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In-Depth Review
ACT! by Sage Premium 2009
Sage Software Inc.
8800 North Gainey Center Drive, Suite 200
Scottsdale, Arizona 85258 USA
Telephone: 480-368-3700
Fax: 480-368-3799
Toll Free: 888-855-5222
Email:
Web: http://www.act.com/
Sage Software began not as one company, but as the efforts of many
entrepreneurs who built their successful products and businesses with a
sincere focus on their customers. Today, our company represents the
culmination of that combined entrepreneurial spirit, drive, and vision.
For more than 30 years, companies that have joined the Sage Software family
have assisted small and medium-sized businesses with a wide range of
business management applications and services. With roots reaching back to
the 1970s, our company has grown and developed to meet the evolving needs of
our customers through a combination of internal product development and
acquisition.
Currently we support more than 2.4 million customers in the U.S. and Canada.
Our sole focus is to provide business management software and services to
small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Our applications cover a full
range of business requirements including accounting, customer relationship
management, contact management, human resources, warehouse management,
specialized industry needs, among many others. To address our customers'
needs, we market our applications in two customer-focused divisions: Small
Business and Mid-Market.
Our parent company, London-based The Sage Group, plc., reaches a global
client base that numbers 4.7 million SMB customers worldwide. It serves
these businesses through more than 8,000 employees in operations in North
America, the UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, South
Africa, Australia, and various countries in Asia.
See also:
Product: ACT! by Sage Premium 2009
Current Version: 11.0
Category: On-Premise SOHO CRM Solution
Sub-Category: Contact Manager
Client Platform: Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft
Windows Vista
Server Platform:
Database Platform: Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Express Edition
Breaking News:
New ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0) Product Family Centers On User Experience
ACT! customers speak and Sage CRM Solutions delivers on users’
most desired contact and customer management productivity enhancements
Scottsdale, Ariz. - August 12, 2008 - Sage CRM Solutions, part of the
Sage Group plc, today announced availability of the new ACT! by Sage 2009
(11.0) contact and customer management product family consisting of ACT! by
Sage 2009 (11.0), ACT! by Sage Premium 2009 (11.0), and ACT! by Sage Premium
for Web 2009 (11.0). Inspired by customer feedback, ACT! 2009 products focus
on enhancing user productivity with improved Microsoft® Outlook®
integration, calendar and activity visibility, and database search
capabilities. ACT! 2009 is available in North America beginning today.
Additional local language versions are in development and will be delivered
incrementally.
"We completed interviews, surveys and usability tests with thousands of
customers to improve ACT! functionality," said Joe Bergera, executive vice
president and global general manager, Sage CRM Solutions. "This feedback
helped us create the most productive ACT! experience we have ever offered.
Our customers spoke, we listened, and we have delivered a tool that can help
them grow sales, save time, and reduce operating expenses in trying
economies, or any business environment."
ACT! by Sage is the #1 selling contact and customer management solution used
effectively by more than 2.8 million users and over 43,000 additional
corporate customers, including individual professionals, small business
owners, corporate teams, and anyone who regularly works with contacts. ACT!
by Sage Premium Solutions are specifically designed to benefit larger teams
of users with increased data sharing capabilities, group scheduling
functionality, advanced opportunity tracking and customization capabilities,
robust dashboards and reports, and multiple security levels.
New ACT! 2009 productivity features include:
- En masse e-mail attaching – select multiple Microsoft Outlook
e-mails from different senders and attach them quickly to ACT! contacts
- Activity scheduling from e-mails – create ACT! activities within
Outlook e-mails and the contact and regarding/subject line is
pre-populated
- One-click calendar copy – copy an ACT! calendar to an Outlook
calendar quickly from the main ACT! toolbar
Improved ACT! 2009 productivity features include:
- Simplified lookups – search by only part of a name or title; switch
between contact, group or company to modify a search without starting
over; advanced queries from main lookup(1) toolbar carry previous
searches over for refining
- Fast access to previous contact lookups – view the last several
contact lookups by type, date, timestamp, and number of contacts in a
query
- Calendar filters applied on printouts – print an ACT! calendar with
selected users, type, priority, and date range applied
New and improved ACT! 2009 database and automation options include:
- Automated tasks – automate calendar(1) copying, database backups(2)
and maintenance from ACT! Scheduler (previously only available in ACT!
