10.7. Define Interaction Types: Phone Calls, Emails, Meetings, and Custom Types

Interaction types standardize how your team records client activity. When phone calls, email correspondence, meetings, and documents are categorized consistently, account managers and service leaders can understand the client relationship without reading every note from scratch.

Navigate to Settings > General in the sidebar to open Admin Settings, then select Interactions (under Work Management) and open the Interaction Types tab. This section allows you to define and manage different types of interactions within the system.

Figure 1: The Interaction Types tab after importing the standard set. Each type has an icon and a display order, and the Actions menu lets you edit or remove a type.

1. Open Settings > General, click Interactions in the Admin Settings sidebar, then the Interaction Types tab.
2. Review the existing list before adding more. Avoid creating duplicate labels such as "Call" and "Client Phone Call" unless your MSP has a clear reporting reason.
3. + Add Interaction Type: Create new interaction types. You can set their display order and choose associated icons to represent them visually.
4. Put common types earlier in the display order so staff can choose them quickly when logging client activity.
5. Import from Standard Interaction Types: Import a set of predefined types — Online Meeting, Call, Email, General, Meeting, and Note — to quickly set up your system.

After interaction types are configured, users can select them when they add client interactions from the current client command-center workflow. Open the client record, use the interaction or notes action in the client detail layout, choose the Interaction Type, enter the Title, add Notes, set Start Time and End Time, and save the interaction. See Log Client Notes with Markdown and Track Interactions by Type for the client-side workflow.

Use interaction types to support real operating habits. For example, an account manager might log a quarterly business review with Cascade Manufacturing as a "Meeting," while a dispatcher might record a follow-up as "Phone Call."

Operational tip: keep the list short enough that technicians can choose accurately under time pressure. A small set of clear types usually produces better reporting than a long list of rarely used categories.

Choose the default interaction status

The default status keeps newly logged activity in an appropriate open state until someone explicitly chooses another status. For example, your service desk can use an open follow-up status for callbacks promised to GreenLeaf Dental Group.

Figure 2: Exactly one open status is the default for new interactions.

1. As an administrator, open Settings > General > Interactions.
2. Select Interaction Statuses.
3. In the Default column, turn on Use as default for the open status you want new interactions to use.
4. Confirm that the row now reads Default for new interactions.

Exactly one open status is the default. Closed statuses cannot be selected as the default, and replacing the default is done by selecting another open status. Log a new interaction to verify the preselected status. An explicitly chosen status takes precedence, and editing an existing interaction retains its saved type and status.

Use interaction types with calendar bookings

Calendar scheduling works with any interaction type that has a start time. Staff can add the booking while logging the interaction, and users with user_schedule:update can book colleagues. For the steps and how bookings follow edits and deletions, see 8.4. Log Phone Calls, Emails, and Meetings as Contact Interactions.