Why I prefer Blackberry over iPhone for business

After many years using Blackberry phones (several 7xxx models and, until recently, an 8100 Pearl) I have reluctantly had to switch to an iPhone (3GS 32GB) in order to test some software.

I thought I would give it some time before posting this blog as I wanted to make sure my issues weren’t just a question of not having found how to perform the functions I was used to.

Having now spent 3 months on the iPhone, I am at a loss as to how anyone would choose this device for business use or if email is really important to them. There are so many functions that I relied on that are just not available on the iPhone. I acknowledge that some of these might be specific to my carrier and some might be due to the actual way I prefer to operate. I have come to use, and rely on, my Blackberry as a virtual office and communications centre that allows me to be fully in touch when on the road.

So I thought I would put together a list and see if any of the iPhone experts can tell me if I'm doing it wrong or if this device is really so flawed and I’m immune to the cool-aid.

Hardware

• The device certainly seems well-built and solid… like most of the Blackberry phones (except the Flip). But dropping the iPhone on it’s face (without a protective case) will likely need a replacement
• Having to use a pin to insert/replace the sim card just seems odd. Not having this “Ikea special tool” I had to wait a day to get a pin before I could use the device
• As does having no way to replace the battery. This became a real issue when I found how limited the battery life is compares to the Blackberry - about 7 hours in the iPhone compared to several days on the Blackberry. When travelling with the Blackberry, I’d take one extra charge battery and have over a week using it is my sole means of communications
• Argh! A non-standard USB cable… and they don’t include a separate one for the power supply – so moving the phone from the PC to a wall power means buying another cable or carrying the supplied one with me. I can only see this an an artificial way for Apple to make some extra on the cable.
• No slot to use for an additional memory stick seems wrong for a supposedly powerful device. It makes sharing data with other systems and platforms much more limited
• Even with carrying the cable and without ability to use external memory, it has 32GB – but still can’t be used as a memory stick or external drive via USB (except for photos). What a waste! I should have purchased the one with 8GB
• Shouldn’t all phone cameras now have a flash and zoom?

Setup

• I found the setup to be very easy. Although I am disappointed in having to use iTunes for everything
• There doesn’t seem to be a way to setup multiple devices for a business over the air
• Connecting to my Wi-Fi was pretty easy once I’d changed the settings. My Wi-Fi supports IPSec security which the iPhone doesn’t
• Adding email accounts (Exchange and POP3) was remarkably easy – it was fortunate I have OWA
• No way to roll-out, administer, secure or wipe the device remotely

Data

• Unlike the US, the iPhone is available here in Australia through all the major carriers. But, unlike with the Blackberry, none of them offer unlimited data. I guess this means more searching for Wi-Fi spots
• But don’t worry US… the call drop-outs and disconnects that people in the US seem to think are related to the AT&T network – they happen here with the iPhone on all networks.
• I’ve found that downloading the same amount of data (email, web pages, etc), the iPhone uses between 5 and 20 times the bandwidth. This might explain why carriers are reluctant to give unlimited data. It also explains why the iPhone is so much slower at performing similar tasks.

Security

• When it comes to security, there is no contest. See the Blackberry Official Statement
• The iPhone requires MobileME in order to remotely wipe a lost phone. For remote-wiping on a BlackBerry, you can do this through BES, BIS or customers can opt for an emergency feature where their phone automatically erases all of its data if it’s been off the network for a set amount of time. This is powerful as it helps protect against someone who steals the phone and pops the sim card before trying to access the data.

Operation and Interface

• No multi-tasking. That means no back-ground sync for databases or the ability to have an application run a task in the background which doing something else in the foreground
• This also means you can’t really use it for Instant Messaging with products like Skype, Live Messenger, etc as you can only receive messages when that application is the open one.
• Not even task-switching. Applications close and have to re-open (then wait till they get up-to-date data). I have lost work when checking a received email or answering the phone.
• Why can’t all Settings be accessed from within the applications. Having to check both the iPhone settings application and any option in an application itself just doesn’t make sense.
• The Blackberry menu makes accessing more common tasks faster.
• The scrolling, while pretty, actually makes it slower to get to the actual point you want
• The scroll wheels to set the time or alarm, while a pretty novelty the first few times take more time to set than just typing the digits.
• Maybe my thumbs are a bit big, but even after several months I keep pressing Shift or Del accidently (depending on the side of the screen) - even in Landscape. Worse, even though used to a much more narrow device, I still can’t get the right keys as fast in Portrait mode… but in same apps, Landscape isn’t an option – this slows data entry.
• In these days of internet shouldn’t the period and @ be on the main layout? Sure it has the same double Space for period at the end of sentence, but this isn’t great for a URL or email address
• The spell check only gives one option… what about other words that are similar?
• The spell check on the Blackberry can also include all the data from the address book – your contacts names and companies. Makes typing much easier.

Phone

• When you start entering the data in the Blackberry phone, it auto searches the address book (first, last and company name) and as you scroll, shows each contact’s numbers to click and call. With the iPhone, you have to go through additional steps with this
• The “End Call” button is large and seems to be right where my check touches the phone if not using hands free or via headset. This has caused me to accidently hang up prematurely on a few calls

Contacts

• It is neat that you can add additional phone/address fields, but unfortunately these don’t sync back to Exchange.
• You can’t sort by Company or even view that field in the Contacts application. While you can search by that field it's a bit harder to find the right contact
• Searching for a Contact means you have to scroll all the way back to the top. With the Blackberry, you just start typing and it will show the contacts that have a matching First, Last or Company Name – no matter where you are in the list. The Blackberry search is also MUCH faster
• When my Exchange server was down, I couldn’t access any contact and they had to be fully downloaded when it was up again… shouldn’t these be stored locally? I haven’t tried to see if I lose all this data if I’m out of radio range.

Email (Exchange 2003 is my Primary server)

• An email received by Exchange, sent via BES to the Blackberry is nearly instantaneous. It can take considerable time to appear on the iPhone unless I open the folder.
• There is no Home screen notification of having received emails, requiring you to manually scroll through the email folders after having left the device alone or while in a meeting.
• When viewing some wide HTML emails, you have the options of the text being way to small to read or zooming it and having to scroll back and forwards each line. The Blackberry method of the user being able to select the font for all emails might make the rendering less accurate, but makes the emails much easier to read and respond faster.
• I have about 180 folders in Exchange with rules that file incoming emails automatically. I had to manually select each folder for Push… and, when my Exchange server went down, other than having no local data. I also had to re-select all the folders for Push, manually! Why doesn’t this get stored?
• The Blackberry Message List allows me to see all emails received (and include SMS in the list if you want), no-matter which folder - like Unread Mail in MS Outlook. But on the iPhone, I have to scroll through the folder list (the 180 I mentioned above) and know the unread figures of each folder to check for any new items. Nothing notifies you which account or folder has the new email.
• File to Email Folders - to file a message to a folder on the BB, I just have to type the first few characters of the folder. The next time I file a similar email, it remembers the folder I users for that user/subject from last time. With the iPhone I have to manually scroll down the list every time
• There is no option to set detailed filters for which email you want (by sender, size, times, etc)
• No option to set/change Exchange “Out of Office” auto reply
• From the email list on the Blackberry, I can also click and select to call the contact (if they exist in my address book) or to forward via another system (SMS, Facebook, etc). On the iPhone you have to open the email, then go to the Contact to call/SMS and can only Forward via email.

Browser

• While the iPhone does render many pages more accurately, this ironically makes many harder to read
• When viewing wide pages, you have the options of the text being way to small to read or zooming it and having to scroll back and forwards each line. The Blackberry column view might not display a page as the publisher intended, but makes them considerably easier to read.
• Apple don’t seem interested in Flash whereas RIM and Adobe have announce a partnership to improve the support for rich content through these technologies - RIM and Adobe to Simplify Delivery of Rich Content and Applications for BlackBerry Smartphones
• The Blackberry menu makes it MUCH easier to copy a URL or even to send that URL via another app – Email, SMS or even non-core apps like Facebook, Twitter, other social media or Instant Messaging

Notifications and Ringtones

• The Blackberry LED displays in different colours to let you know of an event without even touching the device
• For more detail, clicking once on the keypad will show you how many items you’ve received – separated by emails, SMS, missed calls, Facebook Messages, Windows Messenger IMs or Skype chats. The iPhone will only show SMSs and missed calls until you open each app to check.
• Why do I have to stuff around changing the media formats in iTunes? The Blackberry can use any media file for a ringtone
• The Blackberry also allows different ringtones for each event type
• The iPhone doesn’t allow different settings (ringtone, volume, number of repeats, etc) for each event
• On the Blackberry you can create different Profiles to set all the notifications to the ringtone, volume, LED use, number of vibrations and how often to repeat. The iPhone doesn’t provide the flexibility of choices let alone the ability to change all the settings in a couple of clicks (eg when you go into a meeting)
• The Blackberry even allows exceptions for specific users … eg having the device in Silent mode except for certain important contacts

Multi-media

• This is an area where, with it’s heritage in the iPod, I would expect it to excel… but even here, there are items better done on the Blackberry. For example, the Blackberry allows you to jump to the previous track, beginning of the current track or next track by holding the volume controls on either phone or headset. Much easier than having to get the device from your pocket and turn it on to make those changes
• While they both play video, the wider screen of the iPhone is an area that it wins. Although I don’t watch enough videos or TV on the device to make this much of an advantage
• It’s annoying to have to go via iTunes to add/remove media. On the Blackberry, you can view it as a USB drive and copy the files into folders of your choosing

Social Media and Instant Messaging

• The lack of background tasks seriously reduces the option for Instant Messaging, which I prefer to SMS in many ways.
• It also means when starting up a social media app you have to wait till it updates the information as the applications can’t sync in the background
• While apps like Facebook, LinkedIN and some of the Twitter apps I have tested are comparable in the functions, the do miss some areas that reduces their effectiveness:
  • Notifications are only available from some apps… and even then are not reliable (as above)
  • Facebook only shows last Notification on Home screen. To see if you have more, you must go to the app
  • both Facebook and LinkedIN have the ability to import their contacts to the phone… but LinkedIN only as new contacts (I already have most in my address book) and neither can link to a Contact that I might have with a different name from their social media account.
  • The both take some time to sync, but at least on the Blackberry, this happens in the background
  • The FaceBook app won’t bring in the email address on phone (saying it’s a privacy issue), but this is done on the Blackberry
  • If using Social Media to schedule events, the iPhone can’t sync these with the calendar (the Blackberry does this and in the background)
  • The Blackberry API has permitted some applications to create dedicated fields in the address book to link the contacts to their social media profiles

Software Development

• The requirement for all apps to only install via their AppStore means that developers can’t get selected groups of users to test code before release. While this can be done by “Jailbreaking” the phone this is not something you want to tell users to do.
  Update: I’ve just been informed that it is possible to beta test software, although with an unnecessarily complicated procedure to create an Ad Hoc iPhone Apps Distribution
• The AppStore delivery requirement reduces the possibility for more complex licensing models
• Apple’s certification process seems to be easy for trivial apps (like iFart), but more stringent on more complex products. They also don’t seem to want to tell a developer if a particular function will pass till the product is complete and the money spent.

 

Technorati Tags: Blackberry,iPhone,RIM,Apple,Facebook,LinkedIN,Twitter,Skype,Social Media,Phones,Smartphone,smart phone,iPhone Vs Blackberry,Blackberry Vs iPhone

GL Computing awarded Experts-Exchange Titan award – 2nd year in a row

The epic performance of GL computing in 2009 has earned a spot as a Top Expert in the 6th Annual Expert Awards.

From a competitive field of over 30,000 qualified experts worldwide, GL Computing has been awarded the:

Titan Award - 2009

From Experts-Exchange: “Thank you for sharing your unparalleled, inconceivable, and brilliant knowledge with the members of Experts Exchange, without you Experts Exchange would not be the #1 IT resource in the web.”

GL Computing also won the Titan Award – 2008 and is the only Experts-Exchange Certified ACT! Sage

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Award,Experts-Exchange,GL Computing

Tips for converting ACT! 6.0 (or earlier) databases to ACT! by Sage

The most common problem with converting the older versions of ACT! to ACT! by Sage is if there is some damage in the database. Unfortunately, the older versions could become corrupt but not be noticed if you didn’t access that part of the data. As everything needs to be read for a conversion or sync, these functions can show up issues that might have been there for some time.

First, no-matter which version you have, make sure you have a backup of the data before you start.

You should also make sure you have the User Name and Password for someone with Administrator access to the database.

Because the repair tools were improved could fix more types of damage as the versions progressed, I recommend always upgrading earlier databases to ACT! 6.0 and cleaning them there before converting to ACT! by Sage.

If you don’t have ACT! 6.0, you can download the ACT! 6.0 30-day Trial – this will give you the time to convert, clean and repair your database to ready it for converting to the later versions.

Convert Earlier Versions to ACT! 6.0

Always perform a database compress and reindex in the version you have before going to ACT! 6.0. The steps for that conversion depends on how old your version is:

• From ACT! for DOS, see:
  Converting an ACT! for DOS Database to ACT! 3.0 or Later Format
• From ACT! for Windows/MAC 1.x/2.x, see:
  How to Convert an Old ACT! for Windows 1.0/1.1b Database to ACT! 6.0/5.0/2000 Format
• From ACT! 3.0 – 5.0 (2000), see:
  How Do I Convert a Database Created in a Previous Version of ACT! to a Later Version?

Repair and Clean the ACT! 6.0 Database

Next you should do a repair with ACTDIAG as per:
How To Use The ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool (ACTDIAG) to Scan and Repair a Database

Please note: If you got any red check marks, keep running it till they show all green
But if you’re still getting red checks after 3-4 runs, you’ll need to use additional tools to repair it
or have it professionally repaired

If getting an ACT! Consultant to help you with the conversion (recommended)
I also recommend that they run ABC_Scan on the database

If you are having problems are want to be really sure about your data, I recommend:
Red Flags from Cornerstone Solutions

If it still won’t clean or the conversion below still fails, please contact GL Computing

Centralising Attached Files

If you have attached files, especially if they are stored in different locations or on local workstations on a LAN, you should move these to one folder. You will then need to adjust the links in the database to show the new location. There are a number of tools to do this, I personally use Oak!Check! – Validate Attachments. You can also use it to do any other data cleaning you might need.

Converting to ACT! 2010

You are now ready to install ACT! 2010 as per: Sharing ACT! – Network or Sync (Part 1)

Which ever version of ACT! you are converting to, make sure you have the latest build and Hotfix. At the time of this article, for ACT! 2010, this is 12.0 Hotfix 4. It has some fixes for converting some databases. See: How to Download and Apply the ACT! by Sage 2010 Hot Fix 4

Then you should just be able to open the database from ACT! 2010 and it will convert. See:
How to Convert an ACT! 3.x, 4.x, 5.x (2000) or 6.x (2004) Database to ACT! by Sage 2010

If you have any questions, please post a comment here or in the LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group 

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Convert

Quick tip to improve speed on ACT! Premium for Web

A user recently pointed out to me that the favicon.ico file used by ACT! Premium for Web is about 300KB.

For those who don’t know, the favicon.ico is an optional file that can be included on a web site and shows as a logo in web browsers next to the URL, the Browser tab and in bookmarks.

For more information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favicon

This file loads with every page, increasing the bandwidth. Consequently, these should be kept as small as possible.

The file on an APFW server is /APFW/images/favicon.ico

If you are using ACT! Premium for Web, you might find an improvement by using an ICO editor to reduce the file size… this is especially important if supporting clients on slower connections or if you have a lot of users.

If you don’t have an ICO editor, feel free to download a small ACT! favicon I created:

www.glcomputing.com.au/ACT-favicon.zip

Extract the favicon.ico to the folder I mentioned above on your server. It’s not too pretty, but as it’s under 4KB will save nearly 300KB per page

It’s not a huge improvement, but every bit helps, right?

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Web,favicon

Handheld Contact Professional Edition for Windows Mobile update

Version 1.4.0.0 of the Windows Mobile application for Handheld Contact Professional Edition is now available.

To upgrade, sync Handheld Contact from the device first to ensure the latest changes are updated in ACT! and then visit www.handheldcontact.com/ota on your Windows Mobile phone.

This release of the Handheld Contact Professional Edition phone application includes improvements that include:

• Integrated Google Maps with Contacts. Clicking an address will load it in the Google Maps application for Windows Mobile.
• Handheld Contact application now supports mapping as many yes/no fields and date fields as desired up to the field mapping limit. Previously these fields were limited to 10 mappings.
• Read only contacts fields in ACT! are now also read only on the phone.
• Task list is now easier to read and use with updated interface.
• Contact list is now easier to read and use with updated interface.
• Calendar-Agenda view is now easier to read and use with updated interface.
• Increased the activities custom type description to 60 characters.
• Corrected an issue that could potentially stop the Handheld Contact application when placing a call.

For more information of putting ACT! on your smart phone, see Handheld Contact

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Google Maps,Handheld Contact,PocketPC,Windows Mobile

What’s the best CRM?

I often get asked or see on-line posts asking this question and people seem surprised when I, as an ACT! Evangelist, tell then that it can’t be answered without more detailed information. This is especially important in the SME market where there is a greater range of options available than in the Enterprise space.

Any recommendations without this info would be like asking for the best car or religion, and any suggestions would be akin to the adage "If the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems look like nails"

You need to identify your needs:

• How many users are you expecting to have? Now and over the next 12-18 months.
• How many records (contacts and/or companies)? Also now and over next 12-18 months
• Where is your data sourced from (initial setup and on-going leads)?
  For example: your web site, external companies, social media, Excel, paper entry
• What do you want to do with the data? Reports, email merges, news letters, etc
  You need to involve internal users at different levels (sales, marketing, management)
• Do you want to integrate with legacy systems – accounting, ERP or other software?
• Do you want to integrate with new technologies – social media, Twitter, LinkedIN, etc?
• Do you want remote access – remote offices, laptop users, smart phones?
  If so, do you have reliable internet connectivity?
• What sort of security is important to you? Eg should all users be able to see/edit all records?
• What sort of infrastructure do you have – operating systems, hardware, network.
  Would you be prepared to invest in improving this?
• Do you have your own IT? If so, will they need training to administer the new system?
• What sort of support do you think you’ll need?
• What sort of budget do you have?

