Act CRM vs. Microsoft Outlook

by Tony Holowitz | Sep 17, 2021 | Act CRM & Microsoft Outlook, ACT CRM Sales Software Tips | 0 comments

Some people use Outlook to manage their contacts and I think that is a mistake. Act versus Outlook: They should be using ACT.

In my opinion you cannot even compare Act to Outlook as a sales and marketing tool. Microsoft Outlook is a great email program and Act is a great contact manager. Outlook is a poor contact manager and Act is a lousy email program. If you combine these two pieces of software your small business has a fantastic set of tools that will help you implement virtually any sales and marketing plans that you might have.

Customer follow-up with Act: no problem!

Act makes it easy to lookup your clients and prospects, organize sales opportunities and generate reports. Act makes it easy to make sure none of your contacts slip through the cracks because you can find people or contacts that need to be touched. Outlook just does not have this ability. In my opinion, one of the best things about Act is that you can find the things that you don’t know that you don’t know about.

So what is better Act or Outlook? How come you are not using both Act and Outlook for your business or sales organization? That is the real question. This video explains some of the reasons why and some of the differences.

Tony Holowitz and Keystroke Quality Computing

by Tony Holowitz | Sep 17, 2021 | ACT CRM Sales Software Tips, News & Updates | 0 comments

Update: I have been a partner with Keystroke Quality Computing for 6 years this month: September 2021.

Many things have changed since that time. People come and go. Act changes and improvements are made, but the fundamentals remain the same. Keep in touch with your clients and connect with your prospects on a regular basis and good things will happen. Act is perfect for that.

The post below was originally published in September 2015.

On September 1st 2015, I partnered with Keystroke Quality Computing so I could offer more to my clients and readers. Let me tell you why.

I am an Act Certified Consultant (ACC) and I love to teach and help my clients make more out of act. Think of me as the driving instructor of act software. One of my responsibilities as an act certified consultant is to help my clients purchase act. As a small business owner, I found this service to be very time-consuming so I sought out a better approach to this process. Swiftpage, owners of Act Software, are constantly updating their services and simply keeping track of pricing promotions, updates and new product introductions was very time consuming. I was feeling overwhelmed. That is why I decided to partner with Ken Quigley, President and Owner of Keystroke Quality Computing, Act’s largest reseller of Act Software in North America.

Why should you ask me for a price quote for act software?

I love learning about new things. Matt Patterson is the person that works with me to provide price quotes for my act clients. When Matt sends you a price quote it comes to you via a tool called QuoteWerks. QuoteWerks is a tool and add-on for act that I was familiar with but had never used. If you are trying to streamline your sales process I would urge you to get a quote from Matt for act software and at the same time ask him to give you a demo with QuoteWerks. It is truly amazing how QuoteWerks streamlines the sales process and it might be a valuable addition to your business.

I look forward to working with and learning from the folks at Keystroke Quality Computing. Thank you for making me a part of your team Ken.

Act CRM Software and Microsoft Office Compatibility

by Tony Holowitz | Sep 16, 2021 | Act CRM & Microsoft Outlook, ACT CRM Sales Software Tips, Act CRM Software Fundamentals, Act CRM Software Knowledgebase (KB) Articles | 0 comments

When you consider upgrading your current version of act, one of your considerations should be how it impacts other software that you use daily. For example, Microsoft Office.

Typically every fall, Act CRM Software introduces a new version. In the next few days, there will be two new versions of Act introduced: Act version 24 and Act CRM. It is very important to understand the relationship between Act & Microsoft Office. Especially Outlook. So much correspondence flows via e-mail. Much more than printed documents in many businesses.

This information is from Act CRM’s Knowledge Base and some of it applies to older versions of Act:

Supported Versions of Microsoft® Office by Version of Act!

6 months ago
Updated

Question:
You would like to know which versions of Microsoft Office are supported by which versions of Act!.

Answer:
Please refer to the table below for the versions of Office supported by each version of Act! (ACT! 2005 and higher). Support includes integration with Word, Outlook®, and Excel®.

