Winmail.dat replaces attachments sent by Office 365

What is RTF, TNEF and Winmail.dat?

Outlook can use a special method, technically referred to as Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF), to package information for sending messages. The use of TNEF is affected by settings in Outlook that are referred to as Rich Text Format (RTF). TNEF and RTF are not identical, but they are very similar.

A TNEF-encoded message contains a plain text version of the message and a binary attachment that "packages" various other parts of the original message. In most cases, the binary attachment is named Winmail.dat, and it includes the following information (if included in the message):

• The formatted text version of the message (ie, font and colours).
• OLE objects (such as embedded pictures and embedded Office documents).
• Special Outlook features (I.e., custom forms, voting buttons, and meeting requests).
• Regular file attachments that were attached to the original message.

Where to check for RTF settings in Outlook

When RTF is not working as expected (either all messages are RTF, or Meeting Requests and Voting are not working) there are several settings your need to check in Outlook.

Note: Exchange server administrators can also control RTF to Internet addresses. If the administrator disables RTF to Internet addresses, the settings in Outlook will not override them.

Global Properties

Composing new messages:

Outlook 2010, 2013, or Outlook 2016: File, Options, Mail and at the top. Set “Compose messages in this format” to HTML.

Use this setting to control how messages created using RTF formatting or that require TNEF encoding are handled. If this is set to plain text or HTML formatting, Voting and Meeting Requests may not work unless you override the setting using Email properties.

Outlook 2010, 2013, or Outlook 2016: File, Options, Mail and scroll to the bottom of the dialog and set “When sending messages in Rich Text Format to Internet recipients” to “Convert to HTML format”.

Recommended setting: Convert to HTML. Outlook will send all messages to the Internet using HTML unless you change the email properties (below).

Outlook 2007 and older: Go to Tools, Options, Email Format, Internet Options button.

You can also change the settings on a per-contact level by opening the contact card and double-clicking on the email address.

Registry Setting

If nothing seems to be working and you use Outlook 2007 SP2 or newer, you can use a registry value to end TNEF encoding once and for all. This will affect your ability to use features that require TNEF encoding, including Voting and Meeting Requests in native Outlook format.

1. Close Outlook
2. Start Registry Editor (type regedit in the Start Search box or Start menu, Run command and press Enter)
3. Locate the following registry key:
1. In Outlook 2016:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences
2. In Outlook 2013:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Preferences
3. In Outlook 2010:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Preferences
4. In Outlook 2007:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Preferences
4. Add a new DWORD named DisableTNEF.
5. Double click on DisableTNEF and in the Value data box, type 1
6. Close the Registry editor and Restart Outlook

Act! 20.1 Update 6 is a great release! #ActCRM

Today, Swiftpage has released Update 6 for Act! 20.1 and it has some significant improvements. Enough to be a service pack rather than just an update.

Twenty-two new or enhanced features and 90 closed defects!

Yes, you read that right! The developers and QA guys at Swiftpage have been putting in some serious effort to get this done – and yes, for those who don’t know, I have been contracted to help with QA as their Certified Act! Expert (the only one in the world) for the past year.

And here is the list:

Outlook integration improvements

1. When sending an email to a someone whose email address isn’t in the database, you now have the option to create a new contact or to attach the email to another contact.
   
   
2. You can now enter ID/Status when creating a new contact from Outlook.
   
   
3. A preference setting to auto-attach histories to contacts and NOT to your My Record.
   
   

User Interface Improvements

1. A Documents Tab option to save the selected file locally
   
   
2. Contact column should display by default on Group and Company history tab
3. Display preferences tabs on two rows
   
   
4. Enable 'Look for' field in list views by default
5. Move Lookup > Favorites further down the menu
6. Remove inactive paging controls under the calendar task view
7. Allow 'Create Lookup' from multiple selected companies (Windows client only)
   
   

Act! Premium for Web Improvements

1. Left align the big button menu
2. Managing opportunity processes to use the same terminology as windows
3. Reduce Act! icon file size to improve performance
4. Version numbers displayed should match windows client

Improvements to the Update

1. Update Act! Notification link to point at the “What's Fixed” KB article
2. Includes new Custom Tables package

SDK Improvements for custom add-on developers

1. Add event where a contact, group or company is added to an opportunity
2. Add events where opportunity total is modified or recalculated
3. Add events where a relationship is added to a contact
4. Add open and close events for the layout editor
5. Provide consistent event for LayoutLoaded
6. Record Created events are inconsistent or missing