One common issue is looking at management needs (administration and reporting) over usability... if the users find it to complex to use or un-helpful to them, they won't enter good data. Then any reports will be meaningless.

Remember that your customer database can be one of your most valuable assets and equipping your business with the right tools to mine that asset can produce valuable returns – especially when financial times are perceived to be tough.

Often the best way to to it right is to speak to a consultant in the field to provide some advice. Here is an article that I did on picking a CRM consultant: How to pick the right CRM Consultant

When speaking to vendors, and even many consultants, remember their competitive info isn't always accurate. You need to do your own research if you are comparing products.

You really want to know “What’s the best CRM solution for YOU?” Anyone who makes a recommendation without knowing or asking these questions can’t possibly be answering that.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,CRM,SCRM,SME

Should ACT! by Sage move into the “Cloud”?

There has been a lot of discussion about "cloud computing" or SaaS (Software as a Service) – even some by Sage management on the ACT! Community Leadership Blog. So I thought it would be a good topic to discuss

With most ACT! users who have modern Smartphones/PDAs now wanting wireless updates. The options for that either require the user to have web infrastructure or use an externally hosted sync server. As most ACT! users (other than Prem for Web) not having the systems and/or skills, those PDA links doing this are using the cloud and charging for the service.

Handheld Contact only offers subscription based, CompanionLink offers it as an option and Sage are looking at their own solution (ACT! Mobile Live)

In a recent discussion in the ACT! Fanatics Group, Sharon Randall of SJR said she, and many of her users, prefer CompanionLink because it's a one-off purchase. Ignoring other feature differences to HHC, this also means it is only a connected cable sync - no updates on the road. It's also the primary reason I've seen when users pick CL over HHC.

This is also one reason a user might choose ACT! over SalesForce. There are many others, but this is a core difference.

But, at the same time, there are users starting to ask for more cloud options from ACT! – and there certainly has been movement in that direction, at least with a deal Sage Australia did with a local host.
See comments below http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/11/supporting-remote-users-with-act-by.html

The ability to share remotely means cloud is nearly always the better option for users with PDAs - except for the single user who isn't sharing their data. But what about other functions? Or even ACT! itself?

I also have a personal interest in your opinions on this... our soon to be released Accounts Master! (to integrate with accounting software like QuickBooks) will also use a subscription model. We did this because:

• It will work for users where the accounts staff don't use ACT! and ACT! users don't have access to accounts – It will even work with Web versions, Sync users, Term Services and hosted.
• It means we don't have to explain to users who upgrade ACT! and then get upset that they have to also pay for their add-ons to be upgraded - it does take work to accommodate changes with each new version of ACT!
• We can roll out enhancements when they are ready, rather than having to wait till we have enough to justify an upgrade fee or having to really a build with bugs to meet a marketing timeframe - this is something I really like about Handheld Contact 

So... after all this: What do you think about cloud/subscription Vs purchase/upgrade?

• With some users wanting Cloud and others resisting, which camp are most ACT! users in now?
• Will this change over then next year or two?
• Should Sage wait for the ACT! user-base to demand this as they mature (if this is the future) or should they lead?
• If Sage moves to early, it may upset some users... but will it upset enough that it's a worry?
• Might this be an issue in some areas in the world where internet access, reliability and speeds are not as good?

Alternatively, without the cloud, how would users feel to a subscription model for ACT! in their own office - an annual license key and has to be renewed, but includes upgrades? I guess this is like Upgrade Insurance

For ACT! resellers, I've asked a follow-up in the ACT! Resellers Group on LinkedIN

I’d appreciate any thoughts or comments you might have. Thanks.

Update:

For those looking at a SaaS offering for ACT! by Sage now, see http://glcomputing.actondemand.com/

 

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,Sage,CRM,PDA,QuickBooks,Cloud,SaaS

Supporting Remote Users with ACT! by Sage

With users like the Professional Sales Road Warriors that made up much of ACT!'s early user base to field service technicians, trades-people, telecommuters who work from home, remote offices and others who need access to their data while out of the office, ACT! has needed to make use of every changing technology so that the data can be provided to the users as they need it.

From it's creation in 1987, ACT! has been at the forefront of remote and mobile users. From the ability to merge databases with ACT! for DOS 2.0 in 1990 (where users would need to bring their databases into the office to sync) then through the HP95LX PDA version in 1992 and ACT! Mobile Link for laptop users in 1995, ACT! users have been able to access ACT! while remote from their office.

Over time advances in internet speeds, more scalable databases, browser technologies and other technological improvements have made it easier for organisations to implement and administer remote access solutions for their staff.

Currently, there are a range of options available to provide this remote access but users are often not sure how to determine the solution most suitable for them. So I thought I'd provide a selection of the most common options available... but remember, that for many sites, a combination of these should be implemented.

For some users, it may be better to have the database hosted externally, then using one or more of the options to provide access. One host providing this at very good rates is Conetix

Direct Access of the database via VPN

• Infrastructure
  • Requires the technical skills to setup and maintain VPN server
  • Needs higher than normal internet bandwidth as the VPN protocols use up a significant amount
  • Users lose access to the data if their internet connection goes down
• Installation
  • Sharing a database over a VPN is no different than sharing the database over a LAN. Each remote user must obtain a copy of the .PAD file for the shared database and have read/write access to the database folder and the Supplemental Files folders.
  • See - http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/02/sharing-act-network-or-sync.html
  • Firewall exceptions on server should be same as for LAN
• Administration
  • Administration and Maintenance of the VPN needs to be done well. Many VPNs tend to drop out WINs and then ACT! won't be able to find the server
  • It is usually more reliable to use the IP address of the server in the PAD file rather than the machine name. But for most VPN implementations, using Sync is the best solution.
  • All users need to be using the same version and build of ACT! - so upgrades and patches need to be carefully planned
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on both the bandwidth of the main server and the bandwidth that the users connect to the internet
  • Remember that most consumer internet connections don't have as fast an upload speed as they do download - if the server is also on a consumer grade connection, the actual speed will be the slower of both the user and server.
  • Due to the overhead of the VPN protocol most internet connections won't be adequate and users may be better using sync
• Security
  • If the VPN is set up correctly, this type of access is very secure.
  • User access to records can be determined by Limited Access in the Premium editions
  • Other security may need to be implemented if you wish to prevent users from exporting or reporting data that they have access to locally

 

ACT! Synchronisation Services

• Infrastructure
  • Remote users only need direct connection to the master database when they need to sync
  • ACT! by Sage does require ACT! to be open and logged into the Publisher database to sync but Premium editions can use Network or Internet sync servers to allow sync as a Windows service
  • Sync for remote users doesn't require Internet Sync server (which uses IIS). It can also be done with Network Sync server and port forwarding or VPN using a VPN server or Hamachi
• Installation
  • ACT! is set up normally, but then Remote Data Base files are created for each remote.
  • For more info, see:
    http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/01/sharing-act-network-or-sync-part-1.html
• Administration
  • All users need to be using the same version and build of ACT! - so upgrades and patches need to be carefully planned. If using sync server, these should also be updated when patching ACT!
  • Note: If you update the local users, the remote users still access their local data and can sync when you update them.
  • If syncing a database larger than 4GB and wanting all data to sync, needs SQL standard at each point the database will be located
  • Sync can be automated with ACT! Scheduler - better if using Premium
  • The Administrative Dashboard can be used to determined when users sync
  • If using sync via VPN, administration and maintenance of the VPN needs to be done well. Many VPNs tend to drop out WINs and then ACT! won't be able to find the server
• Speed
  • Speed for each user is dependant on their local hardware (RAM and HDD speed)
  • Speed for the sync is dependant on the bandwidth between the user and server. If using VPN, speed is reduced due to the protocol overhead.
  • Sync speed depends on volume of changes and bandwidth of connection - especially if syncing a large number of attachments
  • As only the delta (changes) are sent, this uses less bandwidth than a direct connection
• Security
  • Users only have access to the records in their defined sync set and, if using the Premium editions, that they have access to
  • The sync process itself is reasonably secure as data is encrypted during the sync process (I have not heard of a breach)
  • Additional layers or security can be achieved by:
    • Using a different port for the sync process
    • Sync via VPN - this is a very secure protocol and removes the need for port forwarding from the internet to the database server
    • If using Premium Editions, putting the Sync server in a DMZ

 

ACT! Premium for Web

• Infrastructure
  • Requires a Windows server running Internet Information Services (IIS) - can be hosted by a third-party if the user lacks infrastructure or skills. If hosted, it is better to select a host who specialises in ACT! for Web hosting and knows how to maintain it
  • Remote users only need a supported web browser and internet connection
  • ACT! for Web is also the only solution for allowing access to MAC users (internal or remote) via the Safari browser support (currently Safari 3.0)
• Installation
  • Installed once on IIS server. Easiest and fastest install for IT with suitable skills
• Administration
  • Easy to administer and maintain as everything can be on a single server. It's a bit more complex if using multiple servers
  • IT doesn't need to worry about remote users OS or hardware
  • Sharing of user preferences makes admin and backup a bit easier. while not the default, is done as per this ACT! Knowledge Base article
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on the server speed, configuration and bandwidth
  • For large volumes of users, implementing one or more web servers separate from the database server allows better allocation of resources
• Security
  • As this is a Premium edition, users only have access to records according to ACT!'s Limited Access and Teams
  • Additional layers or security can be achieved by:
    • Using a different port for the web server
    • Putting the IIS server in a DMZ
    • Using HTTPS/SSL
    • Requiring Windows Authentication to the Virtual Folder before getting access to the ACT! for Web interface
    • Access Web via VPN

 

Remote Desktop (Terminal Services, Citrix)

• Infrastructure
  • Requires Windows Terminal Server, Remote Desktop Services in Windows 2008 or Citrix - can be hosted if user lacks infrastructure or skills
  • Remote users only RDP client and internet connection
• Installation
  • Installed once on server.
  • Here are the steps to install on Windows 2008 Remote Desktop Services
  • Requires some additional work for Outlook integration. See: this ACT! Knowledge base article
• Administration
  • Easy to administer and maintain as everything on a single server
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on the server speed, configuration and bandwidth
  • For large volumes of users, implementing one or more client servers separate from the database server allows better allocation of resources
• Security
  • If using a Premium edition, users only have access to records according to ACT!'s Limited Access and Teams
  • RDP on TS and Citrix provide a range an additional security options

 

Included ACT!Link for PDA/Smartphones

• Infrastructure
  • Currently supports Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices (no Palm OS support for Windows 7, so no ACT! Link support)
  • Uses direct USB connection to full ACT! client - no support for Web or Remote Desktop (Terminal Services/Citrix)
  • Only supports fields and functions in PDA PIMs
• Installation
  • Installed on each user PC
  • Care needs to be taken for supported Phone OS and driver versions, depending on version of ACT!
• Administration
  • Can be complex to maintain with issues if user updates their phone OS or driver
  • Admin can only set if the users can sync via Manage Users
  • Administrator has no control over what is sync'd and connection issues are known to cause duplication in the ACT! database
  • No access to Custom Activity types
  • No support for Activities, Notes, Histories that link to multiple contacts
  • Calls, SMS, Emails sent from phone not recorded in ACT!
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on the phone type and amount of data sent
• Security
  • If using a Premium edition, users only have access to records according to ACT!'s Limited Access and Teams
  • User can select to sync any records they have access to
  • Data on lost phones can't be wiped

 

Handheld Contact Sync to PDA/Smartphones

• Infrastructure
  • Currently supports Blackberry OS and Windows Mobile devices with iPhone due soon
  • Uses a console with wireless sync - fully supports Web and Remote Desktop (Terminal Services/Citrix)
  • Basic/Entry supports fields and functions in PDA PIMs
  • Professional Edition adds support for up to 76 fields and many additional functions
  • When Console installed on PC not hosting ACT! database requires change to service login
• Installation
  • Installed on ACT! server, it's own server or on each user's PC
  • Easiest PDA solution to remotely configure and install remotely for one or more devices
• Administration
  • Very easy to roll out and maintain
  • Administrator controls what data is sync'd and how often.
  • Administrator can set contacts sync'd with each user based on Groups an Activities
  • No known issues with duplication of ACT! data
  • HHC Professional supports ACT! Custom Activity types for activities and history
  • HHC Professional supports Activities, Notes, Histories and Email that link to multiple contacts
  • Calls, SMS, Emails sent from phone recorded in ACT! if instigated from HHC Professional
• Speed
  • Speed is dependant on the phone type and amount of data sent
  • As HHC can send items based on Groups or Activities, users can reduce the number of records they keep on the phone
• Security
  • Administrator has full control over what is sync’d to each user
  • Data on lost phones can be erased remotely by Admin, providing phone in radio range and turned on
  • Data is sent securely via https and encrypted

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Remote,Web,IIS,Synchronization,VPN,SaaS,PDA,phone

A couple of useful Outlook tools – #Xobni and #LinkedIN

I hope my regular readers won’t mind if I digress from my usual ACT! related posts and add this article on a couple of free tools I find really useful for Outlook - Xobni and LinkedIN Outlook Toolbar

Both of these tools are useful in finding contacts as well as developing and maintaining your relationships, and so are useful for the types of work that ACT! users like to do. I fact, I believe both of these would be great functions to add to ACT! itself.

Xobni
Xobni is an add-in that indexes your Outlook data and then provides a number of useful functions: Very fast searching across your email file. It’s pretty much instantaneous on my Outlook file, which is over 6GB! Ability to link multiple email addresses to a contact if the contact has more than one address or if their address changes over time Additional information on your contacts from sources like LinkedIN, FaceBook, Twitter and Hoovers. Reports on the times you usually correspond with the contact via email Find other contacts that might be connected from emails between you and the main contact where others have been included in emails To: CC: Sort all emails between you and the contact into threaded conversations – even if the various emails are in different Outlook folders File all attached files sent between you and the contact Auto suggest addresses from your contacts when creating a new email After you install Xobni, your system may run slowly for a day while it creates it’s index. Do not be concerned by this. Once it has completed the index it will speed up your day. Note: If you’d like to see Xobni create a link to ACT! by Sage, please add a vote on this post on the Xobni Community Site
LinkedIN Outlook Toolbar
LinkedIN is a business oriented social network. Their Outlook add-in is a powerful resource for building and maintaining your network from inside your email system. Functions include: Build your network selecting from people you email often Create Outlook contacts by highlighting their info in an email and selecting Grab See suggestions of who to invite based on email frequency Invite with one click to build your network faster – using custom templates Update your Outlook contacts with LinkedIn profile information Receive notifications when your contacts change their LinkedIn profiles See LinkedIn mini-profiles for everyone that emails you Use the LinkedIn dashboard to stay up to date with your network with suggestion of emails you might need to reply to or follow-up Access LinkedIn with one quick and easy click ACT! users should also join the LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group

Both of these outlook add-ins are free and Outlook users should give them a try

Technorati Tags: Outlook,LinkedIN,Xobni,SCRM,Social Media,Facebook,Twitter,ACT!

How to Download and Apply the ACT! by Sage 2010 Hot Fix 2

his documentation describes Hot Fix 2 for ACT! 2010 for the following versions:

• ACT! by Sage 2010
• ACT! by Sage Premium 2010
• ACT! by Sage Premium for Web 2010

Do not apply this hot fix to any other versions or products.

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Note: To determine the version of the product you are using, see the version number in the Help > About box. After the hot fix has been installed, the version number will read "12.0.409.0, Hotfix 2" depending on the version you originally had installed.

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This hot fix applies to all international English locales.
Note: This hotfix (including any software and related documentation) is provided "AS IS." Sage Software disclaims all express or implied warranties of any kind with respect to the utility, including but not limited to, any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose

Who Should Install This Hot Fix?

Hot Fix 2 for ACT! version 2010 may resolve your issues if:

• You are an ACT! Premium customer whose installation includes customized databases, have upgraded from ACT! by Sage Premium 2008 or ACT! by Sage Premium 2009, and are now seeing generic application crash errors when viewing Group, Company, or Opportunity views in ACT! Premium 2010
• You are an ACT! Premium customer whose installation contains fields set to “No Access” that reside in the Contact Spillover Table (spillover tables are created with customized databases). Since upgrading your database to ACT! Premium 2010, the schema update fails and corrupts the upgraded database.
• You are an ACT! Premium customer whose installation contains fields set to “No Access” that reside in the Contact Spillover Table (spillover tables are created with customized databases). Since upgrading your database to ACT! Premium 2010, you are unable to build a remote database.
• You are using a certified add-on application with faxing capabilities and have problems when doing a Mail Merge direct to Fax when your word processor is Microsoft® Word.

The following tables list the area affected by the hot fix, the description, and the effect of the hot fix for each known issue.

New in Hot Fix 2

Area	Description	What the Fix Does
Performance	Users see slow response time when opening a database or performing a lookup on a database that contains a large number of fields.	Enables layouts to refresh more quickly.

Fixed in Hot Fix 1

ACT! hot fixes are cumulative, so hot fix 2 also contains the following fixes distributed in hot fix 1.

Area	Description	What the Fix Does
Groups/Company/Opportunities	This issue impacts ACT! Premium 2008 or ACT! Premium 2009 installations where fields residing in the Contact Spillover Table (spillover tables are created with customized databases) are set to “No Access”. Upon upgrading the database to ACT! Premium 2010, the schema update fails and corrupts the upgraded database. The user experiences generic application crash errors when viewing Group, Company, Opportunity views in ACT! Premium 2010. ACT! Premium 2010 users who have spillover tables and set fields to “No Access” will not be able to create and restore remote databases.	Enables metadata to be created for the upgrade scripts.
Faxing	Users will not be able to mail merge directly to fax.	Enables the SDK method call to trigger a response from ACT!

