The following sections provide a high-level overview of how documents work for end users.
See the following sections:
- Requirements for the User's Machine
- Attaching Documents to InterAction Items
- Viewing and Saving Documents
- Editing and Replacing Documents
Requirements for the User's Machine
Attaching and viewing documents requires a special component on the user’s workstation for certain tasks:
- Attaching a document to an InterAction item.
- Opening or saving the document.
The component is not needed for viewing document properties or the list of documents on an InterAction item.
This component for documents is available as part of the Desktop Integration component of InterAction. Desktop Integration is needed for other functions (such as mail merges) and is usually installed on all end user machines.
If the necessary component for documents is not already installed, the user is prompted to install it the first time he or she attempts to perform an action that requires the component, such as attaching or viewing a document. However, because security settings on the machine may block downloading software through your browser, it is highly recommended that you install the Desktop Integration components on all end user machines as part of your rollout.
Installing the Desktop Integration Components
[A] The Desktop Integration component. This top-level component is the only one needed for working with documents, sending e-mail, and running mail merges from the Web Client.
Automatically Downloading the Components Needed to Work with Documents
[A] The initial prompt warning the user that the components are not installed.
[B] Security warning dialog box. Choose Install to install the needed components, then choose OK to the first prompt.
Note that the machine’s Internet security settings may block the install dialog box. In this case, either change the security settings, or install the Desktop Integration components directly (recommended).
Attaching Documents to InterAction Items
Users can use the Web Client or the Windows Client to attach documents. For a list of items to which documents can be attached, see “Where in InterAction Can Users Attach Documents?” in Overview of InterAction Documents.
When attaching a document, the user can browse to the document on his or her machine or on the network.
Once the document is added to InterAction, there is no connection between the version on the user’s machine or network and the version stored in InterAction.
Viewing and Saving Documents
All of the documents for a particular contact are displayed on the contact overview page (Web Client), Documents view (Windows Client), or Documents tab (Desktop Integration). The list of documents includes all documents that are relevant to the contact, including those that are attached to activities that include the contact.
For example, you could add a new activity to the contacts Jane Tarnoff, Telenorth Financial Services, and Edward Roberts and include the document Telenorth Contract v.2.doc on the activity. This document is included on the Documents view, along with documents attached directly to the contact.
Note that the grid in the Web Client does not distinguish between documents attached to an activity and those attached directly to the contact. Users can select a document and choose View > Related Activity for those that are on an activity.
Viewing the List of Documents for a Contact in the Web Client
[A] These documents are attached to activities that include this contact.
[B] This document is attached directly to the contact.
InterAction uses a standard web browser for opening documents. The user can choose to open the document directly or save a copy on the machine.
Standard Browser Dialog Box for Downloading a File
Editing and Replacing Documents
InterAction does not provide typical Document Management System features such as version tracking, checking in/out, or auditing. Only one version of a given document is stored in the repository.
However, users can save copies of documents to their machines to make changes as needed, then add the changed documents back to InterAction. There are two different ways to add an edited document back to InterAction.
- Add the document as a completely new document. This leaves the original document still available.
- Edit the document properties for the document and choose to replace the existing version with a new version.
Adding the Revised Document as a New Document
This is the simplest method. Users attaching documents to activities typically use this method, since the document revisions are often tied to an action that should be captured in an activity.
For example, Ed Roberts sends an e-mail message to his client Jane Tarnoff and includes a draft copy of the client contract. He creates an activity for this action and includes the contract on the activity.
Later, he needs to update the contract with some minor changes. He opens the contact for Jane in InterAction and saves a copy of the original contract to his workstation. After editing the contract, he sends Jane a new e-mail message with the revised version.
Since this second e-mail message should also be captured in InterAction, this is the quickest and easiest way to add the revised document back to InterAction. Other users who want to know your organization’s history with Jane can see both the communications and the different versions of the contract.
When using this method, users should include “version” information in the document titles. For example:
- Telenorth Contract v.1
- Telenorth Contract v.2
Replacing an Existing Document with a New Version
This method requires more steps, but is useful if you want to ensure that the document in InterAction reflects the most recent version. This method is more often used for documents attached directly to contacts or directly to matters, opportunities, or engagements.
Replacing an existing document is similar to attaching a new document to an InterAction item; you browse for the file to add.
To replace an existing document, you do the following:
- From any list of documents, select the document and choose Edit > Document Properties.
- Choose the Browse button.
- Select the new version of the document and choose Open.
- Change the other information in the document properties as needed. For example, you can use the Description field to provide information about the new version and why it has been changed.
- Choose OK. The revised version of the document is copied to InterAction and the old version is removed.
For the example, assume you have already saved a copy of the Telenorth Marketing Dossier and updated it with changes. Now you need to reattach it to the contact Telenorth.
[A] Select the document from the list.
[B] Choose Edit > Document Properties. The Document Properties dialog box displays existing information about the document.
[C] Choose Browse and select the revised version of the document to add.
This effectively replaces the existing document. Once the revised version is added to InterAction, the old version is removed. InterAction does not keep track of old versions of documents.