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.

What’s coming in Act! v19 – Good, bad or very ugly? #ActCRM

 

As Swiftpage is expected to release Version 19 of Act! this week, I thought I’d post a summary of what to expect with this release.

Update 13th January 2016 with first look opinion on the Act! Companion.

64-bit MS-Office Compatibility

Act! will now work with 64-bit versions of some Microsoft Office applications: 
Outlook, Word and Excel. While their marketing is making claims about Act! being “64-bit compatible”, it’s just the MS-Office integration that has changed.

It has taken a long time for Swiftpage to do this. However, I have found several disappointing bugs with the new version, with both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Office 2016.

These include incorrect handling of international data and some functions just crash and kick you out of Act!

Swiftpage have decided they don’t want to hear about bugs I uncover, so I’m not aware if they even know about these, yet. I will provide more details in a future post.

At this time, I would avoid upgrading to version 19 if Office integration is important to you.

Act! Companion mobile app*

I haven’t had access to this product to test, so I don’t know how reliable it is.
Certainly the functionality of it doesn’t come close to Handheld Contact.

Here’s a screen shot and summary from their marketing guff:

Stay connected to key Act! Premium details when on the move with Act! Companion — a native mobile app designed for your iPhone® or Android™

• Contact, activities and history are available. Users get alerted when new contacts, activities or history items are created.
• Capture notes during meetings
• Email or call your Act! Premium contacts from the app
• Do work in a social way with @mentions and simple text updates
• Intelligent notifications sent directly to the home screen of your phone keep you on task and on time

They say it will support iOS versions 9.x and up, and Android Lollipop, KitKat, and Marshmallow

Their marketing acknowledges that this doesn’t have the functionality to replace their Act! Premium Mobile product.

Update after some testing:

• When the Login fails, it gives no indication of why
• The fields are not named the same as they are in Act!, causing confusion.
• The buttons are very small and not easy to select
• Search doesn’t seem to work
• Most of my activities aren’t showing
• Notifications don’t show enough detail to let you know what the activity actually is
• The adding of History, add a To-Do with a Blank Regarding

I honestly can’t believe that anyone who uses Act! actually tested this in beta. It’s not release quality.

Additionally, It requires the v19 WebAPI, which has some serious security implications that I’ll be blogging on in the future. I don’t recommend installing or using the WebAPI at this time.

Note: This feature will only be available to Premium subscribers. Users of Pro won’t have it.

Act! Premium Contact Link*

I’m not sure why Swiftpage list this as a new feature.
This is NOT something new for v19 as it has already been available in v18 Premium

The functions included are:

• Create new Act! Premium contacts or edit existing ones. But it doesn’t correctly handle international data and only lets you add/edit a very small range of fields
• You can schedule new activities with the contacts – But only if you are scheduling To-dos.
• You can view some of the history of the contacts
• Attach the text of an Outlook email to contacts – With less functionality than the normal Outlook integration.

While it does look pretty, it is at best a proof concept idea and not ready for prime time
It’s slow, clumsy and lacks functionality available in the standard Outlook integration for Act!.
I’d guess that no-one that really uses Act! had a hand in it’s design.
Which sadly seems common for functions that Swiftpage have been adding.

It requires the v18 or v19 WebAPI, which has some serious security implications that I’ll be blogging on in the future. I don’t recommend installing or using the WebAPI at this time.

Note: This feature is only be available to Premium subscribers. Users of Pro won’t have it.

Act! emarketing improvements

Swiftpage have made the following improvements to their Act! emarketing

• Send Act! emarketing campaigns up to 5 times faster
• Campaign management improvements:
  • Get instant feedback on your current Act! emarketing service level before sending email campaigns
  • Quickly and easily see email campaign history for a given contact
  • Don’t worry about accidental sends! A send confirmation dialog will now check to make sure you’re ready to send an email campaign
• Enhanced send email campaign dialog - See live details about your contact limit, usage this month, and new recipients
• Campaign history overwrite creates and updates one history entry

The Act! emarketing product still has a very long way to go in order to match competitive products like MailChimp (which can be integrated with Act!), or even their own (seemingly forgotten) Swiftpage emarketing for Act!.

The only reason to not consider a better emarketing system is if you’re only using Act! Premium Web.
The Act! emarketing product is the only one that currently works with the web version.