Applying Hot Fix 2 for ACT! 2010

This hot fix is for version 2010. Do not apply this hot fix to any other version of ACT! To determine the version of the product you are using, see the version number in the Help About box. After the hot fix has been installed, the version number will read "12.0.409.0, Hotfix 2".
Apply this hot fix to all machines that are involved in database synchronization to avoid issues surrounding renaming layouts, queries, and reports. This includes all machines that contain the Main Synchronization Database, Main Remote Database, and machines that have the ACT! Network or ACT! Internet Sync Services applied.
Applying the Hot Fix

1. Log onto to your computer as an Administrator.
2. Stop the Network Sync Service.
3. Please click on the link below to download Hot Fix 2, depending on the version of ACT! 2010 you have installed and your locale.
   ACT! by Sage 2010 Standard Tier (All Locales)
   • ACT! by Sage 2010 Standard Hot Fix 2
   
   ACT! by Sage Premium 2010 Tier (Locale Specific)
   • ACT! by Sage 2010 Premium Hot Fix 2 - (US) United States
   • ACT! by Sage 2010 Premium Hot Fix 2 - (AU) Australia
   • ACT! by Sage 2010 Premium Hot Fix 2 - (CA) Canada
   • ACT! by Sage 2010 Premium Hot Fix 2 - (EU) Europe
   • ACT! by Sage 2010 Premium Hot Fix 2 - (LA) Latin America
   • ACT! by Sage 2010 Premium Hot Fix 2 - (UK) United Kingdom
4. Close ACT!.
5. When the download dialog box comes up, choose Save and save to your Desktop.
6. After the download completes, close ACT!, Internet Explorer® and all Microsoft Office applications.
7. Locate the ACT12HotFix.exe that you downloaded to your desktop and double-click it to begin the installation.
8. The Unpacking ACT! progress indicator briefly appears followed by the Disclaimer dialog box.
   
9. Review the disclaimer, and then click Apply.
10. The installer verifies your Windows® rights and ensures that no open programs will conflict with the hot fix installation. If any of these conditions exist, the appropriate message will appear. Please follow the on screen instructions.
11. The ACT! - Applying Updates window appears while the hot fix is being installed.
12. When finished the ACT! dialog box appears.
    
13. Click Ok to complete the installation.
14. For all Windows Vista® users with UAC enabled, you will see a Program Compatibility Assistant dialog box. Click This program installed correctly to complete the installation.
15. Restart the Network Sync Service.
16. If you are using the Internet Sync Service, you must reset IIS:
    1. Click Start.
    2. In the Run box, type IISReset.
    3. Click OK.
17. Start ACT!
18. From the Help menu, select About. The version number will "12.0.409.0, Hotfix 2".
    

Changes To Your Installation

Installing the hot fix applies the following files:

• ActFramework.MailMerge.dll
• Act.UI.Wordprocessor.dll
• Act.DataCreation.dll

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage

Automating backups for ACT! by Sage

One of the problems we notice is that users are not sure of the different options available to create and maintain proper backups of their ACT! data, so I thought it would provide value to list them here.

As ACT! by Sage database uses a SQL engine, it can't be backed up by simply copying the files or by using a normal backup product. The SQL service keeps a lock on the database as soon as Windows starts, even if no-one is logged into ACT!

Manual Backup

The standard function to backup a database from ACT! is: File | Backup. See:
http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/cgi-bin/sagesoftwareonline.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=19211

ACT! Scheduler Backup

Users should automate these to make sure data isn’t lost if it becomes damaged through a PC failure, virus or other problem.

In ACT! 2005 (7.0) to ACT! 2007 (9.0), only the Premium version can automate this with the ACT! Scheduler
In ACT! 2008 and later, automated maintenance and backups are also available with non-Premium builds
Also note: ZIP has a limit of 4GB... with ACT! 2008 and later, you can do the attached files separately if you're hitting this limit

If running Premium 2005-2007 or ACT! 2008 or later, have a look at this article to automate backups:
http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/cgi-bin/sagesoftwareonline.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=19218

If backing up with the Scheduler on another PC from the database or backing up to another PC, see:
http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/cgi-bin/sagesoftwareonline.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=17427

It's always good to do regular test restores to ensure the backup is working.
You can do this with use File | Restore
Then select Restore_As to restore the backup to a different name, location or onto a different machine

It's also useful to occasionally check that the "Backup" folder under the database supplemental files folder is empty. This is where ACT! places temp files during the backup process. If the backup fails, they remain there and will be included in any subsequent backups. You can delete any files in this folder unless a backup is currently in operation.

Batch File Backup

If not running Premium and not upgrading, you can do it this way.
Create an ACTBackup.bat file with Notepad as follows:

REM - Change these SET Parameters as appropriate for your system 
SET ACTSourceFolder="C:\Act\Database" 
SET ACTDestinationFolder="D:\Backups\Act\Database" 
SET XcopyOptions=/M /E /C /H /O /Y /I 
REM 
REM - Stop ACT SQL Service 
NET STOP SQLAGENT$ACT7 
NET STOP MSSQL$ACT7 
REM 
REM - Perform copy 
XCOPY %ACTSourceFolder% %ACTDestinationFolder% %XcopyOptions% 
REM 
REM - Restart ACT SQL Service 
NET START MSSQL$ACT7 
NET START SQLAGENT$ACT7 
END

With the SQL engine stopped, you can use anything to copy/backup the database and supplemental files. You could replace the XCOPY with a command line ZIP or other back-up utility.
Then run the BAT file from the Windows scheduler

While you can't restore to a different name to test it with this method, you can restore to another machine, delete the PAD file and open the ADF so it resets the machine name.

ACT! Email Backup

If using the ACT! Email client, you should also back up it's database as per:
http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/cgi-bin/sagesoftwareonline.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=19212

Corporate and third-party Backup

Finally, if wanting to use a proper corporate backup product that understands SQL and you have a Premium version of ACT!, you can get the SA Pass utility. This is free in Europe, but does cost in other regions - contact your local Sage office for the pricing and process.

There is a third-party product with more advanced backup and maintenance options: AutoAdmin 2008/2009

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,Sage,SQL,Backup,Restore,Scheduler,AutoAdmin

Which MS SQL versions should you use with ACT! 2010 (#ACT2010)

There have been some changes to the supported SQL versions with ACT! 2010 and some users may need to look at which version to use in order to maximise the performance or scalability of ACT!

The standard ACT! by Sage 2010 only supports SQL 2005 Express as per: ACT! 2010 System Requirements

The Premium and Corporate versions support SQL 2005 Standard and now even MS SQL 2008. For a full list of supported versions, see:

• ACT! by Sage Premium 2010 System Requirements
• ACT! by Sage Corporate Edition 2010 System Requirements

While ACT! is only shipped with MS SQL 2005 Express, you can set the Premium version up with SQL 2008 Express (x32 or x64)’ and the Corporate versions with those and also SQL 2005/2008 Standard (x32 or x64)

Note: You must purchase SQL CALs for Standard separately from Microsoft

But, should you change the version of SQL and, if you chose to, how do you do it? To make this decision, you should have a look at these:

• SQL Server 2005 Features Comparison
• SQL Server 2008 Features Comparison

From these, you will note that the advantages of Standard over Express are:

• Express is limited to a 4GB database size – There are very few users that will reach this limit. It’s only the ACT! ADF that’s limited, it doesn’t include attachments
• Express is limited to 1 CPU and 1GB RAM – If your server machine doesn’t have multiple processors and 3GB (or more) RAM, you will not see a benefit to ACT! in using the Standard version. But, on a machine suitably configured, there will be a performance advantage in using Standard.
• Changing to Standard on a suitable server should definitely be considered for 25 or more users.

Here are some useful ACT! Knowledge Base articles on installing ACT! with different editions of SQL:

• Understanding SQL Less CAL
• How to Manually Create the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 (Standard Edition) ACT7 Instance
• How to Manually Create the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 (Express Edition) ACT7 Instance
• How to Manually Create the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 (Standard Edition) ACT7 Instance
• How to Upgrade an Existing ACT! by Sage Premium 2010 ACT7 instance to Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008

There are a couple of additional points to note:

• While having Standard (2005 or 2008) on the server and Express on the workstations is ok. If you upgrade to SQL 2008, you must also upgrade all systems sharing the database (LAN or Sync) to 2008
• You can upgrade the SQL 2005 instance of ACT7 to SQL 2008, you can’t upgrade to the x64 versions. You would need to uninstall the ACT7 instance and manually create one using the x64 edition of SQL.
• While I have not tested these personally, I have been told by Sage that there is no noticeable advantage to ACT! in using SQL 2008 or the x64 versions. So the only reason to implement these would be to comply with a current infrastructure where these are already implemented.
• While the Enterprise editions are not officially QA tested or supported, I have heard from a number of users that these work with the Premium and Corporate versions of ACT! as per the SQL Standard editions with the additional performance levels they provide. The same applies to using SQL 2008 Express with the standard version of ACT! by Sage – not supported, but should work if required.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,ACT! 2010,ACT2010,MS SQL,SQL

Upgrading ACT!, especially when you are using add-ons

It is important to note that many add-on products will require updated versions in order to work with different versions of ACT!. If you are using any specific add-on(s), you should check with the add-on vendors to see if they support the new version and the procedures to get an updated build, if required.

For ACT! 2010 some add-ons (like Handheld Contact) just require a new download while others may charge an upgrade fee for the new version.

When upgrading ACT!, it is usually a good idea to uninstall any add-ons first. Then perform the ACT! upgrade and then install the latest versions of the add-ons after checking they support the new version.

This also applies if you want to upgrade your MS-Office version or your operating system – you should confirm that your version of ACT! supports this or if you need an upgrade.

Checking these things first reduces potential disappointment if you later find out you need other upgrades that might not yet be available or that you hadn’t budgeted for.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,Upgrade

What's New in ACT! by Sage 2010

The ACT! 2010 release is focused on a number of major improvements in ACT! and includes customizable opportunities, a redesigned navigation, a new welcome page, e-Marketing* and much, much more. All this enables you to work more effectively, become more productive, and better serve your contacts. You can select one of the following links to go to the specified section in this document.
*Requires additional subscription

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New Features and Functionality
This release addresses functionality that users have requested in ACT! and introduces some new features. The following lists highlights a number of the most significant: A new navigation system, Customizable Opportunities, ACT! E-marketing* , a new Report View, new reporting and dashboard components, iCalendar support, and multiple remote database creation.
*Requires additional subscription

1. Globalization
   • Ability to specify database currency.
     • At the time of database creation, users can specify the currency that will default for all currency values in the database.
       
   • Allow users from different ACT! languages share a database.
     • Allow users from different ACT! languages to access the same database. Example: A user has French ACT! and creates a database. A user with German ACT! should be able to access the same database.
2. Opportunities
   • Modify Opportunities in ACT! so that they are completely customizable (like Companies, Groups and Contacts) and users can attach notes, histories, activities and documents to them.
   • Add the ability to associate custom tables to Opportunities
   • Modify the security model of Opportunities to allow users to limit access by teams like they can for Companies, Groups and Contacts.
   • Allow users to create an Opportunity that does not REQUIRE a contact to be associated to it.
   • Allow users to customize the product/services grid in the Opportunities detail view.
3. Navigation
   • Modify the navigation in ACT! to reflect the accordion style navigation in the left navigation pane as well as adding in “Big Easy” buttons along the top row.
     
   • After extensive user testing, it was determined that the “Look For” box in the list views was confusing to new and existing users. The “Look For” box has been hidden by default in the list views. If users wish to re-surface the box, they can use the “options” button in the list view and choose “show Look For”.
   • Display the Contact List any time the user looks up all contacts. This is in response to usability test feedback in which users were surprised that looking up all contacts did not produce a list.
   • When a menu has sub-menu items that are never accessible in that view, they can be removed (instead of just disabling them).
   • Dynamic lookup menus so that when the menu is opened in a specific view, the menu options are specific to the view that the user is currently in.
     
4. Welcome Page
   • A new view has been added into ACT! to help new users get up and running in ACT!. This new view has links to common start-up tasks in ACT! as well as many Help resources. The tasks in this new view are specific to user types in ACT!, so that non-Admins will not be shown admin-only tasks.
   • The new default view for all ACT! 2010 users is the Welcome Page. However, after closing ACT! 2010 for the first time, users will be prompted to change their default view.
     
5. ACT! E-marketing*
   • Added e-Marketing capability in ACT! so that users can access the functionally supplied by Swiftpage™ for marketing purposes and track the results in ACT!.
     
   
   *Requires additional subscription
6. Colour Schemes
   Allow users to choose their colour scheme for ACT! 2010 – either Sage Green or Sage Silver.
7. Web Info Tab
   • New tab in ACT! that allows users to see context-aware information from the internet in both their Contact and Company views. This tab will come with several ‘canned’ links as well as the ability for users to add links that are specific to their needs.
     
8. Remote Database Creation
   • The remote database creation panel has been modified to allow users to create up to 50 remote databases at one time.
     
9. Report View
   • New view in ACT! that displays all the reports saved to a Users’ database. In this view, users can specify “favourite” reports, run reports, edit reports and modify the descriptions of reports
     
10. New Reports
    • In ACT! 2010, there are 13 new default Opportunity reports included for all users.
      
      • Opportunities by Record Manager and Process
      • Opportunity Summary by Record Manager and Process
      • Opportunities by Process and Status
      • Opportunities by Estimated Closing Month
      • Won Opportunities and Days Open
      • Won Opportunity Summary by Sales Process
      • Won Opportunities by Sales Process and Competitor
      • Won Opportunities by Sales Process and Reason
      • Won Opportunities by Sales Process and Record Manager
      • Won Opportunities by Sales Process
      • Won Opportunities by Actual Closing Month
      • Pipeline Report by Sales Process and Stage
      • Pipeline Report and Products by Sales Process and Stage
11. New Dashboard Charts Components and Views
    • 12 new dashboard chart components and two standard new dashboard views have been added to ACT! 2010. The new default dashboard views are the ACT! Administrative Dashboard and the ACT! Contacts Dashboard.
      
      • Recently Created Contacts
      • Recently Edited Contact
      • Contact History Count by History Type
      • Contacts by Country
      • Contacts by Department
      • Opportunities Open by Product
      • Opportunities with Contact Info
      • Opportunities by Products
      • Opportunity Weighted Total by Stage
      • Remote Database Information by User
      • Remote Database Sync Status by User
      • User Status
    • The 12 new dashboard chart components all pull data from the ACT! database using the new OleDb 2.0 provider.
12. New OleDb Provider
    • A new OleDb provider (OleDb 2.0) has been provided in ACT! 2010 that gives users access to Group/Company memberships as well as Activity information
13. iCalendar Support
    • Users can send activity notifications via iCalendar format. If users have scheduled meetings with contacts who have an email address, they can select the item from the schedule activity dialog to “send invitation email” which will send an iCalendar object to the attendees.
    • With this feature, ACT! users who use both Outlook® and ACT! can also choose to create ACT! activities from Outlook meeting requests if they have ACT! and Outlook integration setup completed.
14. vCard export
    • User types “Admin” or “Manager” can export contact info in the form of vCard either by right clicking in the contact list view or using the “Send vCard” item from the Contacts menu.
15. Relationship dialog
    • Users now have the ability to resize the relationship dialog
16. Help
    • Help screen has been modified to use the same design as ACT! by Sage Premium for Web help screen.
17. Registration/Installation
    • Reduce the number of registration questions that users must complete when they register ACT! 2010.
    • Provide an automated answer file to assist in the silent install* process
      *Delivered as an MSI package. Software to distribute an MSI package is not included. Silent Activation on machines requires Internet access. Users must be machine administrators in order to activate.

Fixed Issues
Activities

• In previous releases, activities with multiple resources appear as separate activities on Task List. In ACT! 2010, they are listed as one activity.
• The right click menu or Activities Tab and Task List reads - Reschedule Activity3 instead of “Reschedule Activity”. This has been modified to read: “Reschedule Activity”
• 'Show Cleared' calendar preference is not sticking when selecting via right click/filter calendar. This preference is not sticking. This issue has been resolved.
• When using the “Copy Calendar” feature, bi-weekly reoccurring activities copy incorrectly to Outlook Calendar. This issue has been resolved.
• Using the 'Go to Contact' functionality brings up contact scheduled with another user's private activity. This issue has been resolved and private activities are no longer returned to users who do not have access to them.
• In the mini-calendar on the schedule activity dialog, the 'start time’ calendar un-readable when scheduling activities. This calendar has been modified so that users can see the actual start time on the calendar
• Activity details were deleted when the date for the Activity was changed. The details are no longer deleted.
• Activity detail tab color palette duplicates when choosing the color for the detail tab multiple times. The palette no longer duplicates.
• Removing attachment from activity causes object reference error and red X in task list. This issue has been resolved in ACT! 2010.

Contacts

• When sorting relationships by access level, record creator or record manager fields cause list to disappear. This issue has been resolved.
• In the Contact view on the activity tab, when using the filter drop downs, the drop down menus were truncated and the scroll bars were missing which would not allow users to scroll to all the items in the drop down menu. Scroll bars have been added to these drop down fields to allow for complete scrolling.
• When sorting the Contact list by certain secondary fields, ACT! freezes.

Conversion/Importing

• Cleared ACT 3.x, 4.x 5.x (2000) or 6.x (2004) activities were not being marked as cleared during conversion. In ACT! 2010, they are not being cleared during conversion.
• The Update Database prompt gave no option to cancel. An option to cancel has been added.
• Converting a 6.x (2004) database changes the create date for records to today. When users convert in ACT! 2010, the create date is preserved from the 6.x (2004) database.
• Error "Define Fields encountered an unexpected error and has logged the issue" after editing a field if the dashboard is viewed first. This error no longer exists.

Layouts

• When “display country code” preferences was enabled in the contact detail view, phone numbers disappear. The default layout fields have been expanded to accommodate the extra data.

Printing

• Weekly calendar print view in Letter Full Page showed the start day in the upper left hand corner is the same as the end day for the week. It now shows the first and last day as range in header like all other weekly prints.
• Avery ^® label 5164 was missing. This label type has been added back in.

Reporting

• User specific filters defined in a report template are not respected. This issue has been resolved.
• Group reports are blank when the user selects the option to include all sub-groups for selected groups. This issues has been resolved. This issue has been resolved.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by sage,ACT! 2010,ACT2010

Handheld Contact computer application release for ACT! 2009, 2008, and 2007

Handheld Contact is pleased to announce an update to the computer console for Handheld Contact for ACT!.

This update of the Handheld Contact computer console is optimized for even better performance when the Handheld Contact computer console has more than 150 users sync ACT! to their phones. "We wanted to improve the performance of Handheld Contact for larger customer installations and enterprise users," says J2X Technologies President and Handheld Contact General Manager Wes Worsfold. "This release v2.1.16.0 increases the number of connections to ACT! allowing larger customer installations to sync more users, more quickly. We recommend customers with more than 100 users to implement this upgrade."

