How do I assign a group of activities to a staff member?

Before editing large amounts of correspondence, you need to validate that the incoming messages are similar enough to be handled in the same way. Verify this by reading the incoming messages and grouping by incoming message text, duplicates, or interest codes. (See our article "How do I sort new email in the Inbox?" for more information on sorting).

1. Select the activities you wish to work with by clicking individual rows or groups.

2. The Activity Assign panel will appear on the right. You can assign any and all values pertaining to the activities. Keep in mind whatever fields you fill in will overwrite what is already in those fields for all of the selected activities, so only complete information for fields that you want to mass assign.

If you need to assign incoming mail to a staff member to write a response, you will need to update the following fields:

• Check the "Mark as Open" checkbox. Any items in the inbox are "unopened." To move them out of the inbox, you will need to change its status. Marking it as open will allow the activities to move to the assigned staff member's "My Mail" folder.
• Type or select the correct interest code(s). This is the general topic of the incoming messages. If you know the code, you can type it in the empty field and select it when appears. If you do not know the code, you can click the magnifying glass to search for it. You will also have the option to create a new one if you search and it is not already in the system.
• You might also assign the activities a group code. It works similar to the interest code field, except it is usually more specific. A group code allows you to group together similar correspondence that will eventually receive the same form letter. Applying a group code will make it easier to keep track of pending items. When the form letter is complete, it can be easily assigned to all the activities in the same group. 
• Select the correct staff member in the "Assigned Staff" field. This is the staff member who will write the response letter. The activities will appear in this staff member's "My Mail" folder.
• Some offices also label Sentiment. You can select Pro, Con, Undecided, or leave the value empty.
• Adding a description adds a note to the activities. The note will be visible on the reading panel that displays to the right of the mail viewer, along with the incoming message.
• If you also need to assign a response letter, see "How do I assign a form letter to a group of activities?"

3. After assigning the correct values, click Assign.