The idea is simple, if a user modifies the address of an account, I need to make sure they are reminded to update it on the contact record it corresponds to. So I can create a Task every time the account address is updated through a workflow rule, but the only options for "Assigned To" don't give me an option for the user who triggered the update! Is this possible to do within SalesForce?
Additional Information
We are used to a system where we can add unlimited addresses, assign a "Address Type" to each address and mark one as "Default". In Salesforce, the "Address" type is not available to us, we can't have a dynamic list of any kind of field (this would also be useful for phone numbers, email, etc).
We deal with the idea of Households + Individuals. So say we have a client (a husband and wife) and we set them up in Salesforce as a new Household (Account) with a separate Individual (Contact) record for the husband and wife (and maybe any children). We'd like to keep their work information separate, so we store them on the individual level as "Work Address". But what about other addresses? Summer Home, Winter Home, etc. Instead of splitting the addresses on multiple levels, we try to make it all available on a single level, the Individual, with only the "Shipping Address" on the Household level updated to the now-current mailing address for that client (whether it be the summer home, wife's work address, husband's work address, etc.). It is not uncommon to switch a client's mailing address 2-4 times in a year.
The goal of these tasks is to make sure we keep any changes to the shipping address updated in the individual level. Any shared addresses would be loaded into the Individual marked "Head of Household". We created a bunch of fields to add Street/City/State/Zip/Type for up to 4 addresses per individual.
Maybe I didn't think this through properly when I implemented it this way, so other suggestions are welcomed. Speaking with "Salesforce migration specialists" and reading their community forum, a solution to problems similar to mine are all somewhat non-ideal.
I don't mind using custom APEX code, however, given how we store addresses, I'm not sure it would be very straightforward to automatically update the address from the Household Level to the Individual Level or vice-versa.
I hope this clarifies things!
Best Answer
Rule-based functionality in Salesforce rarely allows you to assign things to users, even dynamic user values that are data-driven, for instance the user who is identified as the LastUpdate user or Owner.
There are two ways I could see you accomplishing what you are after, depending on what exactly the underlying goal is.
If you want to always be able to see the Account address information on the Contact, consider using a set of cross-object formula fields in Contact that simply reflect the current Account address info in that record. In this instance, no additional work on the part of the user required. The next time they look at the contact record, the address info will be updated.
If you really want a user to have a task assigned to them, or have some other way to virtually tap them on the shoulder and tell them to look at the contact record, too, you can do what you want with a relatively straightforward trigger. But once you are writing Apex, you have many more options for notifications: task, email, chatter post, UI message message, or just automatically just go to the contact record and update it.
So the answer to your question is, yes, it is possible. But you will need to decide which of these options best suits your requirements.