Note for upgrading: Please visit the HHC Downloads Page, select your version of ACT!, and download and run the 'Handheld Contact ACT! Computer Application' to upgrade to the latest version of Handheld Contact.

Handheld Contact is the leading product to sync data from ACT! by Sage to Blackberry and Windows Mobile Phones

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,Handheld Contact,HHC,Blackberry,Windows Mobile

Sage eSummit 2.0 – ACT! by Sage Agenda

Sage Business Solutions Australia is presenting their 2nd ACT! eSummit

Wednesday 12th August 2009

To see the recording of the webinar, click here

Title	Presenter	Description	Time
Sage Marketplace	Mike Lorge, MD, Sage Business Solutions	As the leading provider of business software for small to medium businesses, Sage has a range of solutions that can automate all areas of your business, including finance, warehousing, ecommerce, distribution etc. This short session will provide a brief overview of the complete range of solution offerings provided by Sage.	10.00 am - 10.15 am
Driving Revenue & Reducing Costs with Email Marketing	Bob Ogdon, Swiftpage	This session highlights a range of effective tips to make your email marketing campaigns easy, powerful, and cost effective.  Learn how Swiftpage, an integrated email marketing and Sales Force Automation solution for ACT! by Sage, allows you to deliver marketing messages to the right contacts at the right time directly from your ACT! database.	10.20 am - 10.35 am
Personalising ACT!	Allen Duet, Global CRM	Check out some of the awesome ACT! plug ins available to you on Devnet. This session will showcase how you can customise ACT! with some of these free plugins that work with the latest version. If you've always wanted to pimp your ACT!, this is a session you can't miss.	10.40 am - 10.55 am
Anywhere and Everywhere with ACT!	Mike Lazarus, GL Computing	Handheld Contact for ACT! allows you to take your ACT! database anywhere and access it from a mobile device such as a Blackberry,  Pocket PC, or Treo Smartphone . Learn how this ACT! mobility solution can increase the productivity of your mobile sales force and field force agents, while keeping them connected and up to date with company and customer records.  By providing simple, easy access to information through wireless devices you can greatly improve the level of service you deliver to your customers.	11.00 am - 11.15 am
Reduce Costs through Accounting Integration with MYOB	Josh Noonan, Red Onion Software	This session will highlight the benefits of integrating ACT! with your accounting system;, including:• Increased efficiency by streamlining workflows between accounts and front office staff• Increased sales opportunities by Integrating essential client information between ACT! and your accounting systems• Allow sales staff to monitor and manage customer credit• Eliminate dual entry of customer information • The complete solution for optimising workflow and increasing operating efficiency	11.20 am - 11.35 am
SMS Marketing with ACT!	Michael Bryant, ACT! Certified Consultant	SMS4ACT allows you to make sure your appointments are confirmed by sending SMS to your customers or contacts straight out of ACT!, this way you can ensure that your communication gets to the person and not caught up in the junk mail.  You can also conduct SMS Marketing to your database and letting them about an upcoming specials or events.  Improve the effectiveness of your communication through SMS, all the while tracking these communications against the contacts in ACT!	11.40 am - 11.55 am

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Sage,Handheld Contact,Blackberry,Pocket PC,MYOB

Thoughts on ACT! 2010 beta (#ACT2010) - The good, the bad and the ugly

There have been a number of posts from people on ACT! 2010 (due soon) and as we at GL Computing have been running our production data on the new version for a while, I thought I would posts my thoughts on it so far. Here is a list of what’s new in the up-coming build.

Here is the ACT! by Sage Version Comparison Chart - Compare your version to ACT! by Sage 2010

Note: The following are my personal views on the beta and features may change in the release.

• Welcome Screen – A start-up screen displaying useful help links. This will be nice for new and upgrading users to learn the new functions quickly
• New Look and Navigation
  • While the left-hand Nav bar has some nice functions (Quick Lookup and a context-sensitive list of Related Tasks), it’s less customisable than previous versions and doesn’t allow adding of direct links to the List views or the different calendars.
  • The Top icon ribbon is too large and takes up valuable screen real-estate for little value.

• Customisable Opportunities – these have been given a major overhaul including:
  • The ability to add custom fields to both the opportunity and to the products and services table
  • Personalise the layout of the opportunity like the Contacts, Groups, Companies layouts
  • Track activities, history, notes, documents and other items tied to the opportunity
  • New reports and more security options

• Web 2.0 Technologies – this is a nicer version of the free Contact Web Context Browser
  • See your contacts’ information on a variety of Social Media and other sites, such as: LinkedIN, Facebook, Plaxo, MySpace, their web site, Google, Google Maps, Google News, Yahoo and others. It also allows you to create your own links.
  • Noticeably missing from the default list is Twitter, although it’s very easy to add.
  • For the Social Media sites, the links are just a search based on standard fields. To really work, this function needs to be able to enter a direct link for the contact (once found) to a “system field” and then use this link. If nothing in the field, then revert to the search. In a similar way to how Xobni does for Outlook
  • Additionally, there is no way to store specific “status updates” to these sites to a history or to view a combined feed for a company or group.
  • There is no way to update ACT! contact information from these sites (or at least highlight when they are different), which would be a nice option, especially from sites like LinkedIN.
  • Finally, there should be an ability to post updates from ACT! to the Social Media sites and store the posts in ACT! – this would allow a company to report on and review posts made by staff across multiple sites
  • I had previously posted some of these ideas in this blog post:
    http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/03/act-by-sage-and-social-media-social-crm.html

• E-Marketing – Swiftpage has been incorporated out-of-the box to provide:
  • Better mass/merged emails
  • Survey and web forms
  • Drip marketing
• Reports and Dashboard Components
  • There have been many new reports and nice report selector with option to select favourites – it would be nice if the Favourite Reports were added to the Reports menu, even to a sub-menu.
  • The Dashboard has some new components, including a Data chart (like the previously available Data Chart control) and a Facebook Friends List.
• More Integration
  • The ability to email activity invitations in iCal format (a function missing since ACT! 6.0 had vCal) to users of Outlook, Gmail, Apple iCal, Windows Live, Facebook, GroupWise or Lotus Notes
  • Create an ACT! activity when you accept an iCal meeting request in Outlook
  • Share contacts with the vCard format. Also a nice addition missing since ACT! 6.0
• Administration
  • Create up to 50 remote database simultaneously for easy roll-out of larger sync implementations
  • Support global environments by being able to set the currency when creating the database and allowing different international versions to share the database
  • New Admin Dashboard to see user information, logon and sync status and more.
• Platform support – including SQL 2005 64 bit and SQL 2008 with Premium and Corporate.
  • For a full list of supported platforms, see the ACT! 2010 System Requirements
  • Update: Windows 7 is now fully supported with ACT! 2010

Sage have obviously been very busy over the past year and there are also, as one would expect, many more enhancements and improvements that will improve your ability to use ACT! to assist your business.

Overall, this is been a good beta. The product has been very stable and there is much to entice current users to upgrade, especially the opportunities area. However, I think some of the new functions could have been implemented to provide a better use of the product (the navigation) or more power (Web 2.0 Tab) 

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT,ACT 2010,ACT!2010,CRM,SCRM,Sage,Facebook,LinkedIN,Social Media,Twitter,Beta,Swiftpage

ACT! 2009 11.1 Hot Fix 2 Released.

Who Should Install This Hot Fix
Hot Fix 2 for ACT! version 11.1 may resolve your issues if:

• You are using the ACT! for Web Client and see an error message when attempting to open an attachment that has a Microsoft® Office extension (such as .doc, .xls, and so forth.)
• You are an ACT! for Web user who has installed 11.1 Hot Fix 1 and sees a deterioration in the speed ACT! List View information is updated.
• You are experiencing compatibility issues with eGrabber or other 3rd party products.
• You are seeing date/time on template names after a database synchronization when there isn’t any file conflict.
• You are an ACT! for Windows® or ACT! for Web user seeing a "No records found" message after sorting on a custom field in the Contact, Group, or Company List view.
• You are upgrading from any of the following versions of ACT!: 3.x, 4.x, 5.x (2000) or 6.x (2004) to an International English version of 11.1, and have not yet converted your database.
• You are an ACT! Premium for Web user and all of your activities do not appear in the task list.
• You are an ACT! Premium for Web user and have problems loading list views.

The following table list the areas affected by the hot fix, description, and the effect of the hot fix for each known issue.

New in Hot Fix 2

Area	Description	What the Fix Does
Attachments	ACT! for Web users operating in an environment that uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) are unable to open an attachment if it has a Microsoft Office extension such as .doc or .xls.	Enables users to open Microsoft Office documents in a SSL environment.
Performance	ACT! for Web users find that List View information updates slowly after 11.1 Hot Fix 1 has been installed.	Removes the performance degradation.

Fixed in Hot Fix 1

Area	Description	What the Fix Does
Contact Records	In databases upgraded from version 3.x, 4.x, 5.x (2000) or 6.x (2004), the create date on Contact records changes to the current date instead of retaining the original create date.	Prevents the create date from being changed if the hot fix is applied before the database is converted.
Column and spillover tables	Error Message "No records found" displays when the user sorts on a field.	When the user sorts on a field, the sort displays the correct data.
Synchronization	File synchronization is adding a date/time stamp to file names, even when there is no conflict.	Layouts, queries, and reports will not be renamed after synchronizing.
ACT! for Web list views	If the user has more than 10 activities, all may not appear in the task list. Also, the loading icon remains on the screen.	Allows the correct number of records to be shown in the list views.
SDK	SDK 11.1exceptions resulted in third party programs encountering errors.	Ensures compatibility with eGrabber and other 3rd party products.

For more information, refer to the ACT! KB25056

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage

New Subgroups for ACT! Fanatics on LinkedIN

New sub-groups have been created under the LinkedIn ACT! Fanatics Group:

• Sales and Marketing for ACT! users
  A group to discuss general sales and marketing strategies and processes, especially as they apply to users of ACT! by Sage

• ACT! and Social Media
  A group to discuss ACT! and Social Media (Social CRM) - LinkedIN, Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo and any others

• ACT! Add-ons
  Group for ACT! users to ask questions of add-on vendors and for add-on vendors to ask users what they would like or to ask each other questions related to the SDK

• ACT! Resellers
  A group for ACT! Certified Consultants and other resellers to discuss best practices for selling, implementing and supporting ACT! by Sage

• ACT! International Advisory Council
  Council of ACT! Fanatics to discuss and evaluate technical issues within ACT! by Sage that effect international users

See the full list in the ACT! Fanatics Sub-groups

Please let me know if you have any ideas for other groups that would be useful to add

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,LinkedIN

Handheld Contact Announces New Editions including a free sync service

The guys over at Handheld Contact have been busy working on new wireless syncing solutions for ACT! and they have just announced Entry and Basic Editions for Windows Mobile smart phones and Pocket PC.

Handheld Contact is known as the best solution for wirelessly syncing information between ACT! by Sage and Blackberry or Windows Mobile smart phones. It's easy, convenient, secure, and makes any ACT! user more productive.

Unlike the current version of Handheld Contact (now renamed Handheld Contact Professional), these new versions sync ACT! Contacts and Calendar (Basic Edition only) to the contact list and calendar on the phone – all wirelessly, no cables. Here are a few details:

Handheld Contact Entry Edition:
This version is free!
It limits syncing to once per day, syncs ACT! Contacts only and operates on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ support plan.

Handheld Contact Basic Edition:
This version syncs ACT! Contacts and Calendar, includes unlimited syncs and is fully supported.

Both products are certified by Microsoft’s Mobile2Market program and independently tested by NSTL and guaranteed not to create duplicate contacts or calendar entries in ACT!

Discover which edition of Handheld Contact is perfect for you.

Versions that support BlackBerry smart phones are expected later this year.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Handheld Contact,Pocket PC,Windows Mobile,Smartphone,wireless

Connecting to ACT! by Sage data

A brief PowerPoint covering the different options to export and import data from ACT! by Sage.

Connecting To Act! By Sage

View more documents from Mike Lazarus.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Import,Export,Data,SQL,OLEDB,ODBC

New Handheld Contact Consoles

New versions of the HHC console have been released. Here are the release notes.

Version 2.1.15.0

• Fixed a syncing problem that would occur if one users account was disabled.  Now disabled accounts set to sync will not interrupt syncing for other users.
• Fixed a syncing problem with Private Data being sent to the handheld when the Sync Private Data checkbox was unchecked. Now, if the checkbox is unchecked Private Data will not be sent.
• Fixed a problem with creating the auto-sync group if the computer's time was set to a 2 digit year instead of a 4 digit year. Now, the auto-sync group will be created regardless of the Date/Time settings.
• Fixed a rare problem with the middleware server not sending data to the desktop console.  Now the desktop console will continue to request the data until the middleware has responded.
• Increased the maximum number of contacts that can sync to BlackBerry and Windows Mobile - Handheld Contact for BlackBerry can now sync 3000 contacts and Handheld Contact for Windows Mobile can now sync 15000 contacts!
  Note: 15,000 contacts for Windows Mobile is only available for ACT! 2008/2009

Technorati Tags: Handheld Contact,Blackberry,Windows Mobile,Pocket PC,ACT!,ACT,ACT! by Sage,CRM,Mobile CRM

Register Now for the ACT! by Sage Premium for Web 2010 Beta!

The newly designed ACT! 2010 delivers instant knowledge about your customers using Web 2.0 technology, ability to generate actionable demand with end-to-end e-marketing, customizable opportunities, insight into your biggest opportunities with new reports and dashboards, and more!

Be among the first to receive ACT! Premium for Web 2010. All you need to do is complete participation in the ACT! Premium for Web 2010 Beta Testing Program scheduled in July and you'll be eligible to receive a free license of ACT! Premium for Web 2010 (Savings based on current MSRP). To get started, simply set up your profile on ACT.com (if you don't already have one) and complete your online participation application for the ACT! Premium for Web 2010 Beta Program.

To ensure your system meets the minimum system requirements for this new product, please click here and review the new system requirements prior to registering for the program. If you qualify and are accepted into the program, you'll be notified by e-mail in early July. Your acceptance e-mail will include program details, testing guidelines, and access to the software.

Prior to obtaining the software, you will need to sign a Beta Test License Agreement that contains strict confidentiality terms. Please read the important information below that outlines the terms and conditions of participation in the ACT! 2010 Beta Program.

As a product evaluator, your active participation and feedback will help make this great product even better.

For more information, see this post.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! 2010,ACT,Beta

Improve calendar performance in ACT! and other applications

Microsoft have a hotfix for Windows systems that will improve application that uses UTC dates and times - including Outlook, the Windows Event Viewer and many third-party applications.

Most date and time stamps that are created and displayed in Windows and in many applications are stored as UTC. Then, they are rendered in local time by using system APIs. Examples of these include Windows file time stamps, Outlook sent and received dates, and event logging time stamps.

Not all built-in, Windows-based applications use these newly updated APIs. However, they are available to all applications, including third-party applications. These functions are useful in many scenarios, such as a user auditing scenario in which the ability to use DST rules for previous years on a current Windows service pack is important.

Generally, if an application requires historically accurate time stamps, these functions should be used.
This update improves the performance of the functions, and enables historically accurate time-stamp lookup functionality where the application uses these APIs

Tests that have been conducted with an ACT! by Sage database have found loading 16,000 activities reduced in time from 4 minutes to 9 seconds!

The update applies to the following Windows operating systems:

• Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)
• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• Windows Server 2008

You can read more about this update and obtain it from this Microsoft knowledge base article: Description of updates to APIs that enable Windows-based applications to retrieve historically accurate time stamps

If you download it, feel free to post here with any tests to verify improvements.

* With thanks to Sage’s Benjamin Lederer for directing me to this.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,Outlook,Performance,Windows

Register now for the ACT! 2010 beta

The newly designed ACT! 2010 delivers instant knowledge about your customers using Web 2.0 technology, ability to generate actionable demand with end-to-end e-marketing*, customizable opportunities, insight into your biggest opportunities with new reports and dashboards, and more!

Be among the first to preview ACT! 2010. All you need to do is complete participation in the ACT! 2010 Beta Testing Program scheduled at the end of June and you'll be eligible to receive a single-user license of either ACT! by Sage or ACT! by Sage Premium at no cost to you (Savings based on current MSRP).

To register for the Beta, simply set up your profile on ACT.com (if you don't already have one) and complete your online participation application for the ACT! 2010 Beta Program.

To ensure your system meets the minimum system requirements for this new product, please click here and review the ACT! 2010 system requirements prior to registering for the program. If you qualify and are accepted into the program, you'll be notified by e-mail at the end of June. Your acceptance e-mail will include program details, testing guidelines, and access to the beta software.

Prior to obtaining the software, you will need to sign a Beta Test License Agreement that contains strict confidentiality terms. Please read the important information below that outlines the terms and conditions of participation in the ACT! 2010 Beta Program.

As a product evaluator, your active participation and feedback will help make this great product even better.

Also, look for the ACT! by Sage Premium for Web 2010 Beta Testing Program coming soon.

More details at the ACT! Community Site, including terms and Conditions.

Technorati Tags: ACT! 2010,Beta,Sage,CRM

Using ACT! Internet Mail client with non-standard ports

It has been an issue for some years that some ISPs have been changing to non-standard ports for SMTP (usually 25) and POP3 (usually 110). This is to provide some added protection against spam and hackers.

For ACT! users, this has usually meant having to use Outlook or Outlook Express as the ACT! Internet Mail email client doesn’t support changing these ports.

While most users who have access to Microsoft Outlook prefer this as the best email client for ACT! (even more so with the current versions that integrate more tightly into Outlook), not all users have it available.

Outlook Express has other issues – no HTML email and it’s not available in Microsoft’s Windows Vista.

For those caught in this position, there is an option. You need to use port redirector software so that you can call port 25 or 110 on the local machine (or network server) and have it redirected to the port the ISP is using on their mail server.

One such product to try for this is Steel Bytes' PortTunnel.

