Unified list of attachments whether by CTA or Timeline Activity

Hi Jeff, would you consider just using Timeline, since you can create Timeline entries on CTAs?

Notes and attachments on CTAs were before Timeline came along and have less overall functionality. 

Trying to think through how this would work without requiring extra steps for the CSM.

Example:   A CTA is triggered because it's time for EBR and CSM wants to attach the EBR deck.

Part of the appeal of the CTA/Playbook is I could pre-design each step to be completed so CSM doesn't have to log an entry saying he/she "Attended the EBR"

Now we would be asking them to go the extra steps of logging an EBR meeting entry on Timeline (I understand it can be done from within the CTA) rather than just being able to set the Task status to Closed.

Then comes the matter of reporting - would I be able to associate the Timeline entry they logged with that particular CTA in the same report? I quickly tried to run both a Call to Action and Activity Timeline report and I don't immediately see any way to tell that a logged activity was part of the CTA. 

Also, attachment search options are limited in Timeline.  You basically have to know exactly what you named the attachment or you have to know which activity you associated it with.  A year down the road that might be tough to remember.  At least with the GSFileLink report I can add some additional filter options.

Having said all this, keep in mind that I'm trying to get myself back up to speed with Gainsight after a 9 month absence (and a LOT has changed) and I'm sort of thinking through it as I type.   If there are better ways of doing things that A) don't require a lot of extra steps for CSMs and 😎 don't create additional administrative overhead I am all ears! :)

Also - if you know of any current customers who have perfected their approach to managing attachments, I'd love to chat with them.

And no sooner did I type the above, I discovered (with some help from Rob Begley) how to address the reporting piece.

I still think asking CSM to log a timeline activity is adding extra steps...but if thats the way it has to be, it has to be.

It's great to have you back active in Gainsight, Jeff! :)

Some thoughts that I hope will be helpful:

Operationally, using the example of an EBR, it makes a ton of sense to attach the deck, but I'd also think you'd have a bunch of notes as well as some task list "to-dos" coming out of the meeting. This would be idea to use Timeline - record the notes, attach the deck, track the followups, identify the internal and external attendees, etc. So I don't really think this is an extra step at all but rather a critical part of the follow up after an event like an EBR (or any customer meeting or call). 

Don't forget that a user can create a Timeline entry right from the CTA task pane, so no need to navigate to the C360 just to create a timeline entry!

When looking for Timeline entries that have an attachment - you can just scan the timeline activity feed. Any entries that have an attachment show a paperclip icon (see below) and can be quickly identified. 

Pro Tip - You can map the Timeline entry to the corresponding CTA as there is a common identifier that links those tables together. In the csTask object, all tasks created via timeline have source = 'Activity'. There is also a field named "Timeline Activity Id", which matches to a field called "Activity Id" in the ActivityTimeline object. So you can use bionic rules and reporting to map those two objects together.

Hi Jeff, This article explain more about the time and its features, hope this helps