The Activity Stream is a timeline attached to a record. Any record in any datastore can have one, holding the notes, correspondence, status changes and system events that make up that record's story.
It answers the question every case, order and request eventually raises: what has actually happened to this, and in what order?
Not the same as the Activity Log
- Activity Log — the audit trail. Who changed which field, and when. Automatic.
- Activity Stream — the narrative. What was said, what was sent, what was decided. Written deliberately.
You need both, and they should not duplicate each other. A timeline cluttered with every field change becomes unreadable, which defeats the point of having one.
Types of entry
- Note — something a person wrote.
- E-mail — correspondence sent or received.
- System — something ActiveManage did.
- Status — a status change.
Worked Examples
- Service desk: the full history of a case, with customer-visible updates and internal notes side by side.
- Sales: call notes and sent quotations on the opportunity record.
- Complaints handling: a defensible record of what was said and when.