Version of Act!	Supported Versions of Microsoft Office
Act! v23	2013 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2016 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2019 (32-bit & 64-bit) Microsoft® Exchange and Office 365 for contact and calendar synchronization for Windows (Further information around Exchange support is available here)
Act! v22	2013 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2016 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2019 (32-bit & 64-bit)
Act! v21	2013 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2016 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2019 (32-bit & 64-bit)* Please note that whilst Office 2019 is supported with Act! v21, due to the timing of the release final certification has not** been completed against it. Certification is targeted for v21.1*
Act! v20	2010 (32-bit & 64-bit) (v20.1 not compatible), 2013 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2016 (32-bit & 64-bit)
Act! v19	2010 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2013 (32-bit & 64-bit), 2016 (32-bit & 64-bit) Currently, there is a known issue with using certain builds of Office 2016 with Act!. For information, please see: Known issues and workarounds for using Microsoft Outlook 2016 with Act! v18 and v19
Act! v18	2007, 2010 (32-bit only), 2013 (32-bit only), 2016 (32-bit only) Currently, there is a known issue with using certain builds of Office 2016 with Act!. For information, please see: Known issues and workarounds for using Microsoft Outlook 2016 with Act! v18 and v19
Act! v17	2007, 2010 (32-bit only), 2013 (32-bit only) For information about Microsoft Office 2016, please see: Is Act! compatible with Microsoft Office 2016?
Act! v16	2003, 2007, 2010 (32-bit only), 2013 (32-bit only)
Sage ACT! 2013	2003, 2007, 2010 (32-bit only)
Sage ACT! 2012	2003, 2007, 2010 (32-bit only)
Sage ACT! 2011	2003, 2007, 2010 (32-bit only)
ACT! by Sage 2010	2002 (XP), 2003, 2007
ACT! by Sage 2009	2002 (XP), 2003, 2007
ACT! by Sage 2008	2002 (XP), 2003, 2007
ACT! by Sage 2007	2000, 2002 (XP), 2003
ACT! by Sage 2006	2000, 2002 (XP), 2003
ACT! 2005	2000, 2002 (XP), 2003

Office 365
Office 365, as a web based service, is only supported on Act! v20.1 and later using the Act! Outlook Integration feature. If you are using v20.0 or earlier, the locally installed version of Outlook that comes with your Office 365 subscription is supported as long as you are using a local Outlook profile. Please note that if you are using an Act! version prior to v19, Click-to-Run installations of Outlook are not supported.

As of v18.0 Act! Premium (access via web) users who have configured the Act! Premium Web API can use the Act! Premium Contact Link to connect their Office 365 accounts to their Act! database. For more information, refer to the following knowledgebase article:

What is the Act! Premium Contact Link?
Answer ID What is the Act! Premium Contact Link?

Office Starter versions
Starter versions of Office are not supported by Act!. You must have a full, supported version of Office installed.

‘Click-to-Run’ Versions of Office
Click-to-Run versions of Office are not supported by Act! versions prior to v19. If you are using a version of Act! prior to v19, you must have a full, supported version of Office installed. To verify whether your version of office is Click-to-Run, refer to this Microsoft article titled “How to: Determine Whether Outlook Is a Click-to-Run Application on a Computer”: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff522355(v=office.15).aspx

64-bit Versions of Office
64-bit versions of Office are not supported by any version of Act! prior to Act! v19. If you are using a version of Act! prior to Act! v19, you must be using the 32-bit version of Office, which can be installed even if you are using a 64-bit operating system.

64-bit Office has compatibility limitations with other applications and components as well. Microsoft only recommends using a 64-bit version of Office under very specific circumstances, such as if you work with extremely large data sets. Most users do not meet these circumstances, and Microsoft recommends that the 32-bit version of Office is used for those who do not meet those circumstances. For more information, refer to the the following Microsoft article:
Choose the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Office

Source: https://help.act.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024251514-Supported-Versions-of-Microsoft-Office-by-Version-of-Act-

Automatic Company Creation: Act CRM Software Feature Review

by Tony Holowitz | Sep 16, 2021 | ACT CRM Sales Software Tips, News & Updates | 0 comments

Automating the Company Creation feature in Act CRM

My experience has been that many Act CRM users use Act’s group feature. However, the company feature isn’t used quite as much. Frankly, I don’t think people understand how to utilize companies in ACT; for many it is a tool that isn’t worth the time it takes to utilize it. Having said all of that, ACT (v16 and above) offers a feature called Automatic Company Creation and this feature might just change your mind about using companies.

The best thing about companies is that you have a visual clue, a blue hyperlink, in Act’s company field that tells you that there is more than one contact at that particular company. You call also see a summary of all Activities, Notes, Histories, Opportunities and much more in Act.

It is an underutilized resource for sure.

Act CRM: Rescheduling Multiple Activities

by Tony Holowitz | Sep 15, 2021 | ACT CRM Sales Software Tips, Act CRM Software Fundamentals, Act CRM Software Knowledgebase (KB) Articles | 0 comments

How often have you had to rework your schedule? Act now allows you to reschedule multiple activities and if you watch my quick video you’ll learn how to accomplish this.

In this quick Act CRM tutorial I will show you how to reschedule multiple activities to a new date and time.

My experience has been that this often happens when you over schedule your calendar within Act CRM. If you contact me for free tutorial I will show you a better approach to managing your calls within Act CRM. Tony Holowitz: 781-728-9777. Thank you and enjoy.