Problem (4.50b bug) linking Calls to contacts.

[Proware]

When creating a call for a contact, Sugar is putting Contact into the Link Type but putting the Account details in the link field.

It should be putting Account into the link type with account details in the link field. This is how Sugar 4.2 worked.

Because it has Contact as the link type and Account details as the link value, it incorrectly links the call to the account.

So in the task list you see Contact column = contact name and Related to column shows the contact name as well rather than the account name.

[mcichelli]

With or without this bug, I'm a bit confused about how a call should be linked. Ideally (in my mind) each call should be linked BOTH to an account and to a contact. My questions are:

If the call is linked to an account, how can I see to whom the call was made (i.e. the contact)?

If the call is linked to a contact, is there a way to see a list of ALL calls made to that account no matter who the contact(s) were.

We are using Goldmine now, and although there are problems with its data structure, we have gotten used to being able to look in the history and see all the calls and e-mails that have been made to the company to all of the contacts and by all of the salespeople. This is pretty important to us.

Am I missing something basic here?

Thanks,
Martha

I have just installed 4.5.0c, running on Windows.

[stevec]

This bug was addressed in another thread - and fixed in a recent patch I think. The quickcreate form was setting the wrong module:


http://www.sugarcrm.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16994

As for your request, if a call is created against a contact, then by default, the call record is linked to the contact record and the 'related to' field is set as the account. that way it's accessible via the account and the contact.

Further, even if you change the related to record to point to some other type (project, opportunity etc), it is still available under the account lists via the related contact too (account lists also show related items linked to the child contacts).

Hope that makes sense....?

[Proware]

We also used GoldMine and this is a real deficiency in Sugar (although I am sure it would be very easy to modify the queries to make it work).

You can link an activity directly to a contact or to an account but not to both (although it is almost always indirectly linked to the account).

What Sugar really needs is an option on the accounts screen to roll up all activity from account contacts to the account record so that you can see all activity for the account regardless of which account contact the activity was linked to.

Perhaps some enterprising sugar developer can whip up a 5 minute modification for this and share it with us!

Apart from this and other niggles, Sugar has a much better database structure that GoldMine although I do miss the speed of working in a Windows based application vs a web based application.

Version 4.5 goes a long way but there is still much that can be done to streamline the workflow process.

Also, Sugar campaign management is far superior to GoldMines but opportunities could be improved, especially in linking it to a campaign to work out revenue by campaign.

Email in sugar sucks - we started using Outlook but would drop it in a second if Sugar improves its email client to an acceptable level.

The sugar report writer (pro version) is better than GM's but I miss the GM detail tab.

Importing / exporting is much better in GM but I much prefer the screen customisations in sugar.

I could go on, each has its good and bad points however you no doubt already feel that GM is like an old man at the end of a long life RIP and sugar is a babe but starting to crawl. Its still clumsy but will no doubt get the hang of it soon. We all hope Sugar picks up our good habits along the way grows into someone we can all be proud of!!

(Apologies - I got a bit carried away!)

[stevec]

What Sugar really needs is an option on the accounts screen to roll up all activity from account contacts to the account record so that you can see all activity for the account regardless of which account contact the activity was linked to.

?? It always has had that functionality. You just need to schedule a call or meeting from the contact's details view. That automatically sets the related record to the account and adds the contact to the contact_calls table. The item then appears under the activity (and later history) sub-panels of both the contact and account. It's in summary view etc.

[mcichelli]

Where is this 'related to' field and how is it set? I've entered a scheduled call from a contact screen. It shows up there in the Activities list and the account link is shown in that panel.

However, when I go to the account, the call does NOT show up in the Activities panel for the account.

What do you mean by "It's in summary view, etc."?

[stevec]

There is a bug in 4.5 that prevents all the fields being set properly (see above). However, when corrected this is what happens:

From contacts detail view - select 'schedule meeting' or 'schedule call' (I'll refer to calls but it's interchangeable with meetings).

To see what's going on, go to the full form (the quickcreate panel should set it all correctly though).

On the call's edit-view, you'll see that the dropdown box on the right hand side says 'accounts' and the value is set to the contacts account.
The bug mentioned before was setting this incorrectly

In the scheduling box, you'll see your user-name. The contact's name should be there too but due to the coding, it doesn't appear until the form is saved. Just assume it's there for now.

Edit the other fields as required and save the call.

Now - to confirm it's all set correctly, open the call again in the detail view.

You'll see that the account's name is in the 'account' field. This is referred to as the 'related to' field - it says accounts right now as the field title is dynamically changed to whatever type it was that you chose. Note: if you haven't fixed the bug - then the 'related to' type would not have been set to 'accounts' and the related account would not have been saved in that field.

In the database itself - this field relates to two fields within the calls table - the parent_type (set in this case to 'accounts' and parent_id - which is set to the account's id value from the accounts table

Also, you'll see the contact in the contacts subpanel below the details (even though you couldn't see it in the scheduling box earlier - if you edit the call again - you'll see it there too).

With both accounts and contacts set this way, the call will appear in both the activities subpanel for the contact and the parent account.

Similarly, if the call is saved as held - it will appear in the history subpanel of both contact and account - and if you hit the "View Summary" button just above the history subpanel - it will appear in there too.

[mcichelli]

Thanks. I thought I had it. But it is still not working.

The Full Form screen for a call shows a link to the Contact. When I change that to Account and find the correct account to link to, sometijmes it shows up on the Account subpanel for Activities and sometimes it doesn't show up anywhere except on my claendar.

Which patch fixed this bug? I'm running 4.5.0c.

[mcichelli]

I think the problem has been fixed in 4.5.0e - based on release notes for this version.

However, I can't seem to upload the patch for 4.5.0d (which I presume I need first). I get the message

Specified directory '' for zip file 'C:\Program Files\sugarcrm-4.5.0\htdocs\sugarcrm/cache/upload/SugarSuite-Patch-4.5.0d.zip' extraction does not exist.

I hate to be so helpless, but I don't get it.

[stevec]

Hi,

You don't need to apply patch d first - each patch also includes the previous ones - just go straight to patch e.

The details on what is being changed is in the link in my first post to this thread.

Make sure the change has been made to both calls and meetings as their original fix only did it for one of them.

Cheers.