Defects Closed

1. FR- APFW - Task list view/ Activity Tab - Edit and Delete links are truncated
2. FR- APFW - History list / Tab - Edit and Delete links are truncated
3. FR- APFW - Notes Tab - Edit and Delete links are truncated
4. TS - FR - Text Overlaps Button Edges When Deleting Contacts.
5. TS - When creating a History item and selecting the Type as Other, the follow up button on the local install is greyed out, however it remains active on APFW.
6. TS - Rescheduling a recurring activity with attachment does not create a rescheduled activity.
7. Windows - Companies - Update linked fields messaging was not updated for "update linked fields" button
8. LC - DE– Browse button is truncated on Save Copy As dialog
9. LC - CF - Truncation in emarketing profile
10. LC-FR-“Post” should be “Code postal” on Contact Detail View.
11. LC–FR-On the Copy/Move Contact Data page, the text can’t be showed fully.
12. LC–FR-On the “Reset Menus and Toolbars” truncation
13. LC-DE- The selection box of “Opportunity (select one)” is misaligned in Act! Emarketing--Webpage dialog.
14. Two same hotkeys “Alt + S” appear in the “Schedule Activity” box.
15. Chrome-User Log out automatically with an error message occurred after using “Attach File…”.
16. LC-FR-APFW: Truncation display on the Activity part on contact detail view
17. Chrome – Dashboard – The activity cannot be deleted when we select “delete all activities in the linked series”.
18. LC-FR-APFW: There should be more space between these buttons and the dialog frame
19. TS - Relate Contact Window cannot be resized.
20. LC-FR: Truncation in Email System Setup Outlook Address Books page
21. TS - Act! Network Sync Service Update refers to Act! Update
22. Lock/Unlock filter slider text needs to be centered as it's topmost currently
23. TS - APFW - DE - Spelling error in Emarketing Opt Out menu.
24. Space needed for easier reading Monthly contact limit
25. Unable to connect to sync server error is incorrect
26. APFW - The “Send At” field displays blank in the “Next Scheduled Email Campaign” section
27. TS - APFW - Defunct 6 month survey appears
28. TS - APFW - Error in Application when trying to change password when 'User cannot change password' is enabled.
29. White icons of ‘Product Reports’ & ‘Opportunity Reports’ appear in New Report dialog.
30. The ‘Favorite’ icon was changed from icon to text after resetting the Columns in the contacts List View.
31. TS - APFW - Deleted Activities in IE do not disappear from list without refreshing page
32. APFW - Calculated fields allow blank if set before choosing "calculated" as field type
33. APFW - Activities - Schedule for dialog displays current user instead of "created by"
34. LC - DE/FR/CF - Pro Welcome Page isn't directed to the correct regional page.
35. Act! Update package (20.0 u5) references ACT2000
36. TS - APFW - Unable to filter task list by keyword in IE.
37. No scrollbar when creating calculated field with long formula
38. TS - APFW - The advanced query open window doesn't always close in IE11.
39. TS - Unable to delete a complete activity series in IE.
40. TS - APFW - When using the 'replace' option when importing into APFW, information that is not being imported is removed from the record.
41. TS - APFW - Company activities tab showing all activities after lookup in IE.
42. TS - APFW - Standard Users unable to create secondary contacts if 'Delete Records' permission removed.
43. TS - APFW - Able to create a remote database from another remote database via Web.
44. LC-DE- Truncation issue occurred on Emarkting Overview.
45. TS - APFW - Attempting to delete an in use opportunity stage gives misleading error.
46. DE - Act! Notification message contains truncated text
47. TS - APFW - Removing a field from a database when included in a 'customised columns' selection causes a logout
48. LC-DE/CF/FR: The help descriptions of all charts are not translated into German or French.
49. TS - APFW - Logged out of web or error message after adding a document to a new contact
50. TS - APFW - Alarms window not appearing after a session times out
51. TS - Old databases open in 20 without needing to update
52. LC - CF/FR –Truncation issue occurred in Select Contacts dialog.
53. LC_FR/DE/CF Truncation issue occurred in Act! Update Details dialog.
54. LC – CF/FR Truncation issue occurred in Contact Merge Options dialog when import database.
55. APFW - IE - Selecting "delete all occurrences" of recurring activities still only deletes one
56. LC-DE Truncation issue occurred on the ‘Create, edit, or delete drop-down lists’ dialog.
57. LC – CF/FR Truncation issue occurred in Opportunity Graph Options dialog.
58. LC – DE/CF/FR APFW - Truncation issue occurred in Opportunity Pipeline Options dialog.
59. TS - ISPA.exe runs at 100% CPU on TS environments.
60. LC – CF ‘Share’ button is not translated to French on Open/Share database dialog.
61. LC-FR/CF/DE – Translation issue occur during the creation of custom tables.
62. LC – FR/CF/DE ‘Delete local preferences’ prompt box is not translated to French/Germany.
63. LC – FR/CF/DE Some contents are not translated to French/Germany in Map Entity Fields page for Custom Tables.
64. LC – FR/CF/DE Translation issue occur in Customize Columns dialog for Custom Tables.
65. TS - APFW - History Result incorrect when sending an aem campaign via Web.
66. TS - Email address from Outlook contact is used instead of email address in Act!.
67. LC – FR/CF/DE The prompt box name – ‘Custom Tables’ is not translated to French/German.
68. LC-FR/CF/DE – The contents of all prompt boxes are not translated to French and German when edit a record in the custom table.
69. LC – FR/CF/DE - Truncation issue occurs in Mail Merge Wizard (7 of 7) dialog when mail merge by E-mail.
70. TS - Upgrading Pro Databases to Premium 20.1 does not always update the Product Tier correctly.
71. LC-DE Truncation issue occurred for ‘This contact is dynamically included in the groups listed below’ on the ‘Dynamic Groups Membership’ dialog.
72. LC – DE/CF/FR The ‘company field’ is overlapped by the field selection box in Define Fields dialog.
73. LC – DE ‘Browse…’ button is wrapped in Import List Items dialog.
74. TS - History has no line break after the Regarding field in preview pane
75. TS - APFW - Unable to schedule an activity series in Chrome when one of the activities is in the past.
76. APFW-Custom Tables-Create a 2 Number fields and a Calculated Numeric field, using the Number fields, in Custom table via APFW gives errors
77. APFW - Custom Tables - Creating a Field in Custom Tables before creating a custom table logs user out of APFW
78. APFW - Custom Tables - Editing a custom table calculated field gives an error.
79. APFW - Custom Tables - Cannot edit custom table field name.
80. APFW-Custom tables-Clicking on Picture field in Custom table Layout Designer for Web gives error
81. APFW-Custom Tables-Create 2 Picture fields in Custom table and add an Image in each of the fields via APFW, last Image added, overrides both fields
82. APFW - Custom Tables - Industry Template Library option is unresponsive
83. Custom Tables-Creating a Calculated field, based on Numerics, does not validate formula.
84. TS - Web Info tab - Open Browser link uses IE and not default browser
85. LC-FR : Missing translation for “Address” in Contact detail view.
86. Pressing keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F5 when viewing AEM in Act! causes an error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
87. Custom Tables - Calculated fields on Custom tables, break Schema export
88. Deleting Series causes popup for delete recurring activity
89. (Chrome) Warning in activity series doesn't let you continue
90. Groups tree doesn't stick when navigating away

Saving memory when running #ActCRM on servers

I was recently asked about how to remove some of the Act! items that load for each user from a machine used for Terminal Services, where only a few of the users needed Act!.
The following ideas are also worth doing on any system/server where Act!’s Outlook/Google Integration isn’t required. This also applies to Web Servers with Act! Premium for Web as the integration is done from the client end.
There are two basic areas where you can remove these components.