Customer-­driven feature enhancements

Swiftpage’s marketing lists a section called “Customer-­driven feature enhancements”. It’s a shame that they don’t listen to customers with their other features.

• Refreshed standard reports with some minor improvements. There is hope that they’ll be adding integration with Microsoft’s Power BI sometime in the future to add the type of reporting functionality that users really need.
• Added more functions to the Web and Cloud versions, that were previously only in the Windows desktop product:
  • Scan for duplicates
  • Formatting toolbar in the Layout Designer
• Defects fixed. You can see an extensive list of fixes listed in this Act! Knowledgebase Article: What's new in Act! v19

Final Comment

All in all, it’s a pretty poor effort of an upgrade. More like an 18.5 than a v19. While there is an extensive list of bug-fixes, it seems the new functions have added plenty of bugs of their own.

I’d strongly advise holding off any upgrades unless you require integration with 64-bit Office. Sadly, those using Swiftpage’s Cloud product won’t have an option as their Cloud is likely to be updated on the first weekend after release.

Also, as I stated above, I’d avoid installing WebAPI, at least until Swiftpage chooses to address the security issues in it. They also really need to improve it’s functionality to be close to what’s been available for a long time with the Act! SDK such as UI modifications and the creation/using of custom tables.

I find it very saddening to see, after 30 years I have supported the product, that what is essentially a set of bug fixes is masquerading as a “new” version.

 

Technorati Tags: Act,!ct!,Act! CRM,ACTCRM,CRM,Office,Swiftpage,iOS,iPad,iPhone,Android,v19

What's New in #SageACT! 2012 – released Sept 1st

This is the official information from Sage. I will soon post an article on my opinions of the new version.

Update: Sage have release a day-0 Hotfix 1 … Any installs from now will get this update slipstreamed and there will be a download soon for the early birds. As soon as I find out what this fixes, I’ll let you know.

The Sage ACT! 2012 release is focused on a number of  significant enhancements including Google® Integration, Scratchpad, Connected Services, Universal Search and much more. All this enables you to work and communicate more effectively, become more productive and efficient, and better serve your contacts. Click on one of the links below for more information on the specified topic.

 

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New Features and Functionality

For details regarding each new feature, click the link for Knowledgebase article for that feature.
Google Contacts, Calendar and Gmail Integration

• Contact Synching capabilities from Google to Sage ACT! and Sage ACT! to Google.
• Contact Sync set capabilities to allow users to select a sub-set of their Sage ACT! contacts to synch over to Google.
• Calendar synching that allows users to update both their Google and Sage ACT! Calendars and have them synch regardless of where events were created or modified.
• The ability to choose which systems alarms display in for events.
• Users can select whether they want Sage ACT! or Google to “win” for conflict resolution when both calendars have been changed.
• Activity type synching options allow users to choose which activity types will synch. The defaults options are Appointments and Meetings.
• Scheduling synching options as frequently as one minute is available, but to limit performance impact, the suggested synching interval is 10 minutes.
• A new Google Integration synchronization panel from the Tools menu is available to set up both Contact and Calendar synchronization at once.

Knowledgebase article: 27988

Sage ACT! Scratchpad

• Provide Sage ACT! users with a virtual piece of paper on their desktop to do the following tasks:
  • Quickly jot down notes, reminders, and to-dos in one simple user interface, with or without Sage ACT! running
  • Organize items in the list
  • Check-off or delete items
  • Print the list so you can take it with you
  • Add items as notes, history or activity in Sage ACT!
• Items from Sage ACT! Scratchpad will be sent to the Sage ACT! database that the user is currently logged into.

Knowledgebase article: 28077

Universal Search

• Users now have the ability to find that key documents or piece of information they need in their contacts, groups, companies, opportunities, notes, history, and attachments, because search is faster and more expansive than ever.
• The ability to perform advanced search using operators
• Filter search criteria by all dates, last 24 hours, last week, and last month
• View search results displayed by relevance and double-click on the item of interest to be taken to that particular field or attachment.
• Users can also filter search results for secondary contacts and products

Knowledgebase article: 28034

Services Discoverability/Connections View

• A new Connections view within the Sage ACT! application that helps users sign-up and learn more about Connected Services that could improve their bottom line and efficiencies in running their business.
• Users can manage their existing Connected Services through this view.

