This one goes out to our Sage ACT! 2011 hosting customers. Sage recently released Sage ACT! 2011 SP1 Hot Fix 6. This release does contain schema changes, and if your remote database is not on the same version as your main database, you will not be able to synchronize. Simply put, since our Sage ACT! 2011 servers are now running HF 6, all remote users must install HF 6 to successfully synchronize.

To check your version, from within ACT!, click Help, then About ACT!.

The version should read 13.1.11.0, Hot Fix 6. Here is a Knowledge Base article to help you update to the correct version – http://bit.ly/zshwen. To simply download and then apply the Hot Fix use this link – http://bit.ly/xXlNBk.

Even if you are in a self-hosted environment, the mis-matched versions may apply and could be the root of a sync error. It’s also worth investigating the Hot Fix. There are several key bug fixes worth installing. Just remember, all databases, host and remotes, have to be on the same version for everyone to sync successfully in this case.

We recently developed a summer training series for a customer, yes we do that too, and during that session a user asked, “what if I just want to schedule a dentist appointment? I don’t wanna enter my dentist, but I need the appointment on my calendar.” This is one of those things as a 12 year ACT! CC and user of ACT! since 1993 that I take for granted. It’s a great little tip, really.

One of the great things about ACT! is the relationship to the Contact. If you are new to ACT!, it’s something we long timers take for granted. Unlike PIMs (personal information managers, like Outlook or your Blackberry), in ACT! it’s about the Contact. If you schedule a Call, you schedule it with the person you are calling. This perpetuates the lifecycle of sales. Histories prompt follow up. Clearing Activities creates Histories. Documents get merged and attached to Contacts, and all the while these ACT! items are related to the Contact. That’s the ACT! experience. Everything in one place, related to your Customers and Prospects. Read more

Have you ever bought something new and you just love it?  Then you notice this one flaw that catches your eye?  From that moment on that flaw is this annoyance you just can’t disregard.  Well, we were right there with you when Sage ACT! 2011 was released.  Packed with so many great new features that were obviously based on things we the users asked for.  Love it.  Still love it, but that Company field! 

Yeah, it drove us crazy too.  You are working with your Contacts, glance down at the Company field and, what?  I can only see the last few letters of the Company’s name.  Annoying right?  Read more