Startup Folder Shortcut

The All Users Windows Startup Folder can be found at:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp

These programs start up for all users. To open this folder, bring up the Run box (Windows Key + R), type shell:common startup and hit Enter.

From there, you can remove:

• Act! Integration – this shortcut is only needed to set the Preferences for the ISPA (Integration Services Patch for Act!) that provides the synchronisation of Contacts/Activities with Outlook and/or Google.

If you want to make this available to specific users, you can place the shortcut in their individual Startup folders, located at:

C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

These programs start up for the current logged in user only. To directly access this folder for the current user, open Run (Windows key + R), type shell:startup and hit Enter.

Windows Registry Run Keys

Bring up the Run box (Windows Key + R), then type regedit and hit enter

Warning: We strongly recommend that you back up the system registry before making any changes. Incorrect changes to the registry could result in permanent data loss or corrupted files. Please make sure you modify only the keys specified. For detailed information on backing up the Windows Registry, click the link below:

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Check each of the following locations:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

From there, you can remove any of the following keys if you like:

• Act! Preloader – This loads parts of Act! to make it faster when opening and using the program
• Act.Outlook.Service – Needed to load the Act! address book in Outlook and for recording history
• Act.Outlook64.Service – Needed to load the Act! address book in Outlook and for recording history
• ACTSchedulerUI – Used for changing the Scheduler settings. Likely only needed for the admin
• ISPA - Integration Services Patch for Act!. Provides the synchronisation of Contacts/Activities between Act! and Outlook, Exchange, Office365 or Google.

Memory Saving

In my testing, removing all of these saves about 50MB Private memory and 200MB Commit memory per user for those not needing Outlook/Google integration with Act!.
Let me know, in the comments, if your results differ.

Act! Certified Expert – Sanctioned by Swiftpage #ActCRM

Over the years, Mike Lazarus has been the recipient of many unique awards and certifications related to his work in Act!, including:

• Certified ACT! Sage
• ACT! Community Development Partner
• Certified ACT! Genius
• Experts Exchange Titan Award – three times

In another first, Mike has just been sanctioned by Swiftpage as an
“Act! Certified Expert”

As indicated in this previous blog post, Working with Act! Again, Mike has been working with Swiftpage for some months to identify and resolve outstanding issues and to improve the stability and functionality of the product. Now he is connected with the QA and Development teams in testing some of the enhanced and new features expected in 2018 before they go to beta and then release.

Some important ones regarding Office integration have been announced in this December 2017 Letter from Swiftpage’s President, Lorcan Malone to registered Act! users.

Please respond in the comments with any areas or bugs you think need additional testing.

Act! Version 20 – What You Need To Know

This month, Act! Version 20 comes to the market. If you are an existing user, should you upgrade to the new version? It all depends on your technical needs. Here are some reasons why the new version will make your business life more comfortable. It is a combination of improving reliability, enabling mobile work and bringing marketing and sales closer together.

Tip: Most of these improvements are only applicable to Premium Subscription users.

1) Track Your Business Results Easily With Act! Insight

Producing complex business reports each month is a huge pain for many in the sales. What if you could quickly check on the status of your sales pipeline each day? That’s what you can accomplish using Act! Insight. At a glance, this new feature offers the ability to see reports on sales by product, forecasted sales and won vs lost sales.

Tip: If you manage a sales team or own a business, Act! Insight is especially useful. The “Business Health” summary gives you precise data on your company’s operations and health. Make it a daily habit to check on these metrics, and you will avoid nasty surprises at month end.

Tip: Many of the Insight graphs are improvements on the current Dashboard function. However, at this time I have been using both Views of data as I have built some Dashboards that I have not yet been able to replicate with Insight.

2) Speak Your Notes and Listen for Answers By using Amazon Alexa

Survey after survey tells us that entering data into your CRM is a chore. That problem will start to come to an end because Act! will now support Amazon Alexa.

You might recall the scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where they spend some time in 1986 San Francisco. Scotty, the chief engineer, has to use a PC and he picks up the mouse and tries speaking into it – “Hello Computer.”

Having picked up flip-phones, tablets and other devices from this program, it does seem natural for us to continue to realise the best ideas of their writing team.

Introduced in 2014, the Amazon Echo device is the primary to interact with Alexa, a voice-activated assistant. While you may not have an Amazon Echo in your office yet, the device offers exciting potential – the ability to ask for reports and add data by speaking will save you plenty of time. It’s true there are some limitations with voice recognition (e.g. ensuring control over confidential client data). However, the technology is likely to be a godsend for those who hate to type or merely prefer to speak. If you were already interested in voice recognition, now you will have an opportunity to use the technology for business.

Tip: A current list of commands available can be accessed at this Knowledgebase Article:
What commands are available for use with the Act! Premium skill for Amazon Alexa?

Tip: At this time, this function is not supported in Australia / New Zealand. I am still trying to determine the reason for this and an estimate of when it will be.

Tip: If you decide to invest in Amazon Alexa, you can use it for much more than Act!. You can use it to play music, check bank account balances (depends on whether you have a bank).

3) Improved Mobile Experience – Act! Mobile Companion

In the past, mobile apps were not that powerful. You had to open up your computer to do real work. Act!’s improved mobile app, Act! Companion, is available for Android and iOS, is starting to address that problem. You can quickly schedule follow up appointments with prospects and log your calls easier.

You can now call and email contacts directly through the Act! Companion. That means no more time copying and pasting phone numbers from emails on your phone. Even better, Act! Companion gives you your recent history directly on the mobile app. That means you can prepare better for sales meetings faster and stay coordinated with others in your company. Act! Companion also has map support so you can get to your appointments on time.

Note: Act! Companion is included with the subscription version of the product. If you are on the fence about whether to sign up for the subscription version, it’s worth it to get Act! Companion.

4) Improved E-commerce Integration

Does your company run an e-commerce store? If so, many of the operational processes are likely automated such as shipping and generating invoices. In the midst of that automation, there are three reasons why integrating Act! with your e-commerce provider is a smart idea. First, this integration gives your sales staff the ability to lavish extra attention on high-value customers. Second, you can use e-commerce data such as a customer’s purchase history to inform your Act! marketing campaigns. Third, you can use that data to carry out analyse your business operations (e.g. avoid running out of popular items and better understand your margins).