Knowledgebase article: 28094

Installation/Getting Started

• For new customer installs, third party applications such as Microsoft® Office, Microsoft Outlook® and Internet Explorer® do not need to be closed before Sage ACT! installation. Users can now continue to be productive while Sage ACT! installation is progressing.
• Installation panel that provides prerequisites and average times to install before installation begins.

Knowledgebase article: 27964 (Sage ACT! Pro), 27971 (Sage ACT! Premium)

Database Administration

• Improved usability in opening and sharing databases
• Shows all databases attached to the local SQL Server® instance and the most recently used databases in a dialog.
• Users can also share databases from within this dialog – no need to find the buried menu.

Knowledgebase article: 28142

Import

• Import logs are now available to give counts of successful records imported and details of what records failed.
• Import log is displayed at the final stage of import.
• Users can quickly get out of the import process (no need to confirm that they want to cancel an import process)

Knowledgebase article: 27976

Outlook Integration

• When Sage ACT! detects that the user is attempting to integrate Microsoft® Outlook® 64-bit with Sage ACT!, a message dialog will be displayed that states that Microsoft Outlook 64-bit is not supported, and that the 32-bit version is supported.

Web Administration (Sage ACT! Premium web client)

• Ability to manage critical administration tasks from Sage ACT! Premium (access via web) client.
• Manage users
• Manage teams
• Lock/unlock a database
• Manage password policy

Knowledgebase article: 28095

 

Fixed Issues for Sage ACT! Pro and Sage ACT! Premium

Synchronization – Remote Databases

• In previous versions, changing fields to a different drop down field list does not sync to remote databases. This issue has now been resolved.
• In previous versions, updates on the parent database do not get synchronized to remote if both sides modify the same contact. Original data on the remote replaces the changes on the parent. This issue is now resolved.
• The changes made in the document attached to a contact in the remote database are not synchronized to the document on the parent database. After editing and syncing to parent, a GUID number is added to the file and updated properly on the remote database. On the parent, the document is still linked to the original file name. On remote, the document is linked to the edited attachment. This issue is resolved.
• Outlook contacts are removed from the remote database after syncing to parent. Issue is now fixed.
• Resolved issue of not being able to change settings on multiple remote databases.

Outlook Integration

• There was an issue where Contact and Calendar sync were failing with the following combination of conditions: User Account Control (UAC) in Windows® is turned ON, sync is run from the Sage ACT! menu or sync is run from the Sage Integration menu, and both Outlook and Sage Integration are run as/by a Windows Standard user. This issue has now been resolved. In other user privilege combinations and if a failure occurs, the proper messaging guiding users on how to resolve the issue is displayed.
• Issue where the Outlook add-in for Sage ACT! displays a runtime error during loading when upgrading to Sage ACT! 2011 SP1, is now resolved.
• Performance degradation when loading task list after sending an email using Outlook. Specific to Windows 7 and Office 2007 environments. Issue has been resolved.
• In Terminal Services environment, Act.Outlook.Sync.exe errors display when logging in with multiple users. Multiple users can now log on to the same machine and sync Sage ACT! and Outlook simultaneously.
• When attempting to send an email to two separate distribution lists on the same email, the email will not attach back into Sage ACT!. Issue has been resolved.

Contacts/Companies

• Issue of not being able to continue using Sage ACT! without saving company name has been resolved.
• Salutation field is deleted when users have set a preference to not fill the salutation field. Issue has been fixed.
• Error while editing data in Company list view while in customize columns mode. Issue has been fixed.
• In the Company detail view, if a user creates a company with divisions and then expands the tree view in the left navigation to show divisions and then switches the layout of the detail view to another layout, the expansion in the left navigation collapses.
• Company name is right justified after performing a lookup. Issue is now resolved.

Import/Export

• If contact with several names is not mapped in the multiple contact name dialog, nothing is imported into the database. Issue has been fixed.
• Contacts of Opportunities are not exported when export from one database to another database. Issue has been fixed.
• Import from Microsoft Excel® showing incorrect date format. Issue has been resolved.

Security

• Emails sent to other users incorrectly adds the file to the attachment supplemental files folder. Issue has been resolved.

Lookups

• No response after clicking Go to Advanced Query link on Lookup Opportunities view. Issue has been fixed.
• Record Manager listed as Manager when doing lookups. Issue has been fixed.