• Set the In port to be 25 (for SMTP) or 110 (for POP3) – you may not need both
• For each, set the Out traffic to the port and target that your mail server requires
• Then tell ACT!’s Email client to use the machine with the service (127.0.0.1 if on the local machine)

Give it a try and post a comment if it helps you.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,email,TCP/IP,port

First Certified ACT! by Sage SAGE

Experts-Exchange has given the first Sage Certification in their ACT! Zone to Mike Lazarus of GL Computing, who also won their annual Titan Award

According to Experts-Exchange, “The Experts Exchange Sage is celebrated for his or her vast wisdom, unfaltering judgment and years of experience. In the way that Obi-Wan Kenobi guided Luke Skywalker to Jedi awesomeness, the Experts Exchange Sage selflessly strives to lead all members to their maximum information technology potential.”

It is novel that this, the highest certification to be awarded so far in the ACT! Zone, make’s Mike the first Certified ACT! by Sage Sage.

Mike is also Sage’s ACT! Community Leader and the leading poster in many ACT! forums including those on itToolbox and Tek-Tips

Technorati Tags: Experts-Exchange,ACT!,ACT,ACT! by Sage,Sage

How to Get Faster Technical Support for ACT! by Sage

As most of my regular readers and followers know, I do a lot of on-line technical support as well as providing support services to our resellers and ACT! Certified Consultants and one of the things I notice is that I regularly need to ask users the same questions to diagnose the problem and provide a solution.

This means that the support person’s time is spent asking these and so the incident takes longer to resolve and get the user up and running. So, I thought I would provide a basic list of items to include to help any support technician resolve an incident faster.

When asking for support via email or an on-line site, it’s much easier if you write your query and necessary information in short points rather than large paragraphs. They are easier to read and respond to. Also, if asking about multiple, unrelated issues, it’s often better to do each one separately.

I will probably update this list as other common items come to mind.

Not all of these will be relevant to all support calls, but the more you provide the more likely you’ll get a faster solution.
If running on a LAN, supply any relevant items for both workstation AND server.
While these are targeted for support of ACT! by Sage, many are applicable for other software products also.

Should Have:

These items are usually necessary for any incident:

• Include the full version and build of the software. This is usually found under Help | About
  It is worth-while checking to see if there is an updated version available and, if so, applying it.
  Remember that every ACT! system sharing a database MUST be of the same build and Hotfix.
  If running a Premium version with a sync server, this includes the sync server.
  If related to ACT! connecting to a Microsoft Office product, also include the version for Office.
• Include the operating system – also note the service pack and if it’s 32-bit or 64-bit
  In Microsoft Windows, you can find this by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Properties
• If you have an error message, include the full error.
  Hint: If sending the error via email or posting to a web site, don’t do this via a screen shot.
  For most Windows software, this is most easily done by clicking on the error box and pressing Ctrl-C.
  Then going to the email or web post and pressing Ctrl-V.
  This means you get the full error without having to re-type it and the technician can copy directly from it into any search engine they might need to access for information.
• If you still think a screen shot will help to convey the problem, don’t paste it into Word.
  Open MS-Paint (usually in Programs | Accessories), paste it there and then Save As a JPG file.
  This makes the file smaller in size and easier for the technician to read.
• If you can replicate the problem, include the EXACT steps you take.
  Identify what you expected to happen and what actually happens.
• Did you first notice problem after an update to ACT!, Windows or anything else on your system?
• Do you regard yourself as technical or not?
  This will help a good technician provide support at the right level for you.

Consider Adding:

Which items from the following list are necessary will depend on the type of problem you have:

• Include hardware specs like RAM, Processor and, if known, Hard Drive speed (in RPM)
• Include database specs like number of contacts and file size
• If the problem is related to emailing from ACT!, include the email client you are using:
  Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Notes, Eudora, Internet Mail (POP3/SMTP) – include the version
• If running any add-ons or plugins for ACT!, name them if they might be related (or if not sure)
• If for an issue with a PDA or Smart Phone, include the operating system and version
• What brand of anti-virus or firewall are you running?
• If your problem causes a crash or other error, see if there is anything logged in the Windows Event Viewer or ACT!’s logs. For instructions to do this, see: Tools for Viewing Error Logs
• If the problems seems database specific, have you tried to repair it? For instructions, see either of: ACT! by Sage Database Rebuild and Repair Procedures or ACT! 5.0 or 6.0 Database Repair Options

What Have You Tried:

You should also include anything you might have tried to resolve the problem. Some items you might try doing, depending on the type of problem could include:

• Have you checked the ACT! Knowledge Base?
  This should be your first port of call as finding an answer there will take less time and get you up and running faster, especially for common questions and errors.
• Does the problem happen with another database? Try opening the demo database and testing.
  Hint: The login user for the ACT! demo database is “Chris Huffman” with no password
• If running on a multi-user database or network:
  Does the problem happen when logged into ACT! as a different user or from a different workstation?
• If related to a template, report or layout, does it happen with other files?
• If a connection issue, have you tried disabling the firewall and anti-virus for a test?

Other Tips:

Remember that the best and fastest support option for ACT! by Sage is by working with an ACT! Certified Consultant. They are not only well trained, but can personalise their support to better suit your specific needs and can look at your environment and business needs to suggest improvements in ACT!’s operation, design and usefulness to your business

If you don’t need an answer urgently and are more technically capable, these are some useful on-line forums that you can get peer-based support: ACT! Community Site, Experts-Exchange and itToolbox

For better web searching of ACT! related information, links to support and other useful sites as well as updates on ACT!, please download the ACT! Fanatics Toolbar

If you are on LinkedIN, I also recommend joining the ACT! Fanatics Group

Please feel free to add a comment with any suggestions you might have to improve this list.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,ACC,Consultant,Sage,Support,Technical Support

New ACT! by Sage YouTube Channel

Sage has created a channel on YouTube where they have started posting videos. At this time, there are some nice case-study and user interviews.

I’m not sure what the plans are for this channel, but hopefully they’ll add more product demonstration and basic training videos like the ones I linked in this previous blog post - Free ACT! by Sage video training.

For now, have a look at these: http://www.youtube.com/user/ACTbySAGE

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,Videos,CRM

Connecting the Pieces of Social Media

This is a first version of a new presentation I’m working on to help businesses get into social media. As uses of CRM products realise the volume of business intelligence that can be gained from these technologies, the vendors will move to incorporate them into the products.

Having access to the information in community forums, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIN and Twitter is powerful both for gaining information about customers and products as well as providing information to the market, reviewing and protecting the reputation of your brand.

Connecting the Pieces of Social Media

View more presentations from Mike Lazarus.

Please feel free to add any comments or suggestions that you would like added.

Technorati Tags: Social Media,Twitter,FaceBook,Blogs,Social CRM,CRM

Social Media -- Marketing “Campaigns” or Collaborations

This is a reply to a post on the ACT! Leadership Blog

It seems to be a common error that those new to social media make... they want to know how it will help in sales or marketing, but it's neither of these.

I think it's really important to note that with Social Media, you need to look at ROI as Return on Involvement.... but there doesn't seem to be a way to determine the success metrics. Maybe Google or some other innovator will design a way to compare good comments Vs bad ones?

However, this is where the new wave of consumers are looking for their information as I discussed in this previous blog post. Additionally, you can't set up accounts on these sites and hope it will help you.

It's necessary to actually be involved and engage with your contacts in a way many companies are uncomfortable with. The need to reply quickly and personally can be seen as anathema to organisations used to having their marketing message cleared by several levels of management and the legal department. There is the justifiable fear that confidential content may be (intentionally or not) released prematurely.

On the other hand, it may result in these organisations having to become more nimble and responsive to issues raised by consumers to prevent a viral PR headache. An example of this was shown recently when a user had spent over a month getting delays with a mortgage from an Australian Bank. After a post on Twitter, she was contacted in just over an hour by a senior manager who offered to help in resolving the issue. Personally, I have experienced similar benefit when I had an issue with my ISP and a post on Twitter was acted on faster than calls to their support centre.

It is good to see large companies that are typically conservative like Sage working to embrace this new media – both in utilising it for bi-directional communications and in encouraging open discussions with users to request suggestions in how to best incorporate these technologies in their products. This has involved a cultural change that I believe has been very positive for Sage’s partners and users.

If there is truth to the proverbial curse “may you live in interesting times”, I’d say they are here.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,Sage,CRM,Social Media,SCRM

ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.1) Hot Fix 1 – available now

From ACT! Knowledge Base Article 24343

This Hot fix now replaced by ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.1) Hot Fix 2

This documentation describes Hot Fix 1 (11.1.) for the following versions.

• ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.1)
• ACT! by Sage Premium 2009 (11.1)
• ACT! by Sage Premium for Web 2009 (11.1)
• ACT! by Sage for Real Estate 11.1
• ACT! by Sage Premium for Real Estate 11.1
• ACT! by Sage for Financial Professionals 11.1
• ACT! by Sage Premium for Financial Professionals 11.1
• ACT! by Sage Network Sync 11.1
• ACT! by Sage Internet Sync 11.1

Do not apply this hot fix to any other versions or products. This hot fix applies to all international English locales.

---

NOTE: To determine the version of the product you are using, see the version number in the Help About box. After the hot fix has been installed, the version number will read "11.1.183.0 Hot Fix 1".

---

Verify Your Version of ACT!:
Use the following steps to determine your installed version of ACT!:

1. Launch ACT!
2. Click the Help menu, and then click About ACT!.
3. The About ACT! dialog box appears. The version number appears near the top of this box.

Who Should Install This Hot Fix
Hot Fix 1 for ACT! version 11.1 may resolve your issues if:

• You are experiencing compatibility issues with eGrabber or other 3rd party products.
• You are seeing date/time on template names after a database synchronization when there isn't any file conflict.
• You are an ACT! for Windows® or ACT! for Web user seeing a "No records found" message after sorting on a custom filed in the Contact, Group, or Company List view.
• You are upgrading from any of the following versions of ACT!: 3.x, 4.x, 5.x (2000) or 6.x (2004) to an International English version of 11.1, and have not yet converted your database.
• You are an ACT! Premium for Web user and all of your activities do not appear in the task list.
• You are an ACT! Premium for Web user and have problems loading list views.

If you are using version 11.0 and have recently performed an ACT! Update, check your Help About box. You may already have this hot fix installed.
If you are already using ACT! 11.1, AFRE 11, or AFFP 11, you must manually install this hot fix by following the steps in this document.
The following table list the areas affected by the hot fix, description, and the effect of the hot fix for each known issue.

Area	Description	What the Fix Does
Contact Records	In databases upgraded from version 3.x, 4.x, 5.x (2000) or 6.x (2004), the create date on Contact records changes to the current date instead of retaining the original create date.	Prevents the create date from being changed if the hot fix is applied before the database is converted
Column and spillover tables	Error Message "No records found" displays when the user sorts on a field.	When the user sorts on a field, the sort displays the correct data.
Synchronization	File synchronization is adding a date/time stamp to file names, even when there is no conflict.	Layouts, queries, and reports will not be renamed after synchronizing.
ACT! for Web list views	If the user has more than 10 activities, all may not appear in the task list. Also, the loading icon remains on the screen	Allows the correct number of records to be shown in the list views.
SDK	SDK 11.1exceptions resulted in third party programs encountering errors	Ensures compatibility with eGrabber and other 3rd party products.

---

Applying the Hot Fix 1 for 11.1
This hot fix requires version 11.1. Do not apply this hot fix to any other version of ACT!. To determine the version of the product you are using, see the version number in the Help About box. After the hot fix has been installed, the version number will read "11/1.183.0 Hot Fix 1".
Apply this hot fix to all machines that share a database to avoid issues surrounding renaming layouts, queries, and reports. This is especially important if your environment includes synchronization.

---

Caution: If you are upgrading from any of the following versions of ACT! : 3.x, 4.x, 5.x (2000) or 6.x (2004), you must apply this hot fix before converting your database.

---

1. Log onto to your computer as an Administrator.
2. Copy the hot fix to your computer.
3. Close ACT! and all Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, and/or Outlook).
4. Click the ACT1110HotFix.exe file. The Unpacking ACT! progress indicator briefly appears followed by the Disclaimer dialog box.
   
5. Review the disclaimer, and then click Apply.
6. The installer verifies your Windows rights and ensures that no open programs will conflict with the hot fix installation. If any of these conditions exist, the appropriate message will appear. Please follow the on screen instructions.
7. The ACT! - Applying Updates window appears while the hot fix is being installed.
8. When finished the ACT! dialog box appears.
   
9. Click Ok to complete the installation.
10. For all Windows Vista® users with UAC enabled, you will see a Program Compatibility Assistant dialog box. Click This program installed correctly to complete the installation.

Verify the Hot Fix Has Been Applied Correctly:
Use the following steps to verify that the ACT1110HotFix.exe was applied correctly:

1. Launch ACT!
2. Click the Help menu, and then click About ACT!.
3. The About ACT! dialog box appears. The version number at the top of the dialog box should read "11.1.183.0 Hot Fix 1".
   

Changes To Your Installation
    Installing hot fix 1 applies to the following files.

Network Sync Server
The following assemblies are updated:
• Act.Data.Resources
• Act.Framework.dll
• Act.Framework.Synchronization.Service.UI

3.x, 4.x, 5.x (2000), 6.x (2004) Conversion
The following assembly is updated:
• Act.UI.Designer.Conversion.dll

Internet Sync Server
The following assemblies are updated:
• Act.Data.Resources.dll
• Act.Framework.dll

AFFP and AFRE
The following assembly is updated:
• Vertical.Framework.dll

ACT! for Web
The following assemblies are updated:
• Act.Web.Framework.dll
• Act.Web.dll
• Act.Web.Controls.dll

Social Media and Your Brand

This post is a response to a post on Sage’s ACT! Leadership Blog

The question was: How do you protect the value of your brand when "the creation of value is in the eyes of the consumers?"

Every product will have unhappy users or even competitors posting on-line about them. This is unavoidable, if you don't have any problems, either the product does nothing or you don't have very many users :-)

The most important focus in the current market is for the vendor to properly engage and respond to their users. The number of complaining ACT! consumers has dropped since Sage North America has started talking to their users via their Community Site – something I blogged about previously

The new wave of consumers, the "Millennial generation" (born 1982-2002), are starting to be a larger percentage of the market. But they are much more likely to look for product information and references from on-site forums than vendor sites. The power of communications is in the control of these users and it is necessary to realise this in-order to attract, serve and retain users in this new market.

In these times of social media, it is necessary to meet the user base where they choose, not  simply hope they will come to you. It also requires doing regular searches of the most common sites (like Twitter) for comments (positive or negative) and actually respond to show that they are being listened to.

With the global effect of the internet not fitting into the regionalisation that Sage's corporate structure uses, it is also necessary to encourage the regional OpCos to step up... to take part on this site, to create their own blogs and Twitter accounts. I have been speaking to Aldo in the Sage AU office about providing them some training in social media and helping them get up to speed with efficient ways to utilise these technologies. But they don't always have the resources necessary. Maybe this is one area that Sage Global can assist the regions in?

These steps should not just be looked at to "protect the brand" but, if done correctly, they can be a significant step in enhancing that brand.

This view has additional implications for Sage. As users of their three CRM products (ACT!, SageCRM and SalesLogix) their own user base will be looking for leadership in this area from Sage. It has certainly been positive to hear that Sage is working at integrating social media into the products so that their users will be able to better monitor and enhance their own brand’s reputation in the market.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,Sage,CRM,Social Media,SCRM

Updated: New GL Computing ACT! Fanatics Toolbar

In our desire to further support and add value to the ACT! Community, we’ve added this new toolbar that you can install into Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Please click on this tool bar to add it to your browser:

We will be updating it with additional content over time, so please add Comments with anything you’d like added or changed.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,Toolbar,Browser,Explorer,Firefox

Updated: Getting the table structure and links from ACT! by Sage with Visio 2007

For some advanced reporting functions, you may want to figure out how all the tables in an ACT! database link together. Here is a quite powerful method to do that.

Note: This requires the ACTReader utility, which is now included with ACT! by Sage Premium 2009 11.1. If you have an earlier Premium version of ACT! (2005-2009), the Actreader is now downloadable from the ACT! Knowledgebase Article 22989. I do not think it will work with non-Premium versions.

If you have ACT! 2009, you should start by reading ACTDataDictionaryDocument.rtf. This is usually in the folder: “C:\Program Files\ACT\Act for Windows”. This will explain the content of the tables and fields.

You must be on the machine hosting the ACT! database (the server)

1. First you need to use the ActReader.exe utility to set the password:
   1. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the ACT! program directory (usually: “C:\Program Files\ACT\Act for Windows”. If using ACT! Premium for Web, then replace "Act for Windows" with "Act for Web" in the path.
   2. Locate the file ActReader.exe and double-click on it.
   3. You will get an ACT! Reader dialog box with a current password and the choice to change the password. If you do not know the current password, then create a new one and click Reset.
      You will use this password to set up the ODBC connection with ACT! Reader.
2. Create an ODBC connection for your database as per ACT! Knowledgebase Article 22989
3. Open Visio 2007 (this may work in previous versions, but I haven’t tried it)
4. Select: File | New | Software and Database | Database Model Diagram
5. Select: Database | Reverse Engineer
6. Select Microsoft SQL Server and the ODBC Database Source you created in step 2
   
7. Click Next
8. Connect to the Data Source with User: “ACTREADER” and the password you set in Step 1.
9. Select the Object Types you want to include
   
10. Select the Tables and Views you want to include – use the ACTDataDictionaryDocument.rtf to determine which you need.
    
11. Select to add the shapes
12. Click Finish.

Depending on your selections and the specs of your machine, this may take a bit of time, but you should then have a nice document with a visual view of the ACT! database structure. This can be exported to various formats available in Visio.

Here is an example image (click on image for a larger version):

If you find this useful, please post a comment to this blog and share how you’re using it.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! 2009,ACT! by Sage,CRM,database,Visio

Using Conditional Controls in ACT! Templates

Copied with permission from Linda Keating of JL Technical

[Note: This article is for a very advanced user. This is a great concept, but it may take a bit of trial and error on your part to get it to work properly. If you don’t have a good understanding of how Word’s Field Codes work you may want to invite an ACT! Certified Consultant to help you with this.]

How often have you had this thought: Wouldn’t it be great if I could use the same template to print letters that inserted custom text in the letter depending upon the value that appeared in an ACT! field. This would spare you the need of performing repetitive look-ups and mail merges.

If you set up your ACT! Word template properly, you can! Here’s an example.

