04-07-2017 05:14 AM
My Environement
1) SwiftPage: Subscription: ACT Premium Cloud ACT! Premium Version 19.1.63.0
2) Microsoft: Windows 10 - fully up-to-date as of 04/07/2017 Office 365 Version 1701 (Build 7766.2060) with Office Updates Off
I have inquiries about the software functionality of Activity Type with ACT running in the above referenced environment:
If these questions are better answered in a User Guide, written for SwiftPage's targeted business owners, not for information technology or CRM experts, then please direct me to it, as such a document has not been overtly offered to me by SwiftPage.
1) What is the functional difference between a Meeting and an Appointment?
a) In other words, how does ACT software code differentiate between a Meeting and an Appointment? What are the software design differences between a Meeting and an Appointment?
b) Why is Meeting Not an Other Activity and What is an Other Activity? Why is the software code designed so?
c) What is the functional difference between an Activity ( Meeting, Call, To Do, Other ) and an Other Activity ( Appointment & Custom Activities) and how does ACT software code differentiate them?
d)Regardless of the software design differences between a Meeting and an Appointment, what customer business requirements are being met for the two but different ACT Activity Types?
2) Please confirm and provide an understanding for the following regarding Custom Activities:
a) ACT Premium Cloud is designed such that a customer cannot create his own Custom Activity as this functionality is grayed out.
b) I have been told three times that ACT software and the business model of SwiftPage is for the customer to consume ACT's Technical Support resources to create new Custom Activities.
Note: I ask for confirmation here because I have numerous documentation of abject wrong information provided on other matters by ACT Technical Support, even at Level Two, about the software for which the Support professional is to have a core competency.
3) How do I:
a) Associate a unique icon to a Custom Activity?
b) Add a Custom Activity to my Toolbar?
Many Thank Yous. I am ardently endeavoring to utilize each and every bit of ACT functionality as represented to me by SwiftPage pre-sale.
04-07-2017 01:46 PM
04-08-2017 02:27 AM - edited 04-08-2017 02:33 AM
Here is my take on this -
With the integration of ACT and Outlook it was decided to be able to see if an activity for a meeting had been originally created in ACT or Outlook.
This was done by a meeting created in ACT showing as Meeting and a meeting in Outlook showing as Appointment.
Now it gets a bit more messy -
There are some you can't change like, Meeting, Appointment, To-Do, and some you can change like, Personal Activity and Vacation, which will appear as Other. You can also add to this list a custom activity which will also show in Other.
BUT --- The ability to change or add activity types is not yet in the cloud version but understand it is on the development list.
SO -- You have to make a request for Activity type changes or additions to the host manager which I think in your case is Swiftpage.
Tried not to get bogged down in jargon with explanation but probably failed!
05-08-2017 06:56 AM
Hi princeedwardh,
You can find a users help guide built into the software. It can be accessed by hitting F1 in the desktop software, or clicking the ? icon directly next to the search box in the upper right corner of the Act! web interface.
In answer to your questions:
05-13-2017 11:53 AM
Hey Gary,
When they are fixing the Activity problems,
please remind them to fix the ability to use the icons part of Custom Activity things again.
It still does not work for my Pro 17.3 version. Hot fix soon maybe for that version? Thank you.
05-15-2017 06:56 AM
Hi Bill,
The issue around custom activity icons not displaying correctly was fixed in v18.1. The issue starts occurring in older versions when .NET 4.5 or newer is installed on the machine. Unfortunately, since this is a cosmetic issue, it isn't something that we would retroactively fix in a hotfix release for an older version.