Copy Database/Save As/New

• The issue of not being to delete users in empty copy databases after applying Sage ACT! 2011 SP1 has now been resolved.
• The issue of not being able to change default duplicate checking criteria in empty copy database after applying Sage ACT! 2011 SP1 is now resolved.
• Teams created when setting team level security in empty copy database.

Reports

• Gross Margin by Product calculated total cost incorrectly. Issue has been fixed.
• Opportunity by Product does not display correct information. Issue has been fixed.
• Issue of Group reports coming up blank when all sub groups are selected for selected groups is now resolved.

Smart Tasks

• Deleting or changing an attachment to a Smart Task step after that Smart Task has been set to auto-run will result in no attachments being included in the Smart Task step. Issue has been resolved.

Activities/Notes/Histories

• When adding a resource to an Activity in Sage ACT!, the activity is duplicated in the task list if the filter criteria for the task list is set to “all users”.

Restore

• Database Restore does note restore custom layout.
  Workaround: Use "Restore As" function instead of "Restore".

Sage ACT! Email Client

• Attaching emails to contact history is not working from the Sage ACT! Email client. History recording to Groups or Companies does not work as well for emails from Sage ACT! Email.

Other

• Error message displays when users select “Add Permissions” link in Manage Users dialog. The link now opens correctly without error message.
• Sage ACT! Office Add-in disables Quick Print function in Microsoft Word 2007/2010 after applying Sage ACT! 2011 SP1 update. Issue has been resolved.
• Company Web Info tab links are not refreshed with current entity data if Web Site field has never contained data. Issue has been resolved.
• Information on relationship between two contacts is not saved when using the Relationship hyperlink. Issue is now fixed.
• When printing calendars using Quick Print, data from days other than those showing on the screen are printing.
• When using the Facebook® and Google® links in Internet Explorer® 8, information will not display in the web info tab because of changes made by these sites to not display in frames. Issue has been resolved.
• OLEDB Provider – Ambiguous Column Name when querying table with spill-over tables.
• Alarms – Snoozing alarms causes error: Index was outside the bounds of the array.
• Follow up activities not marked private even though the preference of "Make new activities public" is unchecked. Issue is now resolved.
• If a user edits a layout within the first two minutes of opening Sage ACT!, Sage ACT! will switch between views and the layout designer 5 times. This behaviour is intentional; therefore we do not have plans to turn off background loading at this time.
  Workaround: Wait for more than two minutes before editing layouts after opening Sage ACT!.
• When performing a mail merge to a Microsoft® Word document using Microsoft Word 2010, no history record is created for the record.

 

Fixed Issues for Sage ACT! Premium (access via web)

Installation/Uninstall

• Syncconfigfile.xml file not copied during install, resulting in not being able to set up the Sage ACT! Internet Sync service. Issue has now been resolved.

Contacts/Companies

• Contact Detail view is blank after selecting contacts from the contact lookup list, and when users navigate to other views, they are logged out of the database. Issue has been resolved.
• Clicking on an email address in contact list gives a 404 error. Issue has been fixed.
• When Customizing Columns in Contact List view, the dialog is in a distorted view that displays only the Available Fields. Issue is not resolved.

Activities

• Resolved the issue of not being able to sort activities by date or time from Web client when start time is after 5:00 PM.

Outlook Integration

• Outlook displays error about missing .dll files when loading Outlook integration. Outlook integration is now loaded without errors.
• Sage ACT! address book is not listed as an available address book in Outlook for Outlook integration. Issue is now resolved.
• When updating the time on a Sage ACT! activity and checking the “send invitation email” box on the activity dialog, the sender will get an updated iCalendar invitation, but the time still shows the original time for the activity.
  Workaround: The sender must manually change the activity time and/or date inside the email message. The manually updated message does update the receiver’s existing Outlook Calendar.
  Note: Microsoft currently has no plans to refresh the cache more often or provide a mechanism for Sage ACT! to refresh their cache due to performance.
• Act.Outlook.Sync.exe errors when logging in with multiple users in Terminal Services. Issue has been resolved.

Preferences

• Fixed the issue of not being able to change record creation options from the Web database client.

Opportunities

• Custom date ranges on opportunity list filters does not return any results/data. Issue has been fixed.