Premium)
- Streamlined sync progress bar – see progress of database
synchronization by steps and time remaining
A complete list of new and improved ACT! 2009 features is available at
www.act.com
ACT! 2009 Product Family Available In North America Today
Sage Software in North America today also announced ACT! Premium – Corporate
Edition, an exclusive offering for its corporate customers that includes
ACT! Premium and ACT! Premium for Web(3) on a single-user license to provide
users with the benefits of both Windows and Web-based ACT! clients. The
Corporate Edition also includes enhanced service from dedicated account
managers, access to sales engineers during the purchasing process, and
volume discount pricing.
ACT! 2009 and ACT! Premium 2009 are also available immediately, at no cost,
for North American customers who are subscribed to the ACT! Platinum Care
service. ACT! Platinum Care, announced in July, ensures that annual
subscribers receive all upgrades released for their registered ACT! product
during their subscription period and provides exclusive access to online
business development forums, sales training resources, and exclusive ACT!
Add-on offers.
In a separate announcement today, Sage Software detailed over 65 ACT! Add-on
solutions that further extend ACT! 2009 with marketing, shipping, mapping
and mobile device synchronization capabilities, among other functions.
"We’re participating in an enormous amount of conversations with customers
on the ACT! Online Community," said David van Toor, senior vice president
and general manager for Sage CRM Solutions North America. "Community member
comments helped refine many ACT! 2009 features, and aided our customer beta
testing program in achieving extremely high levels of participation.
Connecting with our customers continues to have a powerful impact on how we
deliver the ACT! user experience."
The ACT! Online Community (http://community.act.com), introduced earlier
this year, has recorded over five million page views and more than 75,000
forum logins in its first six months of operation.
Sage Software Announces Over 65 Add-On Partner Solutions For The New
ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0) Product Family
Add-on applications extend ACT! contact and customer management
functionality in areas including marketing, shipping, Voice-over-IP
telephony, and mobility among others
Scottsdale, Ariz. - August 12, 2008 - Sage Software today announced over
65 ACT! Add-on solutions compatible with the new ACT! by Sage 2009 (11.0)
contact and customer management product family. ACT! Add-on solutions
complement and expand ACT! functionality by offering innovative productivity
tools that simplify sales, marketing, financial, project management,
reporting, shipping, Voice-over-IP telephony, and mobile device
synchronization tasks, among other key business activities. Sage Software
reviews all ACT! Add-on solutions to ensure they integrate with ACT!. A
complete list of ACT! Add-on solutions and pricing is available at
www.actsolutions.com.
“ACT! Add-on solutions extend the centralized database convenience and
flexibility of ACT! into very specific functional areas,” explained David
van Toor, senior vice president and general manager for Sage CRM Solutions,
North America. "Our network of add-on developers has succeeded in helping
entrepreneurs, small businesses, and corporate teams solve unique problems
by further leveraging the power of their ACT! implementations. We value
their continued support.”
Developers interested in the ACT! Add-on Partner Program can learn more at:
www.act.com/partners/addonpartners.
The ACT! 2009 product family was introduced in a separate Sage CRM Solutions
announcement today. (See “New ACT! by Sage 2009 Product Family Centers On
User Experience” press release for further details.)
The following ACT! Add-on solutions have been reviewed by Sage Software to
ensure they operate with the new ACT! 2009 product family:
ACTIVATOR! Automated Sales Assistant by Mastermind Software – marketing and
sales process automation enhancements for ACT! including pre-defined sales
action plans and document templates.