A Sample Application

Let’s say you are running a fund-raising campaign and wanted to send out different letters to your individual and corporate donors. A third letter would go to your volunteers. You could perform three separate lookups and then print a separate letter to the individuals, the corporations, and the volunteers.

But here’s an easier way: Create an ACT! field called Donor Types and categorize each contact. Then perform a mail merge and let Word select which letter goes to each contact based upon the value in the Donor Type field.

This is how you set up your template so you’ll be able to print all three types of letters during a single mail merge.

Setting Up ACT!

First, you’ll need to create a new ACT! field or rename a User field to Donor Type. Then you must tag each record as either Individual, Corporation, or Volunteer.

ACT!Tip: To add the fields to the ACT! database, select Edit, Define Fields, and click the New Field button. You can also rename any of the User 1-15 fields if you are not using them for other data.

Remember: Once you’ve added new fields to your ACT! database, you need to add them to your layout in order to view them. You open ACT!’s Layout Editor by selecting Tools, Design Layouts. If you haven’t customized your ACT! layout yet, you should review the ACT! documentation.

Create the Custom Insert Text

Next you need to create the Word document files that contain the text for each of the letter types. It should be formatted as you want it printed. For this article I’ve used files named Example1.doc, Example2.doc, and Example3.doc.

WordTip: If the text is short, you can insert the text directly into the conditional command. I have found it easier to maintain separate files.

Create a Template

The third step is to design a basic template. You can create a new template by selecting File, New from the ACT! menu and then Microsoft Word – Template.

ACT!Tip: You can also start with a template you’ve already customized for things such as margins, headers, footers, and so on. This is done by selecting Write, Edit Document Template. Don’t forget to do a File, Save As before making your modifications.

Insert the Condition Controls

When entering control statements, you need to have the Word options set so you can see the Field Codes. You do this by selecting Tools, Options and then selecting the Show Field Codes option on the View tab. (You can also press Alt+F9 to Show/Hide Word’s Field Codes.)

This is how you insert Word fields:

1. Place your cursor at the position where you want to insert the conditional statements. From the Word menu select Insert, Field. The Field box appears. From the Field Names column select IF and uncheck the Preserve Formatting During Updates option. Select OK and return to your template. You should now see {IF } on your screen.

2. Place your cursor one space after the IF and enter a pair of quotation marks ("").

3. Place your cursor between the quotation marks and enter the ACT! field from ACT!’s Mail Merge Fields box. In this example it’s the Donor Type field.

4. Now insert an equal sign (=) and type "VOLUNTEER". (Note the quotes.) The expression should now look like this:
{IF "[[Donor Type]]"="Volunteer" }.

5. Place your cursor to the right of "Volunteer" and select Insert, Field and then select INCLUDETEXT from the Field Names list. Uncheck the box "Preserve Formatting During Updates" and click OK. (This tells Word what to do if the condition is True or False. The action in the first string will occur if the condition is True, otherwise the second string is used. In this example we’re going to insert text from a file.

6. Enter the path for your file — "C:\\act\document\\Example1.doc" — one space to the left of the INCLUDETEXT statement and enclose it in quotes. NOTE: the path must have double back-slashes.

7. The final step is to put a double quote ("") between the right french bracket that closes the INCLUDETEXT statement and the right french bracket that closes the IF statement. These quotes tell Word to do nothing if there is no match.

WordTip: Copy and paste this expression into the template, change the condition text and insert document name to create the rest of the choices.

After you’ve completed the template and you’re satisfied, you need to turn off the Show Field Codes option by select Tools, Options from Word’s menu, or press Alt+F9. 

Merging Your Letters

To perform the mail merge you must first perform a lookup to locate all the donors that you want to send the letter to. Select Write, Mail Merge and select your template. Select the send output to Printer option (this is a MUST).

ACT!Tip: If you select the Send Output to Word Processor when you are
generating the Mail Merge from ACT!, the conditional statements will not work after the first page. To test the template, you should select a small sample and print directly to the printer.)

Things To Watch For

Because ACT! inserts the text from the database and formats it as you have specified with the Edit, Define Field settings, you need to be certain to specify Word’s compare options properly.

For example, Word allows you to force all text to upper case for the purpose of comparing. There are other options for dealing with numeric comparisons. You should refer to Word’s manual or Help instructions for these settings.

Some Other Things You Can Do

Here are some additional ways you can use Word’s conditional statements:

• If the company address is empty, than the mailing will go to the home address.
• If the quantity is 500 or greater an additional discount of 5 percent is offered, otherwise the standard discount applies.
• Replace the True/False field from a check box with ticked or unticked checkboxes

Technorati Tags: ACT!,CRM,Word,Conditional

Selling ACT! in tough economic times

This was done as a response to a a post in the ACT! Leadership Blog

It is useful to note that during previously perceived "tough times", ACT! does quite well.

• It's an easy argument to make that, during these times, businesses need to make the most from their assets - especially the ability to mine the valuable asset of their client base and providing better customer service for new and current contacts. CRM is a MUST HAVE to survive these times.
• Compared to other CRM solutions, ACT!'s pricing makes it an easier choice - especially against SaaS solutions as ACT! isn't tied to regular payments that drain cash-flow. The lower entry point, while also using a powerful SDK allowing add-on and custom solutions to provide the answers to business needs.
• The general reputation of reliability and support for ACT! (that did admittedly take a hit with the 7.0 and 8.0 releases) is enviable. A product that doesn’t require expensive support contracts is another way to keep the cash-flow in your favour
• The stated aims of Sage, now that the core product is back to it's desired quality, to integrate better with back-end ERP (accounting) systems and with social media will further cement the product as the central repository for business intelligence.

This is a time that Sage and its channel should capitalize on and, if the users are well looked after, will create long-term clients for Sage Software - with ACT! itself, and also users who may eventually upgrade to SageCRM / SalesLogix and even those who incorporate Sage ERP products.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,Financial,Economic,Sage,CRM

ACT! by Sage and Social Media – Social CRM

More and more businesses are starting to take advantage of various forms of “Social Media” and are looking at the advantages of integrating these with their CRM solution to provide a more complete view of their relationships.

Sage themselves have said they are looking at doing more with Social CRM and have asked users for input in what they would like in these links:

• The ACT! user and Social Media
• Are you Tagging with delicious, Diigo or other Social Bookmarking Tools?
• ACT! and the Web - Social Contact Management: Part 1 of 3

I thought I would post a few ideas on what’s possible to do now with ACT! and what I hope Sage will work on in future versions of the ACT! product.

What types of “Social Media” am I referring to:

Yes, there are a number of different types of social media in use. The ones I’m going to discuss are the ones that I’ve found most useful in business at this time:

• Blogs – like this one.
  • A flow of information from the business or staff members to the market usually with the facility for users to comment.
  • Great for providing detailed news and updates that your target market can subscribe to
  • Easier to maintain and update than their web site “News” pages
• Social networking sites like LinkedIN, Facebook or MySpace.
  • Includes a form of micro-blogging through their status function
• Twitter – social media micro-blogging
  • Short (140 character) updates
  • Very fast updates
  • Allows users to update via SMS or smart phone applications
  • Similar to status functions in social networking sites like LinkedIN and Facebook

What does integrating CRM with Social Media mean?

• Viewing recent information posted by contacts
• Updating your CRM with updated data posted by the contacts to the social networking sites
• Storing information within the ACT! database so it can be searched on or viewed later like history
• Enabling the use of this information to improve business intelligence

What Social CRM is possible now with ACT!?

• Ability to attach web pages from blogs and other URLs to Contact records
• For ACT! 2008 and 2009, Sage has provided a free Contact Web Context Browser Control that can display LinkedIN profiles, Google maps and other information in a tab for contact. You get more information on this plug-in and download it from this link
  

What I’d like to see Sage add to ACT!

• Permanently link the LinkedIN profile to the ACT! contact rather than the current method of displaying a search
• Add the same functionality for Facebook and other major social networking sites
• Lookup for those Contacts where the social media profile and the ACT! contact have different information
• A function to update the ACT! Contact record from the LinkedIN or Facebook profile
• Groups that connect to LinkedIN Groups
• Blog tab to display last 5 blog items
• Micro blog Tab displaying last 20 social network status updates and Twitter tweets
• Ability to Save items from the Blog and Micro blog tabs so they remain in ACT!
• Reply to a status or Direct message a contact and save in the History for the ACT! Contact
• Combine and view Blog and Micro blog tabs in Company and Group records
• Keyword search to include Blog and Micro blog entries
• Dashboard to show most recent blogs, status updates, tweets based on various search terms

Please post a comment with what you’d like to see done in this area and how it would benefit your business.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT! by Sage,ACT,CRM,SCRM,Social Media,LinkedIN,Facebook,Twitter

Why ACT! Premium for Web isn’t supported on Microsoft SBS 2008

I did know that ACT! isn’t supported on SBS 2008 as per the System Requirements, but didn’t know exactly why it can’t be till I saw this post about a Microsoft bug: http://forums.iis.net/p/1151288/1877461.aspx.

ACT! Premium for Web 2009 uses IIS6 compatibility features and on 64bit, this requires the 32bit functionality enabled which is broken in SBS 2008 as per the post above.

In addition, I’ve been told not to remove RPC/HTTP as suggested in the article as this appears to cause a cascading failure. RPC/HTTP will not function even when re-installed.

The current word from Sage is “ACT! Premium for Web 2009 was / is not supported on this operating system as it wasn't released until November 2008 whereas APFW2009 came out in August.  There are no current plans to support this.” Although, based on past experience, if MS fix their bug, it’s likely Sage will QA test this and hopefully certify it for ACT! 2010 (12).

I have heard of users with ACT! Premium 2009 (non web) who have run without issues on SBS 2008. So, if you need to, you might try it… but remember, it’s not officially supported and any issues may be difficult or impossible to resolve.

On a more general note, I typically find SBS to be a problem. Running a Domain Controller, Exchange Server and web server on the same server is a security and resource disaster waiting to happen and should be avoided if at all possible.

Technorati Tags: ACT! 2009,ACT! Premium for Web,SBS 2008,IIS

ACT! Technical Training Overview

Here is a Power Point I use for training ACT! resellers and consultants. Please let us know if you would like to book all or part of this training on-line. The full course can take up to a week, but can be customised to provide the training you need.

Act! Technical Training

View more presentations from Mike Lazarus.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,Training,CRM

Handheld Contact Console Update required for ACT! 2009 11.1

Updated versions of the consoles have been released today.
They are available for download from the GL Computing’s Handheld Contact page.

The changes are few, but important.  Please see the notes below:

Version 2.1.14.0
    * Fixed a bug related to remote databases that in some cases prevented new or modified activities from syncing to the main database.  Now, activities from remote databases will sync accurately.
    * Introduced a workaround for a change in ACT! 11.1 that prevented syncing of new or modified contacts from the handheld.  Now, contacts will sync from the handheld to ACT! 11.1.

Version 2.0.23.0
    * Fixed a bug related to remote databases that in some cases prevented new or modified activities from syncing to the main database.  Now, activities from remote databases will sync accurately.

What Changes Were Made in ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.1)

Note: Due to changes in the database, ACT! 2009 (11.0) users cannot share or sync the same database with ACT! 2009 (11.1) users. All users sharing a database must be on the same version to access and take advantage of the new release. 

Please check with your database administrator before applying the update.

Follow the steps below to enable the automatic check for updates option:

1. Launch ACT!.
2. Click the Tools menu, and then click Preferences.
3. Under the Startup Tab, check the Automatically check for updates every option.
4. Click Apply, and then click OK.

For administrators, when it’s released, it will also be available from the ACT! Downloads Page

From the ACT! Knowledge Base:

ACT! 2009 (11.1) and ACT! by Sage Premium 2009 (11.1) are new releases in the ACT! product line and are referred to collectively as ACT! 2009 (11.1) in this document. The ACT! 2009 (11.1) release is focused on improving usability of top task areas and allowing users to be more productive. This list is provided to improve your installation and overall use experience of ACT! 2009 (11.1).

New Features in the Release
New and Improved features in the 2009 Product Family are focused in the areas of Improving Usability and User Productivity in Top Task Areas as well as further Automating and Simplifying Installation.

Contacts/Groups/Companies
Relationships Tab - Allow users to "link" or create relationships between contacts
Related Contacts allows users to document existing influential relationships between contact in their database. For example, if Client A has an influential relationship with Client B, then I can store that information in the database to use in future sales of marketing campaigns, or be able to browse the information when I am looking up a particular contact.
For more about the new Relationships tab, see the following Knowledgebase article:

How To Use the New "Relationships" Tab in ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.1)
Answer ID: 23893

Enhanced Usability - New "Import Date" field
To complement the "Is Imported" field on the contact, group or company records, a new "Import Date" field had been added to provide users visibility into last import event date for reporting purposes. The field is available for lookups, reports and can easily be added to the layout using Tools > Design Layouts.
Enhanced Usability - Last Import Location
During database import, the last location where users searched for their imported file is set at the default location to make it easier to locate the source database.
Enhanced Usability - F6 toggles to previous layout Pressing F6 on the keyboard will toggle between the current and the previously used layout.

Dashboard
Enhanced Usability - Drilldown for specific bar and pie slice rather than the entire component
This option allows users to drilldown the bar and pie slice by displaying the activities or opportunities associated with that slice. A new menu item has been added to the component's right-click menu - "View All Data in List" to show all activities or opportunities in a list view similar to the original drilldown behavior.

Activities/Opportunities
Enhanced Usability - Activity Association with Companies
You now have the option to remove the existing company association from an activity if you decide to reschedule it with a different contact. This feature enables you to keep your associated company information consistent with the contact's company name.
Filter Activity/Opportunity by Yesterday
This feature enables you to filter your task list and opportunity list by selecting Yesterday as your filter. On this task list it will show all activities that have a start date of yesterday and opportunity list will show all opportunities that have yesterday as their expected close date.
Enhanced Usability - Pop-ups on calendar items
Calendar item tool will shoe multiple contacts if more than one contact is associated with the activity.
Enhanced Usability - Company names in Alarm dialog
Alarm pop-ups will display the company information for each activity contact in the list giving you a consistent calendar-like view of all activities. This feature used to exist in ACT! 2000 (5.0) and has been reinstated in the current release.
Enhanced Usability - Go To multiple selected alarms
As part of the standard ACT! workflow for performing a lookup and working within the list, the Go To button on the alarms dialog will take you to the list of contacts associated with all selected activities. The alarms dialog will remain open while your list view changes in the background.

Attachments
Enhanced Usability - Mouse-over on Attachments and Documents shows physical filename
In order to improve discoverability of attachments, the tooltip for selected attachments will now show the complete physical path to the actual file.

Histories
Enhanced Usability - Edit "Regarding" list when recording new history
Users can now edit the "Regarding" dropdown from within the new history dialog the same way as when scheduling a new activity.
Enhanced Usability - History icon on Toolbar
To give further accessibility into history creation, a new History icon has been added to the standard toolbar so users can quickly create histories regardless of what view or layout they are currently using. The history dialog pops up with the history automatically associated to the last contact that was viewed on the contact detail view. Users have the option to change history association any time prior to clicking OK.

Installation
Enhanced Usability - Improved installation experience
Significant changes have been made to enhance the overall installation experience. Users are given two options to perform installation - "Typical" and "Custom". It takes fewer clicks to complete a typical install providing a consistent and friendly feedback to users during the install process. Custom installation provides much more accessibility into install options for customized settings.

Licensing/Activation
Activation behind proxy
If a proxy server is detected during the registration process, a dialog is displayed to enter user name and password in order to connect and activate through the proxy server.

Mail Merge
Enhanced Usability - Sticky options settings
All mail merge wizard options are "sticky" when the user clicks the finish button. This reduces the time required to do subsequent mail merges if the options are same as the first time.

Preferences
Default Backup location preference
A new preference is available for users to specify the default backup location in the preferences dialog.

Fixed Issues

Microsoft® Outlook® Integration

• ACT! to Outlook calendar copy did not update the free/busy calendar in Outlook at the end of calendar-copy for recurring activity day instances until the appointment is opened and re-saved inside Outlook.
• Previously, Outlook e-mail attach to contacts feature (including Outlook rules) matched contacts using the contact name instead of the e-mail address. This has been addressed to follow a consistent contact matching standard for both "Quick Attach" and "Attach to ACT! Contacts options. For "Quick Attach", if multiple contacts consist of the same e-mail address on any e-mail type field, the e-mail will be attached to all matching contacts. If no matching contacts exist with the same e-mail address a new contact will be created. For "Attach to ACT! Contacts", the contact picker dialog will be pre-populated and pre-selected with all matching contacts in the database.
• Items in the "Not Attached Messages" tab in the Quick Attach Progress UI were incorrectly displayed by duplicating the information in the "To:" or From:" fields.
• Images embedded inside and ACT! e-mail template appeared as attachments when sent via Outlook with Word as the e-mail editor.
• Last e-mail field did not update when e-mail history was set to "Attach to Contact"
• History was not recorded if a user performed a mail merge immediately after installing ACT! by Sage 2008 until ACT! was restarted at least once.
• E-mail Attach to Contact behaved differently when e-mail was attached to contact from within Outlook Inbox vs. opened e-mail window. In the latter case, only history was created with subject but the e-mail was not attached.
• Outlook Add-in failed to load when SQL service was disabled because it was trying to access the database engine and timing out.

Mail Merge

• When creating a new Mail Merge template or editing and existing Mail Merge template, the Mail Merge UI was not present for the following configuration: Windows Vista® 64-bit with Microsoft Word 2003.

Printing

• Calendar Quick-print did not include the calendar title bar to clarify the day, week, or month that the calendar belonged to, for example "October 2008" or "Monday, October 13, 2008."

Synchronization/Remote Databases

• Only a few controls inside the Sync Panel accepted keyboard typing as input.
• Users used to get message "ACT! Network Sync Service is unavailable. Please install the service to run sync server" when the Domain/Workgroup for the machine hosting the Network Sync Services was changed.
• In some cases, Address and Phone fields did not synchronize between main and remote databases.

Contact/Groups/Companies

• No message existed to warn users that private contacts belonging to a user will be lost when that user is deleted. The message has been added in this release.
• Updated Company-Contact Linked Fields did not function when spillover table fields are linked to a company.
• Tabbing into Data field on Contact layout changed the date value back one day if edited in a later time zone.