Lookups/Keyword Search

• Sorting on results of contact column after performing keyword search does not sort in any logical order. Issue is now resolved.
• Lookup Keyword Search does not find all records, specifically is searching the Current Lookup. Issue has now been resolved.

Mail Merge

• When Microsoft Word is set as the word processing editor for Sage ACT! Premium (access via web), if a user opens the mail merge fields dialog to add fields to the mail merge template, the fields are not in alphabetical order. Issue has been resolved.
• Mail merge to Microsoft Word and print does not record history. Issue has been resolved.

Firefox™ Web Browser

• Unable to perform advanced queries when accessing the web database client via Firefox®. Issue has been resolved.

Login

• User logs in and in a varying time from 5 minutes to 20 minutes, the user will start getting a pop up message stating "Continue to stay logged in". The user then receives this same popups every 1,2, or 5 minutes asking them to click to continue. Issue has now been resolved.

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

ACT! 2010 Service Pack 1 is available!

For ACT! 2010 users, Sage has just released Service Pack 1.

It adds a number of fixes and enhancements and I recommend it for all users.

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Note: Apply this update 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.

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You might find the following knowledge base articles helpful:

• What Changes Were Made in ACT! by Sage 2010 SP1
• What Changes Were Made in ACT! by Sage Premium for Web 2010 SP1
• How to Download and Apply ACT! by Sage 2010 SP1
• How to Download and Apply the ACT! by Sage 2010 SP1 Hot Fix 1

 

Technorati Tags: ACT! by Sage,ACT2010,ACT,CRM

Tips for converting ACT! 6.0 (or earlier) data to Act! v19

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

If you already have a later version installed, you’ll need to start ACTDIAG as per:
How to Use the ACT! 6.0 Diagnostic Tool When a Later Edition of ACT! is also Installed

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! 7.0 – 19.1

You are now ready to install the new Act! 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.
See the Act! Download Centre – you might need BOTH a Service Pack and a Hotfix, depending on your install.

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 versions 2005 (v7) through v19.1

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

How to Download and Apply the ACT! by Sage 2010 Hot Fix 4

NOTE: This document has now been superseded by - ACT! 2010 Service Pack 1 is available!

This documentation describes Hot Fix 4 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 4" 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?

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Note: 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.

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ACT! hot fixes are cumulative, so hot fix 4 also resolves issues fixed in hot fixes 1, 2 and 3. If you have already installed hot fix 1, 2 or 3, you can safely install hot fix 4.

Hot Fix 4 for ACT! version 2010 may resolve your issues if:

• You are an ACT! Premium for Web user and are unable to print from the address book.
• You cannot replace the contents of the Record Manager using Edit > Replace.
• You are using a Microsoft® Outlook® rule to automatically attach incoming e-mail to ACT! contacts and see Microsoft Outlook stop responding when you received e-mail.
• Your installation has advanced queries or dynamic group/company membership that is based on contact access (contact is private) and have problems after upgrading your database from ACT! by Sage 2008 (10.0) or ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0) to ACT! 2010.
• You see slow performance when switching views or looking up records.
• You are an ACT! Premium customer whose installation includes customized databases, have upgraded from ACT! by Sage Premium 2008 (10.0) or ACT! by Sage Premium 2009 (11.0), and are now seeing generic application crash errors when viewing Group, Company, or Opportunity views in ACT! by Sage 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 4

Area	Description	What the Fix Does
Address Books	ACT! Premium for Web users are unable to print from an address book.	Enables the user to print from the address book.

Fixed in Hot Fix 3

ACT! hot fixes are cumulative, so hot fix 4 also contains the following fixes distributed in hot fix 3.

Area	Description	What the Fix Does
Contacts	Record Manager is unavailable as an option in the Edit > Replace field function.	Enables the Edit >Replace field function for Record Manager.
Outlook Integration	Users see slow response time when opening a database or performing a lookup on a database that contains a large number of fields.	Repairs memory issue so performance does not suffer during this operation.
Database Upgrade	Customers who have sync sets built on Opportunity and who upgrade to ACT! 2010 see ProductException error messages.	Updates the SQL statement to correct the syntax which can cause the update not complete successfully.
Database Upgrade	Upgrade users who have queries or dynamic membership based on contact access receive error message when attempting to access Contacts, Groups, or Companies.	Modifies the schema to find and correct any syncset, group, or company queries where Contact Access is part of the criteria.

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

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

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 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

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

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

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.