The Calls and Meetings modules in Sugar 7.6 have been upgraded to the Sugar 7 Sidecar interface. This means all of the new user interface functionality is available when using Calls and Meetings.

What I am most excited about is the ability to preview Calls and Meetings. The preview button enables users to see more information about an individual record in a list of data. So, when viewing a Contact, Lead, or Account and looking at their history in the Calls and Meetings subpanels, the user can see detailed notes from that call or meeting and fully understand the history without having to use multiple tabs or go back and forth repeatedly.

Something else I noticed right away with the updated interface is the introduction of colors. Activity statuses are now displayed with a colored background which makes it easier to scan the activity and identify its progress quickly. Also, the text color of the date changes to red when the activity is overdue.

The Create screen received a makeover as well. As you can see below, the Status is now up next the Save button to highlight its importance. The updated interface made the recurring meetings function more apparent — once a user selects a value in the Repeat Type field to set a frequency, the remaining recurrence settings immediately display on screen. Adding other people (Users, Contacts, and/or Leads) to the activity is highlighted as well with the familiar “+” button in the Guests area.

Calls and Meetings filters, both in the list views and in dashlets, are another positive feature. There is a new default filter - My Scheduled Calls/Meetings - that makes it easier to create To-do lists. Plus, users can leverage custom fields to create custom filters.

Stay tuned for next week’s post: Sugar 7.6 User Interface Updates.

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