The history section is a list of notable encounters, calls, letters or any other interaction you want to keep track of. This is where you enter important phone conversation with a contact or keep track of visits that he made.
History can be thought of a place to enter notes on a person in an organized fashion. Instead of having one note that keeps getting longer and longer, not being able to sort it or search it, report on it, etc, History allows you to keep track of many types of encounters in an organized and manageable format.
There are three main types of history items: Notes, E-mails and Files. You can switch between these types of history by choosing what to view in the top right-hand corner. When viewing Notes and E-mails, you also have the option to Preview the Note or E-mail. Check off the Preview box to preview the E-mail or Note. When the Preview box is checked, the List box where the history items are listed will be divided in half and when choosing a history item, you will see a preview in the bottom half.
Notes
Notes can include many (sub)types of history items which can be customized using Custom List Setup under the Tools Menu. Examples of things that can be included in notes are calls, letters and visits.
New Note
To make a new note, click on New Note on the right side.
Date
Enter the Date of the encounter (Default is today)
Time
Enter the Time of the encounter(Default is now)
From/To
Enter dates/times of this history item. This is most useful for phone calls.
Type
Enter a type of note. This list can be customized.
Subject
Enter a Subject describing in a couple of words this encounter.
Status
Choose the status of this History item. Select whether it has been resolved, left message or any short text you want to describe to the status of this encounter/call/visit. Note: The drop-down list only includes Resolved and Left Message, but you can type in whatever you want to in that box.
Note
Enter a complete description of the encounter or call.
Reminder
Check off this box if you would like to be reminded of this encounter. This is useful for calls, visits, etc. that need follow-up action. Enter a date and time for the reminder.
Edit
To edit details of a note simply double-click the note you want to edit. Or select the Note by clicking on it once and click the Edit Note button.
When you finished editing/ the Note, Click OK to save changes or Cancel to disregard any changes you made.
Delete
To delete a Note, first select the Note by clicking on it once. Then click the Delete Note button. A message asking you to confirm the delete will appear. Confirm the delete and then a message will notify you that one record has been deleted.
Files
You can link to files on your computer that are related to a contact--such as a reference letter. Choose Files from the View menu to view the files and manage file-linking tasks.
New File Link
To link to a new file, click on New File Link command button on the right side.
Click on Select File to choose a file. The Computer, Folder Path and File Name will be updated when you choose a file.
Computer refers to which computer the file is on. If you are connected to a network and choose a file from over the network, the computer name will change. By default it is the computer which is running CMS currently and this field cannot be changed, rather it changes based on the file you choose.
Folder Path refers to which folder the file is located in. This changes based on the file or folder you choose.
File Name refers to the name of the file you choose.
Description: Enter a description of the file.
If you would like to link to a complete folder, use the Select Folder command button.
When you are done, click OK to add the file link or Cancel to cancel.
Edit File Link
File links can be edited either by double-clicking the name of the file link in the list pane or by choosing it once and clicking the Edit File Link command button.
Delete File Link
Choose the file link you want to delete and click on the Delete File Link command button. CMS WILL NOT WARN YOU THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DELETE A FILE LINK! Although you can easily re-link the file, you will lose your description by deleting a file link.
Open File
Select a file that you would like to open and choose Open File. CMS will remain open and whatever program you used to create the linked file will open as well to the file.