PropertyPro Newsletter XXIX – December 2010
Hello to everybody!
With the early snow and bitter temperatures it seemed to have brought Xmas that bit nearer and for me that had been an advantage as it spurred me into action. I happily sat back and boasted presents wrapped and cards out of the way a few weeks ago - joy! Only it was a longer wait till Xmas and a bigger danger of false sense of security!
Today I sit and panic, I've listed lots of last minute things still to do and buy, and not a lot of time left. So absolutely nothing different this year!
However, this is the time of year to be thinking about new calendars and diaries, so we thought it appropriate to go through the PropertyPro Diary.
And for those of you who already know the diary, there is something special at the end - so don't skip too much!
PropertyPro Diary
Let's give the Diary a head start for 2011 with a reminder of the various features of the PropertyPro diary.
PP Today
PP Today is the first screen you see when first switching to your diary and gives an overview of the next 7 days (or longer). It will show overdue tasks and tasks due for today.
This screen allows you to open an appointment or task and perform any action you need to take.
Calendar - Day View
Colour coding distinguishes between unconfirmed, and confirmed appointments and office appointments. Appointments can of course be opened from the Calendar.
Events and the Date Navigator show in the Day View. The date navigator is useful to jump to a different date (click on 
to return to today's date).
Office Appointments - Notice too the Office Appointment in the green block. An office appointment is created to book a time slot for a member of staff, for instance holidays and personal appointments, and can include more than one member of staff as well as yourself - for instance booking a team meeting.
Office appointments can include customer and/or property, but do not appear in the Viewings Report.
Task List - The Calendar Day View also shows the tasks due for the current day and it is from here that you can manage your tasks - by completing, re-assigning or changing the due date.
When a task is completed, a note is added in the comments showing who completed the task and the date and time.
Calendar - Week View
The Calendar can also switch to Week View:
Tasks
The Tasks View shows all outstanding tasks - together with current and future tasks:
Completed Tasks
It is possible to view tasks due within a specified date range - and then to show all completed tasks within a date range:
Office View
Switching to Office View displays today's diary for all members of staff who have appointments booked so that you can see at a glance what everybody is doing for the day:
Conflicts
You will see in the screenshot above that there is a conflicting appointment (shown in Red).
When creating an appointment you are warned if there is a conflict at the point of clicking OK, and given the opportunity of rearranging it at the time, or creating the conflict so that it can be dealt with afterwards:
Viewing another Diary
It is possible to view another diary - that of a member of staff, property, and/or customer. A new tab will appear for each diary you have chosen allowing you to switch from one to another diary, giving full access to those appointments and tasks.
It is also possible to manage someone else's Task List - which is useful if that person is away from the office. If you complete a task, your name is added to the comments.
Events
If you create an Event it will show in everybody's calendar, so these are useful for birthdays, Bank Holidays, etc. You can also set an Event to recur - for instance annually.
Final Words on the Diary
Don't forget to MINIMISE your diary to switch back to PropertyPro. The Diary is a separate program from PropertyPro but runs alongside so that you can switch easily between the programs, even if you are in the middle of a property search or creating an appointment.
If you open an appointment (or task) from the diary and then open or view a Customer record from that screen, you are still effectively working from within the Diary, which to a certain extent restricts some of the actions (such as opening the property) that you would expect to perform if opening a customer record from within PropertyPro.
Christmas Cake recipe!! .....just in time for Xmas
Ingredients:
* 500 grams flour
* 125 grams butter
* 25 ml of water
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 250 grams sugar
* 1 tsp salt
* 250 grams brown sugar
* Lemon juice
* 4 large eggs
* Nuts
* 2 bottles wine
* 500 grams of dried fruit
Take a large bowl, pour in the dried fruit and pour one bottle of wine to cover the fruit. Leave to infuse in a warm room for half an hour. During infusion, pour one glass from second bottle of wine and drink. When finished, turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the wine is still OK. Try another cup... Just in case. Turn off the mixerer. Break 2 eggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the dried fruit.
Wipe any fruit spillage up off floor. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the wine to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt and basking sosda. Better check the wine again. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, and remove spoon. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the wine and wipe counter with the cat. Go to M & S and buy cake.
Bingle Jells!
PropertyPro Training
The next Open Training days after Xmas are:
Wednesday 5th January - New User (Admin) Entering customer data, creating property records, publishing details, sending letters
Wednesday 19th January - Refresher The process as a whole.
Don't forget that if a half day session is more convenient for you, please call. Telephone training may also be available for a small charge provided that a suitable remote connection is available
We look forward to a visit from you in the New Year!
If there is anybody else in your office who might also want to receive our newsletter, please let us have their email address and we will add them to the mailing list.
Well, that's it for another year, so from all of us here at PropertyPro, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.
Kind regards
Kate
Kate Hoare (Training Manager)kate@propertypro.co.uk
Direct dial: 01788 862517
PropertyPro • 6 Somers Road • Rugby • Warwickshire • CV22 7DE
Tel: 01788 862550 • Fax: 01788 862525 • E-mail: sales@propertypro.co.uk
www.propertypro.co.uk
Directors: H McClean • L M McClean • Company Registration No: 3450574