Don’t panic, it’s not quite time to start Holiday shopping. It is just about time for a new version of ACT! to hit the virtual shelves. Sage ACT! 2013 is slated for a September release, in standing with Sage’s annual release cycle for the ACT! product. This release is focused on the business needs of today, with new features based on mobility, e-marketing to social media.

Sage ACT! Premium Mobile
Possibly the most buzz worthy addition is Sage ACT! Premium Mobile. It was actually a feature added at the very end of Sage ACT! 2012, but it’s been beefed up, improved upon and now even includes Opportunities. Sage ACT! Premium Mobile is web-based access to your database via devices like iPhone, iPad and Droid. That means, anywhere you have internet access on HTML 5 compatible mobile device, you can get to your live database. This is big. It’s what our customers have been asking for since the first smart phone released.

Social Media
Another feature is enhanced Social Media integration. You clients and prospects are out there using social media. Sage ACT! 2013 will allow you to pull your customers recent posts together into one, centralized view on their ACT! contact record. It’s a way to be truly in tune with your customers needs and allows you to act, pun intended, on those.

New Improved E-marketing
Sage E-marketing for ACT! is a great way to send professional e-mails, via a real e-mail marketing engine, to your prospects and customers. Eye-catching campaigns can now spread beyond the simple inbox by pushing to social media like LinkedIn®, Facebook®, and Twitter® using Social Sharing.

Offline Smart Tasks
Smart Tasks just got a little smarter in Sage ACT! 2013. Now, your automated tasks will run even when ACT! is closed. You can also configure data and field triggers to automatically update fields based on defined criteria. For instance, schedule a to-do automatically based on the ID/Status of a Contact being changed from Prosect to Customer. You’ll be getting more done, because ACT! is automating your process. It’s like having a virtual assistant.

From accessing your database online from your mobile devices with Sage ACT! Premium Mobile, to automating your processes with improved Smart Tasks, Sage ACT! 2013 is a version packed with features worth upgrading for. Need help upgrading, give us a shout at 866-303-0276 or e-mail us at support@trilogycrm.com. We’d love to chat about what Sage ACT! 2013 has in store.

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

We’ve shown you how to add a couple cool buttons to your Sage ACT! Toolbar in previous posts – the Sync Now & Refresh buttons.  What if you have a document you are constantly creating – a proposal maybe.  For me, it’s our ACT! Hosting Agreement.  Clicking Write, then Other Documents, finding the custom Template, well with all those clicks, you’re just asking for a mouse finger sprain!  You can create a custom toolbar button and generate that Template with one click!  Read more