Activities/Histories/Notes

• Activity and History Records could not be deleted if they had a read-only file attached.
• Incorrect activity count was displayed on the calendar's statues bar due to timeless and recurring activities.
• Group and Company activities tab did not apply the correct user filter based on the selected user.
• Last attempt field did not update when manually creating a call history with "Call Left Message" status.
• History type filter did not display all histories with e-mail history types in the history grid view.
• When scheduling a new activity from Task List, the "Schedule With" was set to the Contact associated with the arbitrarily selected task as opposed to contact in the detail view.

Dashboards

• The Opportunity by User component incorrectly showed the custom sales cycle stages in the legend when the ACT! Sales Cycle was selected as the filter.
• When designing a new dashboard, an error message "Value cannot be null" was displayed if custom date range was chosen for default dashboard filters.

Opportunities

• RTF formatting in opportunity details did not save correctly when opportunity was closed and reopened.

Preferences

• Default history creation preference was not retained when using ACT! E-mail as client.
• Newly created custom activity types did not show up in the scheduling preferences dialog.

Excel® Integration

• Map to Excel on the documents tab did not work with group and company fields and displayed an ambiguous error message.

Import

• Spillover fields were not listed in the destination fields dropdown on the Import Wizard mapping page.

Other

• In some cases, customizing columns in list views and tabs did not retain settings.
• Schema update from ACT! by Sage 2007 (9.0) to ACT! 2009 (11.0) caused exceptions.
• In some cases, check and repair within ACT! caused database error. Now, users will get an option to perform a more extensive repair with potential data loss, or call tech support for further assistance.
• Custom defined multi-select dropdown lists sometimes added additional values if several items were selected by default, causing the list to show more than what was available.

Compatibility
ACT! for Palm OS

• ACT! for Palm OS® 3.0 is not compatible with ACT! 2009 (11.1). ACT! 2009 (11.1) will not install on a machine that has ACT! for Palm OS 3.0 installed.

Technorati Tags: ACT!,CRM,Sage,ACT! 2009,ACT! by Sage

Free ACT! by Sage video training.

Sage has a number of ACT! training videos that are useful for new users. While they don’t (and shouldn’t) replace the use of a good trainer, they can be complimentary and used for brushing up on some of the areas later. I thought I would post links to them here.

ACT! by Sage and ACT! Premium:

ACT! Workspace Activities Customization Dashboard Dashboard Designer Finding Information Groups & Companies Handheld Link Installation or Handheld Contact Importing Contacts

Mail Merge Opportunities Outlook Integration Printing Setting up E-mail Setup Assistant Sharing Databases Synchronizing Writing a Letter

ACT! features for ACT! for Web:

• ACT! Workspace
• Activities
• Finding Information
• Groups & Companies
• Opportunities
• Outlook Integration

GL Computing also offers full reseller training and Consultant training.

Please contact us for for more information.

Technorati Tags: ACT,Sage,CRM,Training

Sharing ACT! – Network or Sync (Part 2)

Synchronisation is done when users need remote access to the database. This means they will operate on a local copy and have the ability to send/receive any changes made with their copy to a master copy. They may have access to all the data, or maybe just a subset of the data that they need.

Typically, the the times when you need to implement sync will be for uses like these:

• Users who operate from remote offices or from home
• Laptop users who need to work on the road
• Hosting the main database with an external provider (possibly use Premium for Web) and syncing to a copy for better control of imports/exports and mail merges.
• PDA or smart phone users with devices such as Blackberry, Pocket PC or iPhone

It is important to note that these instructions will try to explain the different options to make it easier for you to make your selection. But while it is certainly possible for a user with enough time to set this up, you’ll nearly always get a better implementation set up in less time if you involve an ACT! Certified Consultant. See How to pick the right CRM consultant?

PDA or Smart Phone users should use Handheld Contact as it is the most reliable solution. For some of it’s advantages, see: Why Handheld Contact for ACT! and PDAs

For the other uses, ACT! has a built in sync. For this to be successful, you must make sure that every user is on the same exact build of ACT! (check the full build in Help | About) and, if using a sync server, that this is also of the same build. When a new update, patch or hot fix is released, you need to be sure to apply to all systems and sync server

To set up sync, first you need to have set up the shared database on the LAN as per the previous Sharing ACT! – Network or Sync (Part 1)

Then you determine what data is to be in each Subscriber (remote) database. You do this by creating sync sets as per ACT! KB 14072. You could use the same sync set for each remote user, or have different ones so each remote site only has the data it needs.

Note all users’ My Records will always be sent to all the remote databases – and all their extended data (notes, histories, embedded or attached emails, sales ops, etc). If you need the extended data in My Records to be hidden from other users, please contact GL Computing for a security plug-in we developed to secure this data

Next, you create the Remote databases (you need a separate database for each remote). This is done as per ACT! KB 14116

Then you need to determine the way the remotes will connect to the master. There are three options:

Application Sync

• This is the only option available if you do not have a Premium version of ACT!
• Synchronisation this way requires that ACT! on the system hosting the Publisher database is open and logged into the database in order to sync.
• Set up is fairly easy as per: ACT! KB 15192
• For remote database that don’t come in and connect on a LAN, have a look at the VPN link below
• To sync without having the Publisher open and logged in, you will need to use ACT! Premium and one of the options below

Network Sync

• Uses a Network Sync server that runs as a service
• Sync service means that you don’t need ACT! open and running on the Publisher database in order for Subscriber databases to sync with it.
• Basic set up is the same as for Application Sync, but you use the Network Sync service, which you setup as per ACT! KB 22977
• Normally, this is used for users who come into the office to sync, or who connect to the office LAN via VPN
• It can also be configured to connect over the internet as per ACT! KB 17536 – if security is a major issue, this Sync server can be in a DMZ if your firewall has that ability.

Internet Sync

• Uses a sync services that provides access via an IIS web server
• This option has similar advantages to using the Network Sync service, but can be a bit more complex to set up. To do this, the instructions are as per ACT! KB 22978

VPN

• Sometimes, with Application or Network sync, you may want to set up a VPN for added security or to make it easier to get past a firewall. If you don’t have a VPN system, you can use Hamachi® VPN as per ACT! KB 23333

There is much more to sync when it comes to troubleshooting, understanding the sync panel and the sync logs. But the information in this post should hopefully give you the basics. Please add a comment if you think there’s anything extra that you’d like added.

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,Sync,synchronization

Sharing ACT! – Network or Sync (Part 1)

A lot of users new to ACT!, especially those who don’t get the benefit of a consultant, seem confused between when to share on a network and when to sync… or, in fact, how to do either. So I thought I would attempt to explain the various options and include instructions on how to implement them.

The first misconception some people have is that these functions can only be done with the “Premium” or “Workgroups” editions (depending on the version or country). This is wrong. The Premium version does have some additional options, but even the standard ACT! by Sage product can do both.

As always, I recommend that users speak to a Certified Consultant before commencing your implementation, especially with database design and setting up synchronisation and learning how to get the most out of ACT!

Setting up the database server:

The usual place people need to start is with setting up ACT! on a “server” – that is, the machine that will host the ACT! database. In a small environment (< 5 users), this may be a user’s machine.

Note: ACT! is a client/server product. That means the full application MUST be installed on system hosting the database locally.

Usually, one of the questions a user will as is “What sort of server does ACT! need?” Well, that depends on a number of factors that you should provide to your consultant to determine this:

• How many ACT! users will there be?
  • How many on the LAN
  • How many via Web (if any)
  • How many remote (if any)
• Will you have a server?
  • If yes, will the server be dedicated to ACT! or shared with other services?
  • If shared with other services, what services and how busy are they?

Once you have selected the machine to host the database, you need to install ACT!. I recommend doing it this way:

• Perform a Selective restart with MSCONFIG as per ACT! KB 14499
• Install ACT! from the CD
  • ACT! by Sage 2009 as per ACT! KB 22947
  • ACT! by Sage Premium (EX Edition) as per ACT! KB 22948
  • ACT! by Sage Premium (ST Edition) as per ACT! KB 22949
  • ACT! by Sage Premium for Web (EX Edition) as per ACT! KB 23084
  • ACT! by Sage Premium for Web (ST Edition) as per ACT! KB 23088
• Update ACT! the latest patch for your version. You can download any patches from here
• Restore from Selective Start-up Mode with MSCONFIG
• Reboot
• Open ACT! - Create, upgrade or Restore_As your database
• Share the database as per ACT! KB 13878

The most common error you might get is: "The database <Database name> could not be accessed. In order to access this database, check your network connection and verify that your database server is available. It may be necessary to disable any firewall software.” – To fix it, please follow the suggestions in that link.

If you need to set up sync to share your data with remote users (external offices, laptops, smart phones), please see Part 2

GL Computing wins Experts Exchange Titan Award 2008

Experts-Exchange announced today that The Titan Award for the highest percentage of support points earned in an Experts-Exchange Zone was awarded to GL Computing.

Experts-Exchange interview with GL Computing's Mike Lazarus

GL Computing’s Expert-Exchange Certifications for the ACT! Zone

GL Computing’s Experts-Exchange Profile

Having been the first Expert to earn Master Certification in the ACT! Zone, and the only one so far to have earned Guru and Wizard certifications, this award is further evidence of Mike Lazarus’s evangelical support for ACT! over the past 21 years.

To win this award from among some 250,000 experts world-wide supporting nearly 4 million IT professionals is simply amazing, and we’d like to thank Experts-Exchange and the users who have appreciated his support in this and many other forums.

About Experts-Exchange

Mike is also Sage’s ACT! Community Leader and the leading poster in the ACT! forums on itToolbox, Tek-Tips and many others.

New Blog URL - Life and Times with ACT! by Sage

Please note, the URL for this Blog has now changed to http://blog.glcomputing.com.au - you may want to change any links to it.

How to pick the right CRM consultant?

First, I think it’s necessary to point out that we don’t sell (product or services) direct to end-users. Our main role is supporting ACT! Consultants, Resellers and add-on vendors around the world. But I have worked with CRM products for 24 years and with ACT! for 21 and was an ACT! consultant for about 10 of those years.

I always recommend getting a consultant involved in the implementation of a CRM (even an entry-level product such as ACT!) as a good idea for anyone who wants to ensure a successful implementation and maximise their Return on Investment.

It’s not just a question of figuring out how to use it… most people can figure out the basics of ACT! very quickly. It’s a question of customising the power of the product to make the best use of functions that you might not look for (and therefore not find) or utilising the right add-ons to add functions that are not in the core product.

Investing in a suitably skilled consultant will save you money, especially once you factor in the costs of your own staff that many people forget. To assume you can always do it cheaper yourself is to devalue your own work.

Some like to have the CRM vendor do the work... but this is like having a car engineer teach you how to drive. They don't always have an unbiased view and when the only tool they have is a hammer, every problem resembles a nail.

It’s also useful to note that not all consultants have the same skills and expertise and you need to pick one that can do what you need – just like picking a hair-dresser or a builder. Some have more technical skills, some have better business workflow comprehension. Some have a more available support staff to deliver on an SLA and some are better trainers. Not all skills are might be required for your project.

So, other than cost (which I'd argue should not be a primary deciding factor when choosing the person implementing your access to data as valuable as your client base), what questions do you think a user needs to ask a prospective consultant to select the right one for their project?

As you can see, I believe it is critical in determining the right partner (and the relationship should be one of a partnership) to ask the right questions. This also identifies the first selection criteria – Does the consultant “listen” to the questions and respond appropriately? If it’s a technical question that they don’t have the answer for, they should be able to find the answer and respond back to you in a timely manner.

Do you have a “chemistry” with your potential new partner? Do they understand what you're saying. Do you feel comfortable communicating with the consultant.

Does the consultant show an “Insight” into your business need? Can the consultant ask pertinent questions that make you think about how you are doing things or are they just accepting that the way you usually do things is also what is best for you. You must accept that their experience might have taught them processes that are an improvement.

Have they got a proven track record in projects requiring similar “skills” and are they willing and able to provide references you can contact?

Do you perceive them as “honest”? Is the consultant willing to tell you something can't be done or will be prohibitively expensive and able to offer alternatives or do they just say yes to anything and everything.

Do they understand your professional “jargon” (or at least are self-assured to ask for an explanation when they don’t) and can they explain technical aspects in a way you can understand them.

How “responsive” are they? While speed to return sales calls isn’t always the same one the project is running or worse, once it’s complete and you have a need for support, if they are too slow with this, they are unlikely to be better later. Do they have an SLA with penalties if they don’t perform?

Are they willing to discuss agreed “goals” for a successful project? The goals should be measurable and usually relate to a Return On Investment or satisfaction of a specific set of needs.

Does the “estimate” seem real? Does their quote of hours and/or money seem realistic or are they promising you the world for a dime delivered tomorrow.

As you can see, I regard price as the least important concern and it should only be considered when all other aspects have been satisfied.

Most CRM vendors will have a selection of Certified or Authorised Consultants on their web site – and this is a good place to start. For ACT!, Sage has this at www.act.com/acc. For Asia Pacific ACT! users, we have our own list at the GL Computing recommended consultants page

If anyone has any thoughts or additions, please add a comment to this post or via the GL Computing Contact form

With thanks for their thoughts to:
Jason Tiler Broad, Michael Bryant, Hazem Bawab, Ben Hamilton, Tony Holowitz

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,CRM,Consultant

IIS Installation and Lockdown with Networking Basics

From Networking and Server Basics through to Installing and Locking Down Microsoft Internet Information Server.

When ACT! first released a web version (for ACT! 6.0), most of the consultants at the time had no experience with IIS. Many had little real networking skills as these weren't really required for most ACT! implementations.

As one of the few with these skills (I was a CNE), I was asked to train ACT! Certified Consultants in IIS installation and Lockdown. In order to do this properly, I produced this document covering:

• Networking terms and other basics
• IIS definitions and installation
• What you need to protect your server from
• How to configure and secure IIS
  

The document was so well received that it became used as a training guide for technical support staff at organisations such as Symantec and Sage.

While the examples are specific to IIS 5 on Windows 2000, the general ideas are also applicable to the recent releases and so I thought I would post it publicly here for others to use as an educational guide.

If I get the time and there is any demand, I may update it for the current versions of IIS.

If you download this document and have any thoughts on it or find it useful, please add a comment to this post.

Tip - Lookup across multiple address or phone fields in ACT!

Do you have multiple address field-sets in ACT!?
Do you have multiple phone fields
Would you like to lookup up phone number or contacts in an area without having to check each field?

A little known function that you can use in Lookup | Other or Advanced Lookups is to use one of the "Any ... " fields:

• Lookup | Other
• Change the Field to "Any City", "Any Phone", etc
  

For other useful Advanced Lookup functions, have a look this ACT! Knowledge Base article

Handheld Contact to put ACT! on your iPhone

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With Handheld Contact for iPhone you'll be able to wirelessly sync your ACT! Contacts, Calendar, Activities, Notes, Histories and more. To be kept up-to-date with this exciting release, please join the mailing list. See a demo here: http://www.youtube.com/user/HandheldContact#play/all/uploads-all/0/LbCvI9dwH7E

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,ACT! by Sage,iPhone,Handheld Contact

The History of ACT! - updated with source links

A couple of users asked me about the history of ACT!, so I thought I'd post what I could remember:

• 1986 Conductor Software (Mike Muhney and Pat Sullivan) developed QuotePro in Lotus Symphony. When this failed to be successful, they came up with another idea...
• 1987 ACT! for DOS 1.0 (April 1st) - previously codenamed “YES!” – a recursive acronym for "Yes, Everybody Sells!". ACT! was also originally an acronym - first for "Activity Control Technology" and later "Automated Contact Tracking", before becoming just "ACT!"
• 1988 Conductor Software renamed to Contact Software International
• 1990 ACT! for DOS 2.0 (August) - first version with network support
• 1991 ACT! for Windows 1.0 - CodeBase IV engine compatible with dBase
• 1992 ACT! for Windows 2.0 - Added network support for the Windows product
• 1992 ACT! for HP95LX - the first mobile version for PDAs
• 1992 ACT!PAK! - first add-on for ACT! developed by Oakhurst Systems
• 1992 1st ACT! - cut down version for OEMs and single users.
• 1993 Symantec purchased Contact Software International
• 1993 First On-line support forums on CompuServe
• 1993 ACT! for MAC - compatible database with 2.0 for Windows
• 1995 ACT! for Newton
• 1995 ACT! Mobile Link - two way sync for remote users
• 1996 ACT! for Lotus Notes - later sold to original developers, ErgoTech
• 1996 ACT! 3.0 (November) - Win95 product with added back-wards compatibility to run on Win 3.1
• 1997 Symantec adds support for ACT! in WinFax Pro
• 1997 ACT! PalmPilot Link (later ACT! Palm Link)
• 1997 ACT! for Windows CE (July)
• 1998 ACT! 4.0 - Added support for Windows 98 and Office 98
• 1998 ACT! for Psion by Advansys
• 1999 Symantec sold ACT! to SalesLogix (later Interact Commerce Corporation) - headed by Pat Sullivan, original co-founder of ACT!
• 2000 ACT! 2000 (5.0) - Windows XP support added
• 2002 QuickBooks Link for ACT! - the first accounting link FOR ACT!. Developed by Terry McKiernan of PinPointTools
• 2002 Interact Commerce Purchased by Sage Group Plc (Best Software in North America)
• 2002 ACT! 6.0 (later ACT! 2004) – Office 2003 support added
• 2002 ACT! for Palm OS
• 2003 Handheld Contact adds support for ACT! on Blackberry
• 2003 ACT! for Web 1.0 for ACT! 6.0 - originally by dbDynamics
• 2004 ACT! by Sage 2005 (7.0) - Complete re-write with .Net 1.x and MS SQL 2000
• 2005 ACT! by Sage 2006 (8.0)
• 2006 ACT! by Sage 2007 (9.0) - Changed to .Net 2.0 and MS SQL 2005
• 2007 ACT! by Sage 2008 (10.0) - MS Vista and Office 2007 support. 10.02 added ability to add custom sub-tables via the SDK.
• 2008 Launch of Community.act.com site (January) – Much improved communication between senior management and users
• 2008 ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0) – New Dashboard. Significantly improved Outlook integration and major improvements in stability, reliability, ease of install and speed. Added Vista x64 support and Safari for MAC users. Also free plug-in to provide links to Social Media such as LinkedIN
• 2009 ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.1) – Added Relationship Tab. Expected in March?
• 2009 ACT! by Sage 2010 (12.0) - Expected to add more links to social media sites and accounting products as well as ability to share with other Sage solutions.
  

