When identifying new activity types to create, consider the following guidelines.
- Identify the types of interactions or activities users currently track about their contacts.
- Keep names short, yet descriptive.
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Remember that activity types are global — every user will see the same set of activity types when creating a new activity. Avoid creating very specific types.
For example, use one generic “Marketing Mailing” activity type, rather than several specific activity types for each kind of mailing. Details about the specific mailing can be included in the activity summary or notes.
Note that you can choose which activity types can also be used for appointments (see “Using Activity Types for Calendar Items” in Determining Where Activity Types are Displayed).
- Be sure to include types for the different ways users communicate with their contacts, such as phone calls, faxes, and e-mail messages.
- Determine which activity types should allow users to override the expiration date carefully.
- Keep one type for both inbound and outbound communications, when possible. For example, instead of having E-mail Sent and E-mail Received activity types, just maintain one E-mail activity type.
- Be careful when assigning expiration days to an activity type. There is no way to recover an activity after it has been purged from the system. When in doubt about how long an activity should be kept, err on the longer side. For example, if you know that you will be searching for activities when planning an annual event, set the expiration date to two years.