Emailing from #ActCRM via Gmail and SMTP on other ports.

One of the long standing issues in Act! has been the inability for the email clients (Windows Internet Mail and Act! Premium for Web email merges) to use alternate ports. You can record History from email sent via Gmail and you can sync the contacts and activities between act! and Gmail, but you can’t use it directly as your email server as stated in this Act! knowledge base article: What email systems are compatible with Act!?

Recently an Act! Consultant came to me to help find a workaround for an Act! Premium for Web (APFW) User who needed to do emails with Templates. They are using Google’s G-Suit as their corporate mail server.

The user did have Outlook on their users’ machines, but the APFW email merge only works from the server, direct to an SMTP server.

Always up for a challenge, I looked into a few options (both free and paid) and came up with the idea of setting up a simple IIS SMTP server on their server and having it route the emails via the Google servers.

As I thought this might be useful to many of you, I thought I’d describe the process.

Please note: These instructions are of a technical nature and should only be done by those with the appropriate skills and understanding. Should you need assistance with this, please contact your Act! Consultant or send me a message via the GL Computing Contact Form

Google Setup

Note: This section is only necessary for those wanting to email via Google.

First, you need to determine which Google system you’re using and what authentication is necessary to allow the SMTP traffic. There are three supported options to do this:

• G-Suite SMTP relay (recommended) – Only for G-Suite customers
• Gmail SMTP server
• Restricted Gmail SMTP server – Only allows emails to other Gmail or G-Suite users, so probably not suitable for our use and won’t be covered.

G-Suite SMTP relay (recommended)	Gmail SMTP server
Sending Limits
A registered G Suite user can't relay messages to more than 10,000 recipients per day. For full SMTP relay limits, see Sending limits for the SMTP relay service.	2,000 Messages per day. See Gmail sending limits.
Anti-spam filters
Suspicious emails may be filtered or rejected
Fully qualified domain name of SMTP service
smtp-relay.gmail.com	smtp.gmail.com
Configuration options
Options: Port 25, 465, or 587 Secure Socket Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols. Dynamic IPs are allowed, but a static IP might be required due to authentication requirements.	Port 465 (SSL required) Port 587 (TLS required) Dynamic IPs allowed
Authentication requirements
Either a static IP address or a valid G Suite user login	Your full Gmail or G Suite email address is required for authentication.

Please Note: I recommend selecting TLS and port 587 for security

Please Note: If selecting Gmail SMTP server or not using a reasonably stable IP, you can only authenticate with a single user account at Gmail and emails will go from that account. However, it is possible to assign multiple IP addresses to your server and configure each account to use a separate one.

Once you’ve decided on your preferred option, you need to enable that function.

• For G-Suite SMTP relay, you need to add the IP address (or address range) for the machine(s) you’ll be setting up with SMTP server. To do that, follow the instructions at:
• Step 1: Route outbound mail using the SMTP relay service
• Use the external IP address of the SMTP server for #7/8
• Note: We’ll do step two when we’ve set-up the IIS SMTP server
  
• To use the Gmail SMTP server, you need to allow less secure apps access.
  The method you need to use will depend on if you are using a G-Suit account or a plain Gmail one. See the appropriate link::
• G-Suite - Allow or disallow less secure apps to access accounts
• Gmail - Allow less secure apps to access your account
  Note: If using two-step authentication, you’ll need to create an app password, as per
  Sign in using App Passwords

Setting up your SMTP server

To workaround the problem with sending to SMTP on different ports, we’re going to setup our own private SMTP server which will then relay the emails to your ISP or Corporate server.

While there are many free or inexpensive SMTP server options available, I’m going to just cover the IIS one as every Act! user would have access to it.

While this can be setup on a Windows Desktop system, I wouldn’t advise doing this because of a number of limitations and reliability factors.

So, I’m going to include instructions for Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 2012.

Install Internet Information Services (IIS)

If you already have IIS installed (eg on your APFW server), you might be able to skip this section and go to “Install SMTP”.

1. In Server Manager, select Add Roles
2. On the Before you begin page in the Add Roles Wizard, select Next.
3. For Windows Server 2008 R2:
1. On the Select Server Roles page, select Web Server (IIS) and select Install.
2. Select Next until you get to the Select Role Services page.
3. In addition to what is already selected, make sure that ODBC Logging, IIS Metabase Compatibility, and IIS 6 Management Console are selected and then select Next.
4. When you’re prompted to install IIS, select Install. You may need to restart the server after the installation is finished.
4. For Windows Server 2012
1. On the Select Installation Type page, select Role-based or Feature-based installation.
2. On the Select destination server page, choose Select a server from the server pool, and select the server that will be running SMTP services. Select Next.
3. On the Select Server Roles page, select Web Server (IIS), and then select Next. If a page that requests additional features is displayed, select Add Features and then select Next.
4. On the Select Role Services page, make sure that Basic Authentication under Security is selected, and then select Next.
5. On the Confirm Installation Steps page, select Install.

Install SMTP

1. Open Server Manager and select Add Roles and Features. On Windows Server 2012, you might also need to select the correct server.
2. On the Select Features screen, choose SMTP Server. You may be prompted to install additional components. If that’s the case, select Add Required Features and select Next.
3. Select Install. After the installation is finished, you may have to start the SMTP service by using the Services snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) – Windows Key + R > Services.msc

Setup SMTP

SMTP is an IIS6 feature, so the above steps will have installed that version and we’ll use it for setting up

1. Start IIS 6 Manager – Start > Run > inetmgr6
2. Expand the current server, right-click the SMTP Virtual Server, and then select Properties.
3. We only need to worry about the Access and Delivery Tabs
4. On the Access Tab:
1. Select Authentication and make sure only “Anonymous” is checked. Click OK
   
2. Select Relay. Select “Only the list below” then use the “Add” button to add the IP addresses (or ranges) of all your machines that are allowed to send emails. Click OK.
   