Act! supports integration with a variety of the most popular e-commerce platforms: BigCommerce, Ecwid, Etsy, Shopify, Volusion, and WooCommerce. Additionally, it can also bring in sales history from many common accounts products.

5) Improving Act!’s Subscription Product

As with other software products, the subscription version of Act! continues to improve. For example, the mobile app – Act! Companion – is included in the subscription, as is Act! Insight. If you have not already switched to a subscription license, the improvements offered through version 20 are an excellent reason to switch now. If you use the subscription version of Act! in conjunction with a cloud offering, you do not have to worry about losing your data due to a computer failure – it is all stored on secure servers.

Tip: Switching to a subscription license means that you will receive a steady stream of updates

6) Improved Microsoft Outlook integration

Microsoft Outlook remains one of the world’s most popular email applications. If you are comfortable using Outlook, rest assured that Act! continues to improve its Outlook integration. For you, that means a more stable experience and reduced issues. You can focus on selling instead of keeping your software operational. Whether you use Microsoft Office 2010, 2013 or 2016, Act! is compatible with each version.

I have personally found that the Outlook integration in v20 is more stable than it has been for some time. Swiftpage has also stated that some Outlook integration improvements are being worked on and scheduled to be included in v20.1.

What if your company uses G Suite, Google’s professional set of services for calendar, email and other applications? Don’t worry. Act! integrates with Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts. For more information on the Google integration, see this article:
How to set preferences for Google and Gmail Integration in Act!

7) Optimised Emarketing Workflow

Act! users who are leveraging the power of Act! Emarketing can now manage campaigns through an intuitive, optimised workflow within Act!. Users can quickly and easily execute campaigns and track results from five newly designed views – Overview, Options, Create, Send and Track with full-screen Call Lists – all fully integrated within Act!

8) Better working experience for Apple users

Apple users are used to a seamless user experience. Act! version 20 delivers on that expectation by adding support for the Chrome for Mac web browser. As a result, you now have more flexibility to use Act! on your Apple computer. Apple users also have the option to use the Act! Companion on iOS devices like the iPhone. Version 20 also delivers a better Act! / Office for Mac integration.

Note: This still requires a local or cloud-based Window server

9) Dozens of “under the hood” quality improvements

Any piece of complex software accumulates bugs over time. The important question is what efforts are carried out to solve those problems. Mail merge, reports, company views and errors with contacts are just a few of the fixes that will make Act! version 20 easier to use. All told, these improvements save you time. To receive a steady stream of updates, make sure you sign up for the subscription version of Act!.

Resource: Curious to know more about all the technical fixed that went into Act! version 20? Read What's new in Act! v20 for further details.

Planning Your Next Move With Act!

The latest version of Act! brings a variety of new analytics and automation features to the table. Like any piece of software, you may not use every feature every day. Instead, ask yourself a different question: what if I could make my week 5% more productive by using this software? For your field staff, the improved Act! Companion app may mean the difference between staying late at the office on a Friday and getting home on time.

To find out if Act! version 20 is right for your business, contact me to request a free assessment. We will go through a few short questions and find out if it will add value to your business.

Click here to get in touch with me – Or post a comment to this article

Office 2013 integration in #ACTCRM 2013 SP1–Updated

13th July 2013: I have updated the information on the issues and options for the Click-To-Run version of Office
Also added links to new/updated articles re IMessage errors

I was watching this video by Will Ingleby of BluebirdCRM on the integration of ACT! and Office 2013 and, as I’ve fielded quite a few questions on this, I thought it worth reposting as well as adding a couple of comments below.

Sage ACT! 2013 and MS Outlook 2013 Compatibility Overview by BluebirdCRM

Some points to note:

Office 2013 isn’t formally supported, but I’ve found it works well with the following provisos.

• One correction to Will’s video: ACT! 2013 needs to be installed as 15.1, not 15.0 then adding the service pack update. If your install CD or download is 15.0, contact ACT!, your ACT! Consultant or GL Computing to obtain the later 15.1 full install
• As with previous versions, Office must be installed as 32-bit (even if running on a 64bit operating system. This is Microsoft’s recommended way also as per this post (check the links in the comments):
  Office 2010 support with ACT! by Sage #SageACT
• As Will says, History is not recorded when replying from the Preview pane … this is due to Microsoft not providing the same controls to track the sending that way.
  You don’t need to open the email first in order to send the History – from the Preview reply, click “Pop-Out” before sending will work. 
• Some users might get an error related to “IMessage” – Act! have two possible articles on this:
  http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/36024
  http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23848
• Most important – you need to have the full install of Office 2013, not the Office 365 with the Click-To-Run install that doesn’t include all components for the full API needed to connect. Some info on this issue:
• You can tell if you have the CTR version using these links: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/office-2013-click-to-run and
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff864733.aspx
• Microsoft identifies the issue with add-in support for their CTR versions on pages such as:
• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982431/en-au
  Act! needs “hybrid” support for the full range of functions – and Microsoft hasn’t added those in the CTR versions. There are many add-in developers who have hit this problem, including Google Apps.
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fp161015.aspx
  The main APIs need the full “rich” client or an Exchange server
• Possible Workarounds:
• Depending on your edition, you might be able to download a full version as per:
  http://www.solutions-outlook.com/2013/06/how-to-get-full-installation-of.html
• If not, I have found that, while Microsoft don’t recommend it, it can work by first downloading and installing the trial of the full Office 2013, then installing the CTR version over the top … this has kept working (for me at least) after the trial period expired.
• One Microsoft support person suggested that if there are enough users complaining about this, they might reconsider adding the extra APIs back.
  One place to add this feedback is here:
  http://g.microsoftonline.com/0BX11EN/135

Other than these points, it should work the same as for previous versions of Office … please let me know in the comments if you find anything else worth noting

 

Technorati Tags: ACTCRM,ACT!,ACT! 2013,Office 2013,Office 365,Outlook 2013,Outlook 365,Click-To-Run

A Spring Clean for your system and Outlook

As many of you will know, systems slow down with use and can cause many issues in Sage ACT!. Consequently, I recommend running an occasional maintenance of your system to deal with these before they become a noticeable problem.

