task is synchronized to SAP CRM, you are the CRM employee responsible. You are also owner of the task in the groupware client until synchronization takes place.
Synchronization downloads the task back to the groupware client of the person for whom the task was created. This person is the new owner of the task, and the person who created the task is the employee responsible. The following persons are associated with the task:
Task Creator
The user who creates the task is assigned as employee responsible. Only the creator of the task can make changes to the task and synchronize them to SAP CRM.
Task Assignee
The task assignee is not the employee responsible and cannot change the employee responsible assignment. The task assignee can make changes to the task in the groupware client but cannot synchronize the changes to SAP CRM. The task assignee is the owner of the task in his or her copy of the task in the groupware client.
Related Information
Information such as account, account address, contact person, attendees, and reference transactions are shown in the Notes
section of the task. As of version 10.30 of the client groupware integration component, in Microsoft Outlook this information is shown in
a separate pane instead of the Notes
section (for Lotus Notes this information is still contained in the Notes
section). For more information, see Business
Information.
Mapping of Fields Between Microsoft Outlook and SAP CRM
Microsoft Outlook |
SAP CRM |
|---|---|
Task Data |
|
Subject |
General Data Description |
Due date Start date |
General Data Due Date Start Date |
Priority |
General Data Importance |
Status |
General Data Active Status |
Private |
References Private |
Description |
Notes/Notes |
Attachments |
Attachments |
Relate to SAP CRM — CRM Employee Responsible |
Relationships |
Mapping of Fields Between Lotus Notes and SAP CRM
Lotus Notes |
SAP CRM |
|---|---|
Task Data |
|
Subject |
General Data Description |
When Due by Start by |
General Data Due Date Start Date |
Priority |
General Data Importance |
Status State |
General Data Active Status |
Mark Private |
References Private |
Description |
Notes/Notes |
Not supported |
Attachments |
Relate to SAP CRM — CRM Employee Responsible |
Relationships |
Time Zone Handling
Since groupware users can be working in different time zones, accessing the same data and interacting with each other, time zones are taken into account for tasks. Time zones are not maintained in the profile, instead the groupware client reads the local system time zone, converts this to UTC
(Coordinated Universal Time), and uses it for synchronization of tasks. For example, SAP CRM time zone is CET
and groupware client time zone is UTC – 06:00
.
Since a task is always scheduled as an all-day event there is no time factor associated with it. If the time zone in SAP CRM and the groupware client are different, task times shift accordingly. While this is logically consistent, this can be confusing because the start date or due date may change.
Example
A task is scheduled in SAP CRM on June 9. After the synchronization, this block shifts depending on the local system time zone (from GMT+1 in SAP CRM to GMT+2 in the groupware client). This results in a start time of 01:00 AM on June 9 and an end time of 01:00 AM on June 10 in the groupware client. Hence, the due date shifts to June 10.