How End Users Work with Reminders

Once the Reminders feature is configured, users can work with reminders as summarized in the following table.

Step
1	Set up your preferences for how and when you want reminder messages delivered.
2	Set up a reminder from a PIM, InterAction for Microsoft® Outlook® (IMO), the Web Client, or the Windows Client, including: How often to be reminded The first day to receive a reminder Some notes about why this reminder was created
3	After the message is delivered, either: Follow-up on the reminder immediately Create a to-do by marking the message as unread, flagging it, or creating a task or calendar item from the message Leave the message in the Inbox
4	After deciding to follow up on a message, either: Decide not to take action and delete the message Get more detail about the contact and his or her company in InterAction, then call the contact or send them an email
5	After the communication is made, create an activity regarding the email or call and choose whether to edit the settings of reminders.

Reminder Preferences

Users can set their preferences for reminder messages, including:

• Email Format - HTML or text
• Delivery Options - daily or weekly
• Report Link - the report chooser or a specific report
• Recurrence - the initial settings for when the reminder should be repeated

[A] Windows Client and PIMs - the Actions menu button from My Reminders

[B] Web Client - the Reminder Preferences link in My InterAction

[C] Windows Client - on the Tools > Options menu, the Preferences button on the Preferences tab

[D] Microsoft® Outlook® - on the Tools > Options menu, the Preferences button on the InterAction tab

Creating Reminders

Users can use the Web Client, Windows Client, or a PIM Client to create reminders for themselves. If they are a Client Team Manager, users can create reminders for others in the Web Client and the Windows Client. In the Web Client and PIM Clients, users can create reminders for users for whom they proxy.

Recommendations for Users Creating Reminders

Users should consider the following:

• When they choose daily vs. weekly delivery - weekly deliveries include reminders for the next 7 days.
• Use caution when setting up reminders - they may choose the same contacts as other users and they should not flood the contact with too many calls. Review recent activities for that contact and be sure not to swarm the contact.
• Start slowly and set up one reminder per week over a period of 4-6 weeks.
• Choose contacts they haven’t spoken to in awhile and have a reason for reaching out to them.
• Spread the reminders out so they don’t get all their reminder messages at the same time.
• Aim for no more than 20-30 reminders total and be aware that there is no mass delete for reminders.

Viewing and Editing Reminders

All reminders for a user and any users they proxy for are available from various locations in InterAction. Whether all reminders or reminders for a particular contact are shown depends on where the user accesses the reminders:

Where to View or Edit Reminders

InterAction Client	Location in InterAction	Contacts (Particular or All)
Web Client	Contact Overview page	Particular
Web Client	Home page	All
Windows Client	Reminders view (from Contact Details)	Particular
Windows Client	View > Reminders > My Reminders	All
PIM Clients	Contact Details	Particular
PIM Clients	Reminders button	All

Reminder Messages

After a reminder is harvested, InterAction delivers the reminder message to the professional for whom the reminder was created. Users can handle the reminder message a variety of different ways, depending on how they work within their PIM.

Handling Reminder Messages

After a reminder message is delivered to the professional’s email inbox, the user has a choice to make: act on the message immediately or postpone action until a better time.

If users decide to follow-up immediately, users can:

• Perform research on the contact or his or her company in InterAction first, then initiate communication
• Communicate with the contact through such means as an email message or a phone call without further research
• Decide not to take action and delete the reminder message

If users decide to postpone action on the message until a later time, they can create a to-do several different ways:

• Mark the reminder message as unread
• Flag the reminder message
• Create a task item from the reminder message
• Create a calendar item from the reminder message
• Just leave the message in their inbox

Creating Activities After Acting on Reminder Messages

Since reminders are designed to build relationships and further relationship intelligence, users should create an activity regarding their communication with the contact based on the reminder.

After creating the activity, users can then choose whether to edit the settings of reminders, for example, moving up the next reminder so they can congratulate the contact on their son’s wedding.