AddressGrabber Business by eGrabber, Inc. – single-click data entry that
automatically extracts contact details from Web sites, e-mails and documents
and enters them into ACT!; also schedules calls, meetings and to-do’s for
incoming leads.
AddressGrabber Standard by eGrabber, Inc. – single-click data entry that
automatically extracts contact details from Web sites, e-mails and documents
and enters them into ACT!.
AddressGrabber Suite for ACT! by eGrabber Inc. – productivity suite that
speeds up frequently performed addressing and scheduling tasks in ACT!.
Advanced Do Not Call Lookup by EXPONENCIEL – helps telemarketers comply with
FTC and avoid heavy penalties.
The Associator by Durkin Computing – add unlimited free-form associations
between ACT! contacts, auto-grouped by type and displayed in the contact
detail view.
AutoAdmin III by ASDS Computer Company – automatically backs up and
maintains ACT! data to save users time and guard against data loss.
Automatic Field Calculations by EXPONENCIEL – adds automatic calculations to
contact, group or company layouts; over 50 mathematical, date/time, string,
and financial functions including an “if” statement for building scenarios.
AutoNumbers for ACT! by EXPONENCIEL – automatically numbers ACT! contacts,
companies, groups or opportunities at time of creation.
Bulk Change IT by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – edits opportunity fields across
multiple entries in one easy process.
BusinessMap by ESRI, Inc. – mapping software for U.S. and Canada creates
custom maps from ACT! database with color coding and drive time, among other
features.
Calendar View Plus by Durkin Computing – extends ACT! scheduling with
multiple columns per day, extends print and font options, provides Gantt
charts, filters activities by contact, group, or company.
CompanionLink Express by CompanionLink Software, Inc. – synchronizes ACT!
contact data with PDAs and Smartphones.
Company Wizard by Patricia Egen Consulting, LLC – automatically add ACT!
contacts to a Company Record from the contact list; if the company doesn’t
exist, it will be created; if the contact is already a member of a company,
it is skipped.
Contact List Plus by Durkin Computing – enriches ACT! Contact List view with
color-coded organization and editing and transforms contact list into a
personalized color-coded data view; advanced contact retrieval using data
and color rules.
Copy Fields Wizard by Patricia Egen Consulting, LLC – copy, swap or replace
any ACT! field to any ACT! field.
CRM Integrator for ACT! by ConverTec Inc. – integrates ACT! with Nortel’s
Business Communications Manager (BCM) and Norstar phone systems.
Crystal Clear Essentials by ADS Programming Services – built upon the
Crystal Reports® report generator, includes 15 reports that can easily be
run from the ACT! Report menu; additional prompts allow users to customize
reports.
Dial IT - TAPI by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – dial and answer calls, update and
add new contacts, create history and schedule activities.
DocAdmin by ASDS Computer Company – scans documents into ACT! with a single
mouse click; stores in PDF format so users can open, print, e-mail, etc.
DoubleLook by CompanionLink Software, Inc. – automatic settings to
synchronize contacts and activities between ACT! and Microsoft® Outlook®.
Duplicate Remover Wizard by Patricia Egen Consulting, LLC – mass duplicate
contact removal for ACT!, merges duplicate records based on user-selected
criteria.
eGrabber DupChecker by eGrabber Inc. – data cleansing tool that finds,
checks and merges duplicate records in an ACT! database.
eMail-Lead Grabber Business by eGrabber Inc. – automates lead processing by
importing information from Web site e-mail forms and checking for
duplicates.
Excel Templates by EXPONENCIEL – merges contact information from Microsoft
Excel® using same as Microsoft Word®.
Excel Templates with Quote/Invoice Maker by EXPONENCIEL – quick generation
of quotes and invoices from ACT! data with no retyping required.
Export IT by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – exports ACT! data into Excel
spreadsheet.
FaxAdmin by ASDS Computer Company – sends faxes from within ACT!; with quick
fax and mail-merge fax features.
Fields and Tables to Excel Wizard by Patricia Egen Consulting, LLC – select
an ACT! database and this tool opens Excel and creates a workbook with a
separate spreadsheet for every table (entity) within ACT!.