With March 20th being the Vernal Equinox (first day of Spring, at least in the Northern Hemisphere) I thought this would be a good time to recommend a Spring Clean routine.

Many of these function are much easier if you have installed Xobni. I highly recommend this product for any Outlook user. There is a free version (Plus) for Outlook only or a paid version (Pro) that will link Gmail, Blackberry, Android and iPhone. You should install the latest 2.x (Pro) or 1.x (Plus) on a system that meets the requirements.

Although the steps below are generally safe, some systems are corrupted to the point of irreparability. Neither GL Computing nor Xobni is responsible for any data loss or other damage that may occur. We recommend that you perform regular full backups of your system, so that if anything should go wrong you can always revert to a good copy. For more about backup, see this article for Windows 7 or this article for Windows XP.

You should back up your ACT! databases, Outlook files and system first.

Not all steps are required and the technical difficulty level of each step is listed from easy to advanced.

 

1. Before You Start: Create a Restore Point (Easy)

To create a restore point

1. Open System by clicking the Start button , right-clicking Computer, and then clicking Properties.
2. In the left pane, click System protection. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. Click the System Protection tab, and then click Create.

4. In the System Protection dialog box, type a description, and then click Create.

For more information about System Restore, see What is System Restore?

 

2. Back up Xobni Data (Easy) – Xobni Pro user

Xobni Cloud is included with Xobni Pro, which keeps your Xobni data backed up and synchronized across multiple instances of Xobni. To ensure that your data is up-to-date, please perform the following step:

In Outlook, select Xobni > Update Xobni Cloud

 

3. Apply Microsoft Updates (Easy)

Make sure that your system is up-to-date by running Windows Update. 

  Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Update. 

Apply latest service pack for your version of Office.

• Office 2010 Service Pack 1
• Office 2007 Service Pack 3
• Office 2003 Service Pack 3

 

4. Microsoft Office Repair (Easy)

Lot of issues are caused by corrupt Microsoft Office components. This can happen when one component overwrites another component, for example when multiple versions of Office are installed (say, 2007 and 2010). Microsoft recommends to keep all Office components the same version.  You may see COMexception errors in the InspectorX report in these cases. If you just installed the latest service pack in the previous step, you may skip Office repair.

To repair, please try these steps:

1. Click Start > Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs (XP) / Uninstall a program (Vista/Win7)
2. Scroll down the list and select the version of Microsoft Office you are running
3. Click the Change button 
4. Select Repair
5. Click Continue

 

5. Disable Add-ins (Easy)

In order to eliminate conflicts with other add-ins, please disable all Outlook add-ins using Inspector X:

1. Restart your computer 
2. Click Start menu > All Programs > Xobni > Diagnostics > Xobni InspectorX
   (Vista/7 users right-click to "Run as Administrator")
   If you don't have the latest version of Xobni installed, you can download InspectorX and extract the contents to your Desktop or other convenient location:
   For Outlook 2003, 2007, and 2010 32-bit: InspectorX.zip
   For the 64-bit version of Outlook 2010: InspectorX_x64.zip
   Right-click the InspectorX.exe file and select Run as Administrator
3. In Inspector X, select the Plugins menu > Disable all Plugins except Xobni

You can re-enable the add-ins you need once stability has been confirmed by using the Plugins > Plugin Manager menu option.

 

6. Repair the Outlook data files (Easy)

This is arguably the most important step (with or without Xobni)! If you are experiencing stability or indexing issues, for example, if emails or contacts are missing information, showing up as "Empty", "No subject", or "Message body unavailable", this step will help you resolve this. If you use IMAP, please see this article as well. Make sure to complete all steps.

Warning: If you are storing .pst files on a network share, do not run scanpst. It is unsupported by Microsoft and can cause irreversible data loss! 

1. Restart the computer (if you have not already). 
2. Run InspectorX: Click Start > All Programs > Xobni > Diagnostics > Xobni InspectorX
   Or, download the latest version of InspectorX:
   Most people (those with Outlook 2003, 2007, and 32-bit 2010) will need the 32-bit version: InspectorX.zip
   If you have the 64-bit version of Outlook 2010, use the 64-bit version: InspectorX_x64.zip
   Extract the contents to a folder and run InspectorX by double-clicking the InspectorX.exe file 
3. Select  Special > Automatically Repair All Outlook Data Files

   

   This process may take from several minutes to several hours, depending on your data. It is recommended not to use the computer at this point, as it is very i/o intensive. The process may appear to be not responding, so please by patient. Do not attempt to click on the buttons - it is all automatic.

4. If Xobni is currently installed, please clear the Xobni data files:  

   Select Special > Clear Xobni Data Files...

   Note: This will remove any customizations or merging, although InspectorX will create a backup copy of the Xobni folder named "xobni.bak" in case you need to revert. Xobni recommends to back up your Xobni data using Xobni Cloud, which comes with Xobni Pro.  

5. Start Outlook

6. After Xobni does the initial indexing, start a full index operation:

   Select Xobni > Index Outlook Mail

   

   If you use Xobni Plus 1.x, you may need to re-activate  by selecting Xobni > Options > Xobni Plus > Activate.

 

7. Registry Cleanup (Easy)

1. Download CCleaner
2. Install CCleaner
3. Launch CCleaner
4. Click on the Registry button on the left
5. Click "Scan For Issues..."
6. After scan is complete select "Fix selected issues...". CCleaner asks to make a backup of your registry. Choose a backup destination and click “Save.”
7. After doing so click "Fix All Issues"
8. When that is done, you can quit CCleaner
9. Repeat as necessary (at least once a month)

 

8. Scan Disks for Errors (Easy)

1. Double-click My Computer, and then right-click the hard disk that you want to check.
2. Click Properties, and then click Tools.
3. Under Error-checking, click Check Now. A dialog box that shows the Check disk options is displayed
4. Use one of the following procedures:
   • To run Chkdsk in read-only mode, click Start.
   • To repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors, select the Automatically fix file system errors check box, and then click Start.
   • To repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.

