I do too have enough disk space!

You receive the e-mail from your ACT! admin, your ACT! CC, or your hosting provider (hopefully TrilogyCRM!) and you follow the instructions to apply your Service Pack.  The file starts to unpack and. . . “There is not enough space on drive C:\ to extract this package”. 

What?  You know you have about 14TB open.  This is an iddy biddy file.  You have tons of disk space!

It’s true, you do have enough disk space.  If you copy the file the file, within the folder, it should extract just fine.  In most cases, the file will be in your Downloads file.  If you chose a different location, substitute that location where we reference the Downloads folder. 

  1. Navigate to your Downloads folder. 
  2. Right click on teh ACTPrem2013SP1_US_Update.exe file
  3. Choose Copy
  4. Right click any where in that folder and choose Paste
  5. You’ll end up with the original file and a faile named “ACTPrem2012SP1_US_Update-Copy.exe”
  6. Double click the Copy file

The file should extract and you’re on your way to Sage ACT! 2013 SP1!

ACT! 2013 Sync Failed

Sage recently released Service Pack 1 for Sage ACT! 2013.  If your database administrator is on top fo the releases, it’s likely that SP1 was installed at the server level, and now you need to apply it to your local copy.  If you are the database admin, you might get a few calls about your users getting this message: 

ACT! 2013 SP1 does include a database schema update.  That basically means the format of the database is changed as part of the update.  All of the databases, server and remotes, have to be running the same version.  So, the first step is to check the version.  Click Help, then About ACT!.  If you are running SP1 the version is Sage ACT! 2013 Version 15.1.108.0.

If the versions don’t match, you’ll want to follow the instructions in this Sage KB http://bit.ly/Wvahig to apply SP1.  After you apply the Service Pack, ACT! will prompt you to update the database.  You must have Admin priviledges to ACT! to do so.  If you receive a message that you don’t have the proper database rights like this: 

At this point, you should get in touch with your database administrator.  The ACT! database admin can login with their credentials, update the database, log out and then you are on your way!  Of course, should you prefer expert help with applying the service pack, you can always engage TrilogyCRM’s support team.  Give us a call at 866.303.0276 or for the quickest response, e-mail us at support@trilogycrm.com.

Hosting also offers peace-of-mind

There are so many reasons the term “cloud-based” is in just about every tech conversation these days. Retirement of servers, desktop support, standardization – they are all viable reasons. The definition of cloud-based varies as well. The key to any of the definitions is out-sourcing. Getting something off your plate and letting someone else handle it. Another great reason is the security of having experts behind your database should something go wrong.

Recently a customer called in a panic. She had deleted virtually their entire database. It’s easier than you think. We all go about a mile-a-minute in our business day. It’s easy to just click something you don’t mean to click, and then “oops”, all the Contacts were gone. Since this is a Hosting customer, we were able to calm the user down, recut a remote database and all was well with the world within 20 minutes of her call. While we were getting her remote database cut, she was able to access the main database via the web. The customer barely skipped a beat.

In another recent customer incident, a self-hosted customer, their server was fried during a recent storm. Their IT department had their database backing up via tape drive. Fast forward 2 days and the IT company digging through tapes to reconstruct their ACT! files, we had to restore a database backup that was more than a month old.

Whether you are downsizing your server room, looking to shrink the burden of desktop support, outsourcing your ACT! hosting makes sense. It’s peace of mind and it’s smart business.

It’s that time of year. . .

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.

Sage ACT! 2011 Sync Error

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.

Should you upgrade ACT!?

A customer asked us recently, “How often should I upgrade?” A purely numbers driven sales person might say, “Every version, silly!” We answer a bit more realistically, with more consideration for our customer.

So many software companies have adopted the new version every year philosophy. Why do they do this to us? A struggle for software developers is achieving recurring income. When you put out a good solid software product, people buy it, they love it, but they may not upgrade for several versions. So as the software company, you search for a way to bolster a continuous stream of revenue. One way is the annual release. Read more

ACT! & Personal Activities

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

Will the “Cloud” Take Over?

I had an interesting conversation with a customer recently.  This customer was considering leaving ACT! and moving to SalesForce.  While discussing the benefits of ACT! and comparing against SalesForce, the customer asked, “Don’t you see the day that everything is cloud-based?”  We hear this, or some version of this, nearly every day.  Customers frantically trying to figure out ways to move their businesses into the “Cloud”, nervous they’ll be left behind some technology barrier otherwise.  Spoiler alert:  they stayed with ACT! and are quickly adding new ACT! users.  Read more

Company Field Alignment Fix

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

What will that upgrade impact?

Sure, we really like to have that shiny, latest and greatest whoziwhatzit as much as the next guy.  But, sometimes upgrading to the latest and greatest is not the best idea.  A recent, real example is the release of Internet Explorer 9. 

We’ve been getting calls and e-mails daily regarding ACT! “issues”.  After a few diagnosing questions, we find that the user upgraded their Internet Explorer.  Well, why not?  Microsoft flashed that little notice that it’s out, may as well, right?  Maybe not.  Read more