Group IT by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – searches multiple groups and companies
within ACT! database.
Handheld Contact for BlackBerry® by J2X Technologies Inc. – wireless service
synchronizes ACT! features on BlackBerry handheld devices.
Handheld Contact for Pocket PC or Treo™ Smartphone by J2X Technologies Inc.
– wireless service synchronizes ACT! features on Pocket PC or Treo handheld
devices.
High Impact eMail 4.0 Professional by TemplateZone – create and send dynamic
HTML marketing e-mails; 1,100+ professionally designed templates, advanced
e-mail builders, photo editors and list management tools enhance e-mail
marketing campaigns.
Home Page Plus by Durkin Computing – creates new tab in ACT! on the Contact
Detail view for navigating to and viewing a contact’s Web site.
Import IT by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – fast and accurate way to import and
merge data into ACT!.
InfoOptics Universal Data Translator by Information Optics – integrates ACT!
with order entry, e-commerce, loan processing and accounting systems.
IOC Campaign by Information Optics – generates follow-up e-mails, faxes and
letters to prospects and customers from ACT! database.
KnowledgeSync Alerts Edition by Vineyardsoft Corporation – automates
repetitive tasks and relieves burden of monitoring applications and data for
exceptions.
KnowledgeSync Business Edition by Vineyardsoft Corporation – automates
repetitive tasks and relieves burden of monitoring applications and data for
exceptions.
ListGrabber Standard by eGrabber, Inc. – captures lists of contacts from Web
sites and documents and transfers them into ACT!.
The Lookup Manager by Durkin Computing – lookup management tool saves time
from going back and forth between contacts, groups and companies; also
resets last contact, last view and last selected tab on startup.
MergeAdmin™ by ASDS Computer Company – updates ACT! on a field-by-field
level with data from an external ASCII file.
MigrateAdmin by ASDS Computer Company – converts GoldMine® data into ACT!.
OfficeReady for ACT! by KMT Software, Inc. – includes 500+ Office and ACT!
merge templates, plus pre-written business letters and “create PDF” feature.
Outreach by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – choose contacts and define e-mail fields
that will be proofed prior to sending.
Primary to Secondary Contact Wizard by Patricia Egen Consulting, LLC –
change primary contacts to secondary contacts; users can optionally copy
notes and history to the primary record and keep the original contact as a
primary.
QuoteWerks by Aspire Technologies, Inc. – creates professional looking and
detailed quotes using ACT! contact information; handles volume pricing,
bundles and more.
RemarkableMail by C2 Business Advisors – step-by-step instructions for
printing and mailing postcard campaigns directly from ACT!.
ResumeGrabber by eGrabber, Inc. – automatically creates a contact in ACT!
with resume as an attachment.
ResumeGrabber Pro by eGrabber Inc. – resume data entry tool that
automatically creates a contact in ACT! with the resume as an attachment.
Scan IT by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – enters business card information directly
into ACT! using a CardScan business card scanner.
Scan2CRM for ACT! by Card Scanning Solutions – integrated, add-on scanning
system for ACT! that scans business cards and automatically inputs textual
data and images into a new contact record.
Search IT by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – creates save-able data searches in
ACT!.
ShipRush FedEx® for ACT! by Z-Firm, LLC – automatically pulls address from
ACT! and saves tracking number in ACT! history tab, includes built in e-mail
notifications.
ShipRush UPS® for ACT! by Z-Firm, LLC – automatically pulls address from
ACT! and saves tracking number in ACT! history tab; includes built in e-mail
notifications.
Stonefield Query for ACT! by Stonefield Software Inc. – end-user query tool
streamlines report generation from the ACT! database.
Swiftpage Basic by Swiftpage Email – online e-mail system for marketing and
sales that integrates with ACT!; reports who opened an e-mail and what they
clicked on.