 

9. Defragment your Disks (XP Only) (Easy)

Disks get fragmented over time, and Windows XP leaves it to the user to defragment them (Vista and 7 have automatic defragmentation). Fragmentation, in which files are not stored in contiguous blocks, will make your system slower over time and you should ideally perform this weekly.

1. Open My Computer.
2. Right-click the local disk volume that you want to defragment, and then click Properties.
3. On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now.
4. Click Defragment.

 

10. Repair System Files (Easy)

In order to repair the Windows system files, please follow these steps:

1. Open a command window as Administrator:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt (Vista/Win7: Right-click and select Run as Administrator)

2. In the command prompt, type:

sfc /scannow

 

11. Fix mapi32.dll (Medium)

If you see MAPI errors in the InspectorX report, it is commonly because another add-ins has overwritten the default mapi32.dll. To repair this library, please follow these steps:

XP: Download and run xpmapifix.bat.

Vista/Win7: Download mapifix.bat, then right-click it and select Run as Administrator.

If you wish to run the commands manually, follow these steps:

XP:

1. Open a command prompt as Administrator:

Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt (Vista/Win7, Right-click and select Run as Administrator)

2. Run the following commands:

ren %windir%\System32\mapi32.dll mapi32.dll.bak
fixmapi

You may copy the text above, then right-click in the window to paste.

Vista/Win7:

1. Open a command prompt as Administrator:

Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt (Vista/Win7, Right-click and select Run as Administrator)

2. Copy the following commands:

takeown /f %windir%\System32\mapi32.dll
cacls %windir%\System32\mapi32.dll /g %username%:c
ren %windir%\System32\mapi32.dll mapi32.dll.bak
fixmapi

3. Right-click in the window to paste the commands.

 

12. Reinstall .NET Framework (Advanced)

Xobni depends on the Microsoft .NET framework, which may become corrupted over time. You can repair your .NET framework by removing it completely and installing from scratch. Make sure to complete the backup steps (#1 and #2) prior to starting this process.

Windows XP

1. Restart your computer.
2. Download and run the Brute Uninstaller. (Vista and Windows 7 users, please right-click to "Run as Administrator")
3. Click Start > Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs / Uninstall a program
4. Scroll down and remove each and every .NET framework entry, including service packs and hot fixes that have the word ".NET" in the program name.
5. After every trace of .NET has been removed from your machine please restart your computer.

Vista/Win7

1. Restart your computer.
2. Download and run the Brute Uninstaller. (Vista and Windows 7 users, please right-click to "Run as Administrator")
3. Click Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs / Uninstall a program
4. Scroll down and remove each and every .NET framework entry, including service packs and hot fixes that have the word ".NET" in the program name.
5. After every trace of .NET has been removed from your machine 
6. Click Start > Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features
7. Find the product named Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 and uncheck the box
8. Please restart your computer.

Trouble removing .NET?

If you are experiencing problems during the uninstall steps, please download the .NET cleanup tool:

1. Double-click the .zip file to see the contents (or extract to a folder)
2. Double-click cleanup_tool.exe to run the tool
3. Select .NET all versions
4. Click on "Cleanup Now"

Re-install .NET:

Download and install .NET 3.5 from Microsoft's download link.

If you had .NET 4 installed, please install from this link.

Download the latest version of Xobni

Please use this link.

 

13. Create a New Outlook Profile (Medium)

If all else fails, please follow these instructions on how to create a new Outlook Profile. It's totally safe. You can always revert to your old profile. Please refer to this article for instructions. If you use Google Apps, please see this article.

 

Attachments:

• mapifix.bat
• xpmapifix.bat

Reprinted with permission (with minor changes and edits) from:
https://support.xobni.com/entries/198041-how-can-i-improve-the-reliability-and-performance-of-my-computer-without-purchasing-a-new-one

Technorati Tags: corrupt,corruption,scanpst,Outlook,Xobni,maintenance

What’s New in Sage ACT! 2011 #SageACT

Normally I try to get this out during the beta period. But, for various reasons, I’ve only been able to get to this now.

Sage ACT! 2011 has added a whole swag of new functions, improvements in usability and fixes to issues. I’m going to try and cover the ones that I have found to be most useful. Unfortunately, a couple are only useful to those within North America… but such is the lack of ability of the regional offices to test the functions and respond.

For the full, public list, please refer to these ACT! Knowledgebase Articles:

• What's New in Sage ACT! 2011
• New ACT! by Sage Features Introduced by Version

Obviously, before you upgrade you should ensure your system, and any add-ons or plugins, support the new version or if they need an update as I suggested in the article: Upgrading ACT!, especially when you are using add-ons

One change worth noting first is the product name changes:

• ACT! by Sage is now Sage ACT! Pro
• ACT! by Sage Premium is now Sage ACT! Premium (access via Windows)
• ACT! by Sage Premium for Web is now Sage ACT! Premium (access via web)

Other than ongoing improvements in stability and speed, the biggest new items are:

Smart Tasks

Smart Tasks allow you to schedule a series of common and connected steps. You can use the Smart Task templates that Sage ACT! provides* or create your own using the Smart Tasks Manager. Smart Tasks can be run manually or scheduled to run automatically.

Note: I think this feature is the one that should easily justify the upgrade for most users.

You should have a look at the ACT! 2011 Smart Tasks video on YouTube

Outlook Contacts and Calendar Integration

Outlook Integration allows you to synchronize your activities and contacts between Sage ACT! Premium and Outlook. You can set synchronization options to determine what information is synchronized. Synchronization can be scheduled to run automatically or manually run at any time.

Note: I strongly suggest users be careful with using these options as I’ve found some odd behaviour. While some of the bugs have now been fixed with Hotfix 1 for Sage ACT! 2011, others are still problems. For example, the fact that it doesn’t sync the country code with phone numbers makes it useless for anyone who wants to call internationally or to use the numbers when travelling – this is the same as one of the bugs I identified in ACT! Mobile Live.

Sage Business Info Services for ACT!