I don't know how useful this is to anyone, but was kind of nostalgic digging up my memories.

Technorati Tags: Sage,ACT!,ACT,Symantec,CRM,Contact Manager,History,Social Media

2008 Product Of The Year Awards From Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine for ACT! by Sage And Sage SalesLogix

Sage North America announced on December 22nd that Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC®)’s Customer Interaction Solutions® magazine (www.cismag.com) has named Sage SalesLogix v7.5 and ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0) as 2008 Product of the Year Award winners.

The Sage CRM Solutions were cited for outstanding innovation and will be featured in the January 2009 issue of Customer Interaction Solutions magazine.

“For eleven years, Customer Interaction Solutions has recognized companies that demonstrate excellence in technological advancement and application refinements,” said Nadji Tehrani, Executive Group Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Customer Interaction Solutions. “I am pleased to honor Sage for its commitment to quality and delivering return on investment for its customers.”

Two tips for keeping Blackberry devices updated

Here are two useful links I find useful for keeping the operating systems on Blackberry devices updated:

• BlackBerry Desktop and Device Software Download Sites - this page has links to the current downloads for BlackBerry device Operating Systems, Desktop Managers and BES. It includes all carriers from all countries and their supported devices
  
• How to update Blackberry device OS wirelessly - lists links to a number of Blackberry Knowledge Base articles on how to automate the wireless updating of Blackberry devices.
  

Display LinkedIN, Google Maps and others in Tabs or Outlook in Dashboard

For ACT! 2008 users (10.02 or 10.03) or ACT! 2009 users (11.0 or 11.1) with LinkedIN accounts (if you don't have one, get one as it's free), I posted two useful freebie plug-ins to the ACT! Fanatics Group:

1. WebContext Browser - Displays LinkedIn profiles in a tab, it can also display Google maps, Plaxo Lookup, Jigsaw lookup, US WhitePages Reverse Telephone lookup, WhitePages Reverse Address lookup, and Yelp. Can be customised to add other sites.
2. Outlook inside ACT! Dashboard - Shows customisable Outlook Inbox and Calendar and Contact folders inside of an ACT! Dashboard. You can use them as you would from Outlook
   

Very worth-while functions for any user to add to the product. For developers, source-code is available if you want to modify it.

Quotes and Apostrophes turning to question marks in ACT! email merge

I have been asked by a couple of ACT! by Sage users why some characters (eg apostrophes and quotes) used in Word ADT templates become question marks when emailed.

The reason is that Word, by default, changes these to better looking characters that are not legitimate for normal HTML needed for email.

To fix this, in Word 2003:

1. Go the "Tools" menu and select "Auto Correct"
2. Select the "Format as You Type" Tab.
3. Under the "Replace As You Type" heading uncheck: "Straight Quotes" with "Smart Quotes" and "Symbol Characters (--) with symbols"

To fix this, in Word 2007:

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click "Word Options".
2. Click "Proofing", and then click "AutoCorrect Options".
3. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, do the following:
   • Click the "AutoFormat As You Type" tab, and under "Replace as you type", clear the "Straight quotes" with “smart quotes” check box.
   • Click the "AutoFormat" tab, and under Replace, select or clear the "Straight quotes" with “smart quotes” check box.

You may then need to retype any quotes or apostrophes in the templates

ACT! Add-on - Knowledgebase and on-line support

In conjunction with CRMAddon Factory, GL Computing is now offering an on-line knowledge base and support system as well as a live chat for a number of our add-on products.

Currently supported are all CRMAddon products (including itImport, itDial, itTables, etc) and Handheld Contact

The support page is at http://www.crmaddon.com/support

You can also try the live online support chat to ask any questions by clicking on the button below - there are support staff in Australia, United States and Germany to try and support you when you need it.



Please let us know how we can assist you.

Updated - Sage to discontinue ACT! for Palm OS®

I guess, seeing this report, you can understand why:
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=827912

The latest version, ACT! for Palm OS 3.0, is compatible with ACT! by Sage 2008 (10.0) and ACT! by Sage Premium 2008 (10.0). Compatible versions of this product will not be developed for ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0), ACT! by Sage Premium 2009 (11.0), or for subsequent releases of ACT!. A letter will be sent to all ACT! for Palm OS customers in mid-December to communicate the discontinuation.

Customers who have upgraded or decide to upgrade to ACT! 2009 may access their ACT! data using ACT! Link for Palm OS which is included with their purchase of ACT!. ACT! Link for Palm OS works with built-in applications that run on the Palm OS. Not all features in ACT! for Palm OS are available in ACT! Link for Palm OS.

Support for current versions will expire next November - http://www.act.com/support/obs/
*at least in North America, might be different in other regions

I don't see much of an issue with this ... the Palm OS market has become so small and even most of their devices are based on Windows Mobile now.

With most new users wanting wireless sync, Handheld Contact has become the product for people who want the type of functionality previously in ACT! for Palm OS (and much more).

While HHC isn't on the Palm OS, it is on Windows Mobile and the two big players in the smart phone market - Blackberry and iPhone.

Wed Feb 11th - There will be no more PalmOS devices released by Palm. They're focused on webOS and Windows Mobile.

Sage repositions ACT! - moves from CRM group to Value group

I was aware of Sage's decision to move ACT! from David van Toor's CRM division to Sam Hunter's Value Business.

van Toor presently has North American management responsibility for the Sage North America CRM line which until now have included: Saleslogix, SageCRM and ACT!.

The responsibility for the ACT! product line will now be transitioned to Sam Hunter as per this announcement which was posted on David Van Toor’s blog at the Sage Community Forum for Act!.

What Does moving ACT! to Value Products Mean?

On the surface this may appear to be only an offloading of responsibilities from one busy general manager to another. However Sam Hunter is the GM who supervises the Value Business line at Sage North America.

According to Wayne Schultz, "The Value Business line is widely understood to include those products that are not strategic to Sage North America and therefore would not typically be first in line for research and development or marketing resources.

"We don’t think this signals that ACT! is being downplayed by Sage in any way. It almost certainly will continue to be funded and developed. Rather what is more likely is that instead of receiving further development efforts to integrate ACT! to existing Sage ERP systems it will continue as a standalone CRM product sold primarily through resellers and retail."

But, the big question is what this means to the CRM 2010 project?

The plan of CRM 2010 is to drive interoperability between ACT! and Sage CRM and Sage SalesLogix. This was to enable:
• Users in separate departments to use different products, yet interact through synchronized or shared databases
• A seamless transition from ACT! to Sage CRM or Sage SalesLogix, without requiring a one-way, one-time migration of data

http://www.sagecrmsolutions.com/assets/collateral/Sage_CRM_Solutions_2010_Strategy.pdf

Is it possible that this move signifies a change in this strategy? I guess we'll have to wait for more information to come from Sage on this matter.

All in all, I think ACT! suffers when it's managed in the same way as the big CRM solutions... so it will be interesting to see how Sam Hunter addresses this market. I think we all wish him well.

Question for ACT! by Sage users with QuickBooks - Updated

GL Computing is in the process of creating new ACT! by Sage integration link for accounting systems. We're most likely going to start with ACT! 2009 and QuickBooks 2008/09 versions unless there is a significant demand for earlier version support.

It's currently targeted for release in Q2 2009, will support international QuickBooks users and add many functions not available in other accounting links for ACT!. More info on these soon.

However, as the different countries/editions use different SDKs to access the data, not all flavours will be in the first release. We want to start with the most popular and then continue to add support for other versions as demanded.

After the QuickBooks versions are covered, we intend to also add other accounting products.

So, the question:
What versions/editions of QB would you like to see supported in the first release?
What do you use or think is popular in your area?


Please state - Country, Version, Edition.
EG: Australia, 2008/09, Enterprise

Feel free to ask any questions or make any comments on the idea or suggested features you'd like us to consider for initial or later versions.

Update: See Accounts Master!

Technorati Tags: ACT!,ACT,ACT! by Sage,QuickBooks,CRM,ERP,Accounting

Identifying specific areas where improvement is necessary.

The two common methods seem to be either creating surveys (for customers and staff) or setting up Web 2.0 forums for users to post and discuss issues collectively.

The benefit for surveys is that you get to ask the questions that you want to focus on and that you don't have the risk of wide-spread dissatisfaction being made public. However, with forums, you have the possibilities of finding issues that you may not have previously been aware of.

Which ever method (or combination) you choose, none of them matter if they aren't followed up and/or don't have real buy-in and commitment from senior management, down.

Sage has recently adopted BOTH approaches for their ACT! product. There is now a survey that is automatically fired up 60-days after installation of the current products and David van Toor (GM of Sage CRM for North America) has also implemented a Community site incorporating both management blogs and peer-supported forums with an entry in the Forrester Research Groundswell Award

He decided to address a problem that had been compounding for a few years... the perception that no-one at the company was listening. He set up a Community Site for people to air their issues and, hopefully assist each other.

At first, there was a lot of negative comments due largely from the pent up frustrations that could finally vent. But, to many long-time users' surprise and contrary to the original stated goal of just being a peer-assisted community, the involvement from the staff was extraordinary... with senior management and support staff taking a fully active roll. Even David personally emailed or called a large number of those most upset to organise solutions for them, myself included.

Not only that, but the proof that they actually listened and followed up was evident in the expanding of the beta programs culminating in the vastly improved release last September and the planned 11.1 releases due early 2009.

Consequently, the general attitude in the forums has become positive, friendly and has even been the reason for a number of users who had switched to a competitor over the past years to return.

To contrast this, I worked for a company some years ago, where the owner spent a large amount on management consultants, didn't implement any of their ideas... then blamed them for not achieving a return.

The point of this is that it is important for a company to not only actively listen to their users, but also to be seen to listen and, most importantly, to be seen to follow up on any identified issues.

How many of you actively try to find out how your customers perceive your products and service? How many of you reward your staff based on positive client experiences in addition to actual sales?

In these tough financial times, do you think that price is the only thing clients will use to decide on their suppliers, or will good service and reliability ensure a level of loyalty to enable you not just to survive but also thrive in the market?

New Handheld Contact releases - console and clients

Now available - new releases for desktop console and both clients. The major change is support for ACT!'s Custom Activity Types. After updating, you will need to re-send all data to the device

As soon as it's available, you will be able to download the new console from http://www.glcomputing.com.au/downloads/1 and the new clients by pointing device browser to www.HandheldContact.com/ota

Below are the detailed release notes:

Desktop Console Version 2.1.13.2

• Added support for custom activity and history types. Previously, any custom types were synced to the handheld with the label "custom" rather than the label used in ACT!. Now, the correct label will appear on the handheld as it does in ACT!.
• Added an additional default mapped field. Now, "Personal email" is automatically mapped and synced.
• Added 64-bit OS support.
• Improved add user wizard by detecting if the ACT! account selected is either "restricted' or "browse". Handheld Contact requires an ACT! account that's capable of modifying records.
• Improved installation wizard to prevent non-admin users from installing Handheld Contact.
• Fixed a rare display issue that made it seem as if multiple auto-sync groups were selected for a user when in fact only their own auto-sync group was selected.
• Fixed a bug that prevented inactive activities from syncing. Now, both active and inactive activities within the syncing scope will be synced.
• Fixed a bug that may have caused syncing problems when the Edit Time of a Contact or Activity was blank. This problem was isolated to the German version of Handheld Contact.

BlackBerry Version 2.0.7.7

• Added support for syncing Custom Types for Histories, Activities, and Priorities. Previously, only default History, Activity, and Priority types were synced with their correct labels. Now, all custom History, Activity, or Priority types will display in Handheld Contact as they do in ACT!
• Added support for requiring certain fields to be filled in before saving. Previously, fields considered mandatory in ACT! were not mandatory on the BlackBerry. Now, the rules outlined in ACT! will be followed by the BlackBerry.
• Added a preference to default the Scheduled With field to be with My Record when creating a new activity. The option to default to the selected contact is still available as well.
• Added support for the "Personal Email" field by default.
• Reorganized the task details view by placing the "Regarding" field higher up.
• Fixed a syncing problem whereby if the Regarding field in a new task was left blank it would appear in ACT! as "NULL". Now, if the Regarding field is blank, it'll also be blank in ACT! after syncing.
• Fixed a problem that disabled the Save menu item when using the View Contact function. Now, after using the View Contact function and returning to the original screen, the Save menu item will work as expected.
• Removed the ability to change the Activity type of a Cleared Activity. In ACT! you cannot change the Activity Type of a Cleared Activity and now Handheld Contact also follows this rule.

More information at the GL Computing Handheld Contact page

Why Handheld Contact for ACT! and PDAs

Last week, I was asked by a user why I preferred Handheld Contact over other PDA solutions for ACT!, so I came up with this list of some of the advantages:

• No need to set up on each user’s PC – faster installation and implementation. Install on the server and just send a link to install remotely on the devices
• Central administration – including profiles for administering multiple users and the ability to delete the database from a device remotely
• Only solution that supports – Terminal services, Citrix, Web
• Syncs wirelessly up to every 15 minutes
• Uses its own database, so no sudden duplication of the database as happens in most of the link products or those that send to the built-in PIM on the phone.
• Automatically send important contacts based on activities scheduled or dynamic groups even if not part of the originally selected contacts
• Record Calls, Emails and SMS made from HHC on the device and sends to ACT!’s history
• Up to 76 ACT! fields (26 standard and 50 user-definable)
• Pop-ups (pull-downs) optionally sent to better support data entry
• Adding activities on the device sync correctly to the right contact
• Ability to create activities WITH multiple contacts
• View and Schedule activities for other ACT! users
• Support ACT!’s Custom Activity Types

Quite simply, it's the most feature-rich PDA solution for ACT! and requires less support than any other software product I have used.

Now with a FREE version!

More info and trial download available from www.GLComputing.com.au/HHC

Please post if you have any questions on this product...

The new, Bold, ACT! 2009 - special for Australia

As a special promotion for the launch of ACT! 2009 - Sage Australia and GL Computing, together with Optus Business Direct, have put together a fantastic opportunity for new and upgrading users in Australia to get ACT! 2009 with Handheld Contact and a Blackberry Bold at a special price.

For more information, see this Sage end-user email

The play for CRM in the mid-market

It's interesting to see some of the big boys (including Microsoft) throw their hats into the front-office and chase the mid-market CRM clients over the past 5 years or so.

On one hand, you have products from the likes of Sage who's CRM products started at the low end with ACT! and moved up with SalesLogix and Sage CRM (Microsoft is also at this level with BCM and MS CRM). They need to achieve better scalability and develop an understanding of longer, more complex sales cycles.

On the other hand, Seibel, SAP, Oracle and others who come from the world of large data warehouse implementations are trying to move down-stream to meet a price point of the sites smaller than they have historically developed.

It seems to me that those who started at the bottom typically have better usability in the interface for those working on the "coal face", but those starting at the top can drive business with superior scalability and management reporting... but both need to learn from the other to get the mix right for the market they are all chasing.

One can see Sage's direction in their 2010 White Paper, which shows that they are finally planning to integrate their offerings and embrase Web 2.0 technologies.

Interested to hears other's views on this and, if you agree with my analysis, who do you think is winning and why?

Sept 11th, Customer Service and CRM

A colleague was telling me how friendly the staff were at an airport on a recent trip, which reminded me of Sept 11th 2001. I was on one of the last flights to land in the US on that day - on my way to an ACT! Conference that I ended up being unable to get to. I was stranded in San Francisco for 10 days, calling United Airlines each day to see if I could get a flight to the conference or back to Sydney.

One of the lasting memories of that time was how, in stark contrast to the expected reaction, how friendly the Americans I met were at that time. They went out of their way to help and seemed genuinely apologetic for the inconvenience... saying things like "I had such a great time when in Australia and we're so sorry your trip has been affected like this".

I was really amazed how friendly and polite the airline staff were despite the understandable stress.

All of this really reduced my stress and confusion at being stranded alone in San Fran ... in fact, I even managed to relax enough to do some site-seeing, catch a few bands and generally enjoy a rare (albeit enforced) holiday.

I say all this because I find that people, especially airline staff, aren't usually that helpful and friendly... and it made me realise that if phone/email support people were, not only better technically trained, but also better trained in service and empathy, the users who deal with them are happier and actually put less aggression on the support person - it's a win/win.

When I worked at Digital, in the early 80s, all engineers were given service oriented training on top of their technical training and were also judged on this in surveys that were completed by their customers.

One of the core points of the CRM is that "everyone sells"... let me repeat that "everyone sells". Not just the sales and marketing people, but the receptionists, the tech support staff, the product teams, everyone!

From that realisation, the first point to understand that is that when someone calls tech support, a good operator can not only relieve their immediate problem, but also (in a non-aggressive sales way) recommend upgrades, addons or even (for the right client) an up sell to a bigger product.

The second point is that it expands the value of the CRM product and makes it imperative to be able to share information on customers across all groups in a company.

CRM should be the centre of the corporate infrastructure. The customer database is the most valuable asset that any business has. The ability to integrate this with mobile users, with support, with accounting, as well as sales and marketing should be primary considerations when users select a CRM product.

CRM is about managing the relationship with the customer, not just getting a sale.

From Sage’s point of view, this is a message they should get out to their user-base. It will create additional sales within current customers – and it’s always cheaper to get additional sales from a happy client than to get new clients. Obviously, they need to make sure the customers are happy - with the products, support and other deliverables.

Regards,
Mike Lazarus
ACT! Evangelist
GL Computing, Australia

BTW: “Everyone sells” was a quote I stole from Mike Muhney – one of the co-founders of ACT!

My new blog

Well, after having been asked by many people over some time, I've finally decided to create a blog.

It might be a while before I post my first real items as I take the time to discover the features that I can use to customise this system. I'm not typically the most prolific writer, but once I figure out the functions that I want to use, I aim to keep it updated pertty regularly.

I hope to keep ACT! users and resellers updated with information on ACT! (including any bugs I find) and CRM generally.

I should get back to you soon.

Regards,
Mike Lazarus
ACT! Evangelist
GL Computing, Aust
www.GLComputing.com.au

GL Computing Blog - http://glcomputing.blogspot.com/
Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/GLComputing
Join the LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group - http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/49896