Swiftpage Pro by Swiftpage Email – online e-mail system for marketing and
sales that integrates with ACT!; reports who opened an e-mail and what they
clicked on; also enables mail merge data from custom ACT! fields and call
list qualification by scoring.
Swiftpage Team by Swiftpage – e-mail marketing solution that integrates into
ACT! and identifies who to send e-mail to, who to call, and what to talk
about with contacts.
Table IT by CRMADDON Factory GmbH – builds custom tables in ACT! and helps
define relationships between contacts, companies and groups.
Task List Plus by Durkin Computing – advanced ACT! task list view features
help reassign multiple activities and perform calculations with a single
mouse click.
Tele-Support HelpDesk by Resource Dynamics, Inc. – customer service, help
desk, call tracking, and customer support tools for use within ACT!.
TopLine Alerts Back-up by TopLine Results Corporation – backs up an ACT!
Windows- or Web-based database to a standard ACT! back-up file on a
specified schedule, monitors back-ups and sends back-up failure
notifications to Inbox or PDA, and automatically deletes old back-ups.
TopLine Alerts Professional by TopLine Results Corporation – sends e-mail
notifications to Inbox or PDA; monitors activities and opportunities for all
ACT! users.
TopLine Dash Alerts by TopLine Results Corporation – sends customized e-mail
notifications or TopLine Dash PDF reports to Inbox or PDA; monitors
activities and opportunities for all ACT! users.
TopLine Dash Manager by TopLine Results Corporation – centralizes key
business intelligence in a single view to help sales teams prioritize
efforts, assess performance and predict results.
TopLine Dash Personal by TopLine Results Corporation – organizes ACT!
activity, opportunity, notes and history information in an interactive
dashboard for sales performance analysis.
TopLine Designer by TopLine Results Corporation – creates, designs and
navigates custom tables in ACT!.
VoIP AddOn for ACT! by VoIP AddOn – complete business-class telephony
integration within ACT!, automatic screen pops of customer records, direct
dial from ACT!, more.
For pricing details, see:
http://estore.act.com/?campaign=buynowtop
We recently honored this program with our Willy award for:
- Best On-Premise SOHO CRM Solution
A fully updated review of this product will be available in Real
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Short List
If you are considering this program, you should also look at these other
CRM solutions:
Recommended Add-on Accessories
|
Company |
Product
|
| Mastermind
Software |
ACTIVATOR! |
Rich's Recommended Web Sites
ACT! Online Community
The ACT! Online Community’s mission is to enable all users of ACT! to
engage and interact with one another through a variety of different
communication forums and tools.
ACT! Online Community Features
In addition to subject matter expert blogs, the ACT! Online Community
includes:
- ACT! Forum – Discussion board for individual and
small business ACT! users to post ideas and questions, and share
information about their ACT! experiences.
- ACT! Premium Forum – Discussion board for people
using ACT! Premium in a workgroup or corporate environment.
- ACT! Developer’s Network – Discussion board for
product developers regarding the ACT! architecture, technology
questions, and the development of ACT! add-on solutions.
- Best Practices Forum – Discussion board for ACT!
Online Community members to share sales and marketing best practices,
how-to’s, and a variety of support tips.
- How do you ACT!? – Discussion board for ACT! Online
Community members to share their success stories.
- ACT! Extras – An additional section providing links
for ACT! eNews, submitting feature requests to the product development
team, and providing feedback and suggestions about the ACT! Online
Community.
http://community.act.com/
Blogs from Sage Management
http://community.act.com/sage/?category.id=Blogs
Z-Firm
Developers of some of my favorite ACT! accessories: FaxRush, ShipRush and
EmailRush
http://www.zfirm.com/
ASDS Computer Company
Steve McCandlish has been developing great add-on tools for ACT! as long
as anyone!
http://www.asdscomputer.com/
Information Optics Corporation
IOC Campaign is your silent marketing assistant, constantly sending the
right information to the right people at the right time.
http://infooptics.com/
For more useful ACT! add-ons, please see:
Rich's Recommended Reads
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