Sage Business Info Services for ACT!* (provided by Hoover's™) provides tools to access critical business information for your contacts and companies. With Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, you can:

Build a list of companies and people and then import these lists directly into your database. Access links from the contact and company Web Info tab. These links provide key information about your contacts' and companies' profile, financial details, company contacts, industry information, and company news. Subscribe to alerts to notify you when key changes occur for the contact or company.*Requires additional subscription.

Note: This service provides very limited benefit to those of us outside North America or United Kingdom as you can see from the Hoovers' Companies By Geography list

 

Sage E-marketing for ACT!*

• Sage E-marketing for ACT! is replacing the name for the connected E-marketing service, formerly ACT! E-marketing. There is a new icon for the contact toolbar as well. *Requires additional subscription.
• Sage E-marketing for ACT! is integrated “out of the box” with Sage ACT! 2011 Smart Tasks (3 Smart Task templates require a subscription to Sage E-marketing for ACT!).
• Email templates can now be launched as landing pages (web pages hosted by Swiftpage™).
• The service now has an Advanced Template Editor that can be used to edit imported templates.
• The template manager has been redesigned to help users manage, edit, publish/distribute, and launch landing pages easier.
• Swiftpage has added support for Microsoft® PowerPoint®, Microsoft Excel®, and text files as documents that can be linked from an email template.
• Documents and images can be managed in a library format instead of uploaded individually for each template. The document library can store up to 100 documents, and the image library can store up to 500 images.

Security, Administration and Other Improvements

• Increased Security for Attachments and Notes/History Editing Within Your Database
• Company Security
• Import Data Changes: New Express Method, Ability to Create New Fields On-the-Fly During Import, and Synonym Mapping
• Installation and upgrading seems much more reliable
• Installation without MS SQL on workstations
• Now uses MS SQL 2008 Express by default
• Full support for MS Office 2010 - in 32bit mode only as per Office 2010 support with ACT! by Sage
• Parallels (for Mac users) now officially supported as well as VMWare, Sun Virtual Box and Citrix
• Web version now supports native Firefox 3.5 and 3.6 … I’ve also found it seems to run ok in a brief test with Firefox 4.0b6 and Google Chrome, but these aren’t “officially” supported

 

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT!,Sage ACT!,ACT! 2011,Hoovers,Outlook,Smart Tags

Office 2010 support with ACT! by Sage #SageACT

For some months, people have been asking about support for Office 2010 in ACT! by Sage with no information or direction from Sage itself.

Up until this point I had assumed that, like with many earlier versions, Sage would provide a patch for the currently available version of ACT!, but that it would be significantly improved with the next major release. Well, this was not the case.

Sage management had left everyone guessing till finally an announcement from Larry Ritter. In brief:

• There won’t be a patch to provide full Office 2010 support in ACT! by Sage 2010
• There is a workaround to provide limited support for Outlook 2010 by downloading a preference file from ACT!’s knowledgebase article 26713 - ACT! by Sage Compatibility with Microsoft® Office 2010
• Sage ACT! 2011 will support Office 2010, but only if installed in 32bit mode

Let me address each of these points in turn:

No patch for ACT! 2010 for full support

There are two possible reasons for Sage’s decision not to provide a patch for users of ACT! 2010.

Either there were significant changes in the new Office version that produced major challenges to incorporate in the current code base, or Sage completely underestimated the faster uptake to Office 2010 compared with Office 2007 and didn’t foresee it would be an issue for enough of its user base.

Whatever the reason, Sage decided it was better value for their R&D dollars to concentrate on ACT! 2011

But why has it taken so long to provide this necessary information?

Limited support via a replacement preferences206.xml file

While I do applaud Sage for at least providing this bandaid fix, there are a few issues I have:

• It’s important to read the knowledge base article linked above to see that, while it provides limited support for Outlook, it provides no support for Word or Excel integration.
• Back in June, a user posted to this Sage’s Community site article that he had received XML files for this fix. I contacted several people within Sage to see if I could get some information on the custom XML files, but did not receive a single reply. Seeing as they knew about this fix in June, why did it take so long to post it to a knowledge base article or even make it available to other users in need?
• When Sage did post the knowledge base article, it only included a fix for the US version of ACT! 2010. Within a couple of hours of being informed how the XML was made, I had provided an AU version to Greig Hollister to update the knowledge base. I see that a Sage Australia Tech Support staff member also took the effort to provide one – their name has removed from this blog at their request not to be associated with any form of communications … but you can see who on Larry’s blog. I found the request to remove their name particularly telling as the problem here is the lack of public communication from Sage as this is what they objected to.
  But so far those are still the only versions posted. Sage needs to realise that this product is used world-wide and either produce the localised versions from their North American office or request each of the regions to provide them in a timely manner. I have also been told that the US version will work for Canadians as long as you rename it to CApreferences206.xml
  
• For any users or resellers in the other regions who want to create their own:
  • On a clean OS, install Office 2007 and then ACT! 2010 12.1
  • Open ACT! and set up the Office integration
  • Go to the folder appropriate to your operating system:
    • Windows® XP: C:\Documents and Settings\{User_Name}\Application Data\ACT\ACT for Windows 12)\Preferences
    • Windows Vista® & Windows® 7: C:\Users\{User_Name}\AppData\Roaming\ACT\ACT for Windows 12\Preferences
  • Copy the file XXpreferences206.xml (where XX refers to your country version)
  • This file can then be used as per the knowledge base article linked above with Office 2010

 

Support for Office 2010 in Sage ACT! 2011

On a 64bit operating system, Office 2010 can be installed in either 32bit or 64bit, but ACT! 2011 will only support Office 2010 in 32bit mode.

I’m not sure of the reasons for this, but it is important to note that many products from Microsoft, Google and others are also limited in their Office 2010 support to 32bit.

I don’t see this as too much of a problem because the only real advantage of operating Office as a 64bit application is if you need to operate on huge (multi-gb) Excel or Word documents.

However, it is something that will be important for Sage and resellers to make users aware of, especially as I would think most pre-installed versions of Office on new systems would have been pre-installed as 64bit.