5. Go to the Delivery Tab:
1. Select Outbound Security.
• If using G-Suite SMTP Relay with IP authentication, select Anonymous access and check TLS encryption. Click OK.
• If using G-Suit SMTP with SMTP Authentication, or if using the Gmail SMTP, then select Basic authentication and check TLS encryption. Click OK.
  
2. Select “Outbound connections” and set the port to 587. Click OK.
   
3. Select “Advanced” and enter:
• Fully-qualified domain name – The correct DNS entry to identify the public IP you’re server is on
• Smart host
• If using G-Suite SMTP Relay - smtp-relay.gmail.com
• If using Gmail SMTP Server – smtp.gmail.com
6. Close the dialog box and the Properties.
7. Right Click on the SMTP Server in IIS6 and select “Start”

Test your setup

You can do a simple test from the command prompt. Windows Key + R > cmd.

1. telnet
2. set localecho
3. o <your smtp server IP or FQDN> 25
4. EHLO <your email domain>
5. MAIL FROM:<sender@gmail.com>
6. RCPT TO:<recipient@gmail.com>
7. DATA
8. <Type some text>
9. Enter, type a period (.) and then Enter again
10. If the server is working properly, you should get a response like this indicating that the message is queued for delivery:
    250 2.6.0 <INET-IMC-01UWr81nn9000fbad8@mail1.glcomputing.com.au.

Finally

Please Note: Make sure you correctly adjust your SPF records if using custom domains. This is essential if you don’t want your messages treated as spam.

Now you’re ready to set up your applications like Act! Internet Mail, Act! Premium for Web Email Merge, and Premium Mobile.

As always, you can let me know if you have any trouble with this or would like to book me to help you.

The Act! CRM 19.2 update is now available

Swiftpage has, today, released version 19.2 of Act!.

You can get the downloads from: https://www.act.com/resources/downloads
Note: International people use the links under the US section because, at least under the Australian section, there is nothing about version 19 at all.

Here are some of the improvements according to documents I’ve seen. I’ll be doing some testing over the next week or two and will post my findings.

Compatibility

Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Certification

Provides compatibility with the latest Windows Server operating system.

• Windows Server 2016 has passed our internal certification for use with Act! v19.2.
• This release resolves fundamental defects to ensure compatibility and includes an update to InstallShield for a more stable installation on later operating systems.

Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Certification

Adds compatibility with SQL Server 2016 for customers who like to stay updated with the latest SQL database technology.

• SQL Server 2016 has passed our internal certification for use with Act! v19.2.
• The Act! installation process now detects an ‘ACT7’ instance created using SQL Server 2016 Express or Standard editions.
• Important: Act! v19.2 will continue to ship with and install SQL Server 2014 by default. Customers wishing to use SQL Server 2016 must either manually create an ACT7 instance before installing Act!, or upgrade the default SQL Server 2014 instance following their Act! installation.
• Customers wishing to use SQL Server 2016 Standard Edition must own the applicable licenses required to conform to Microsoft’s licensing requirements.

Update to InstallShield 2016

Provides a more stable installation platform with later operating systems.

• The Act! installer package has been updated to the current InstallShield version, giving improved native support for the latest Windows operating systems.
• This upgrade also helps us to make future installer-related improvements, and more easily add support for new and updated operating systems in later Act! releases.

Improved Google Chrome user experience

Provides improvements for web customers using the Google Chrome browser to access their database.

• Important: While this release provides an improved experience for users of Chrome for Mac, full certification of this browser is not included in Act! v19.2. This certification will be completed in a later Act! release.
• Act! v19.2 resolves 30+ specific issues affecting the Chrome browser
• This includes 15 areas where unnecessary full-screen refreshes were affecting performance and customer experience.
• Further details of the specific issues resolved are included below.

Web Client Improvements

New web client rich text (RTF) controls

Provides web users with improved formatting controls when entering free text.

• New rich text (RTF) controls added to the Details sections on Notes, Histories, Activities and Relationships dialogues.
• Includes additional web-friendly fonts and an improved selection of font sizes.
• New options for strikethrough formatting, text background colours, and bullet points.
• Addresses some in-market issues affecting the previous rich text controls.

Act! eMarketing Improvements

Improved Act! eMarketing Call List

Improves the performance and usability of the Act! eMarketing Call List feature for both desktop and web client users.

• New date range filter for campaigns, so users can focus on just the results they need, and quickly follow up.
• Downloaded campaign lists are cached, giving an improved performance as users navigate to and from the Act! eMarketing view.

Commercial Improvements

New Welcome Page views based on product tier and subscription

Allows more targeted messaging to better support and nurture different customer segments.

• Includes new Welcome Page views for customers using:
• Act! Pro
• Act! Premium with no subscription
• Act! Premium Cloud paid accounts
  

Integrations and Web API

New Act! Companion features

New mobile functionality gives users even more power to manage their activities on the move.
Schedule activities from within Act! Companion

• Clear (Complete) activities
• Update activities
• Schedule follow-ups
• Cache server URL and database name (Remember me feature)

On-going improvements to the Act! Web API

Swiftpage continues to improve the performance, stability and functionality of the Web API, enhancing the power of both Swiftpage and partner driven integrations.

• An updated Web API version is available alongside Act! v19.2.

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

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

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

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

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.