In Conclusion

While it would have been nice for Sage to have patched ACT! 2010 for full support, there are obviously technical and/or business reasons for their decision not to do this. Certainly it gives justification for users to purchase the maintenance package each year.

What I fail to understand is why it took so long for Sage to inform the user-base of their decision and, more so, to provide the work-around to users caught out by this when they knew about it so long ago.

ACT! is a business tool and its users need timely communication from Sage in order to plan their own business projects. It seems that, since the days under David van Toor and Sam Hunter, ACT!’s management have been communicating in absentia.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: ACT!,SageACT!,Sage,CRM,MS Office,Office 2010

Getting ACT! on your phone

A comparison of various PDA links for ACT! by Sage

This is an excerpt of the PDF: Getting ACT! on your phone

Mobility has been one of the great driving forces behind the use of ACT!. From the ability to sync to laptops (originally supported with ACT! 2.0 for DOS) to PDAs (since the HP95LX version in 1992) and even Web versions, people have found the need to provide access to remote users and to staff on the road to be an essential aspect to their management of customer relationships and of their staff.

I previously described many of the options for remote access of ACT! by Sage in the post:
Supporting Remote Users with ACT! by Sage

With the high uptake of "smart phones", there are now a wide variety of options available depending on your needs and I thought it would be useful to take a look at these and compare them.

The contents of this document are the result of over 60 separate installs in various configurations over a two month period.

Disclosure: I have been using Handheld Contact (on both Blackberry and iPhone) since switching from CompanionLink nearly ten years ago. I also support Handheld Contact resellers and users in Asia Pacific. However, I shall endeavour to provide an accurate an un-biased analysis of all the products.

 

The products included in this evaluation:

• Handheld Contact - Professional and Basic
• 123 Synchronizer
• CompanionLink Professional and Doublelook Enterprise
• ACT! Mobile Live – from Sage
• ACT!Link for Palm OS and Pocket PC - free with ACT!

Testing environment:

• Windows XP Professional SP3 (with all updates) on domain
• Office 2007 SP2 (with all updates)
• Exchange 2003 6.5 SP2 (with all updates)
• Blackberry Pearl 8100 with OS 4.5.0.102 via BES
• iPhone 3GS 32GB with OS 3.1.3 via Exchange OWA
• HTC Touch Duel with Windows Mobile 6 Professional via ActiveSync 4.5
• All regional settings set to Australia, Sydney

Areas included in evaluation:

• Supported ACT! versions
  • Method of sync
  • USB
  • Wireless via sync server
  • Via other software such as Outlook, Exchange, Google Apps
• What ACT! data is supported
  • Contact fields
    • number of fields
    • data types and formatting
    • pull downs
    • field level security
  • Activities
    • linking to correct contacts (or multiple contacts)
    • clearing activities
    • viewing and scheduling for other users
    • custom activities
  • Notes / Histories
    • viewing
    • creating on the road (including from emails, phone calls and SMS)
    • linking to multiple contacts
  • Sales Opportunities - viewing and creating
  • International issues - date and phone number formats
• Other functions
• Administration
  • Ease of setup and implementation
  • Ability to control what each user has access to
  • Data reliability
  • Security
• Support issues

 

Conclusions

After doing far more testing that I had planned for this document, my recommendation for the best product is Handheld Contact Professional for the following reasons:

• It is by far the easiest and fastest product to setup and implement and it's just as easy for a single user setup on a local PC as for a 100+ user setup on a network using a computer dedicated to Handheld Contact
• It is the easiest product to administer and maintain without technical skills
• It provides the most "ACT!-like" experience on the phones it supports
• It is a fully integrated application with Contacts, Activities and Notes/Histories in the one interface
• Using its own application means that recording of emails, sms and call history can be automatically tracked and synced back to ACT!
• It is one of only three products I couldn't cause to duplicate data in the ACT! database - the others being Handheld Contact Basic and 123 Synchronizer
• It is one of only two products that operate using a Windows service, which I think is important for network security. The other being ACT! Mobile Live

* A useful point to note for the future: Handheld Contact is working to incorporate the full Sales Opportunity tables as well as those of Accounts Master! towards the end of this year. That will mean Handheld Contact Professional users will be able to view the sales history with their customers, but also to be able to create invoices from the road. Accounts Master! will integrate many accounting/ERP systems into ACT! and Handheld Contact.

It's only negatives are that it's limited to specific devices (Blackberry, iPhone, Windows Mobile Professional) and that the amount of data it requires means that on Blackberry there is a lower contact limit... although this limit is about to be significantly raised in an expected upgrade

My 2nd choice was, to be honest, a surprise to me. I hadn't played with 123 Synchronizer before and was surprised how solid it appeared. If you are using devices that are not supported by Handheld Contact Professional or if your business wants their ACT! data to synchronise with Outlook/Exchange, then this is the way to go.

• It is the only product other than Handheld Contact where I didn't manage to cause to duplicate data in the ACT! database
• While it didn't run as a service, it does have the option to be called from a command line and run without requiring a user account to be logged into Windows.

The only negatives I found are that it can be quite complex to set up in some configurations - I recommend using an ACT! Consultant - but check that they have done implementations of this product first. Also that it relies on Outlook/Exchange and possibly another product if you want wireless - while this would suit most users, you should check this before selecting it.

If you are running ACT! versions prior to Sage or using a device not supported by Handheld Contact and also not using Outlook, then Companionlink is the choice. But be careful to keep good backups in case of duplication issues. Doublelook really needs to have the option to run as a service to be really considered as an “Enterprise” product.

The free links should really be treated as a one-way option (from ACT! to the phone). The ability to cause problems in ACT! going both ways makes this a poor choice

Regarding ACT! Mobile Live, having supported ACT! since 1987, it really pains me to say I would not advise users to consider this as a realistic option under any circumstances. It has been 20 months since Sage first publically announced the beta of this product. They would be doing a favour to their users and VARs if they either started from scratch or dropped it and purchased one of the other products.

For full details, please see:

 

Technorati Tags: ACT,ACT! by Sage,CRM,PDA,iPhone,Blackberry,Pocket PC,Android,CompanionLink,Doublelook,ACT! Mobile Live,123 Synchronizer

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!