ACT!ion eNews: Summer 2011

eNews_ACT!ion · ‎08-02-2011

Summer 2011

SAGE ACT! COMMUNITY

You are viewing this ACT!ion eNews edition in the Sage ACT! Community



	Get More from Sage ACT! New Sage ACT! 2012 Customer Training
	Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru Improve Field Sales Processes with Sage ACT! Connect

	Your Business in Mind Top 5 Ways Google Apps is Transforming IT

	What's New with Sage ACT!? Sage ACT! 2012 Is Almost Here!

	Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers Sage ACT! Connect Earns High Marks from Customers

	From the Sage ACT! Vault Sage ACT! 2012 Webcasts

	Sage ACT! Technology Corner Universal Search Advanced Deployment

Get real time answers to your questions.

SAGE ACT! SUCCESS STORIES

See how our customers are making the most of Sage ACT!

SAGE ACT! WEBCASTS

Register to attend live, or view a recorded Webcast at your convenience

Thoughts for upcoming Issues of ACT!ion eNews? We invite you to share them here in the Sage ACT! Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

© 2011 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, the Sage logos, ACT!, and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc., or its affiliated entities. Microsoft SQL Server, Windows Vista, and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation group of companies in the United States and/or in other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

eNews_ACT!ion · ‎08-02-2011

ACT!ion eNews> Summer 2011

Sage ACT! Technology Corner

Universal Search Advanced Deployment

The Universal Search feature in Sage ACT! 2012 helps you quickly find key information across your Sage ACT! records, including contacts, companies, opportunities, notes, history, and even attached documents. Sage ACT! 2012 installs a Search Service, which is responsible for (1) indexing Sage ACT! data for quick searching and (2) returning search results to Sage ACT!.

The Search Service normally services Sage ACT! databases collocated on the PC it runs on. However, the Search Service can be configured to service Sage ACT! databases on other servers. This is useful for scalability such as in scenarios where Sage ACT! databases reside on one or more servers that have SQL Server® deployed but where Sage ACT! is not installed. For example:

In larger deployments where one or more servers are dedicated as database servers
In a hosted environment where both database servers and a search server are dedicated

You can configure the Search Service via a configuration file (an XML file). In the Sage ACT! installation directory in Program Files, you'll find Act.Server.Host.exe.config, with the following entry:

In this file, you can change the server that the Search Service will host by changing the string "(local)" to the name of the server desired.

You can also add entries for additional servers. Just be sure to also change the name attribute to be unique along with the server names:

Sage ACT! Premium or Sage ACT! Pro applications don't need to be configured. They will dynamically discover the appropriate Search Service to use based on the database they are logged into.

This gives centralized advanced deployment for the Search Service and enables Sage ACT! to scale along with your business.

Xavier Musy
Director of Development
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

© 2011 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, the Sage logos, ACT!, and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc., or its affiliated entities. Microsoft SQL Server, Windows Vista, and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation group of companies in the United States and/or in other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

eNews_ACT!ion · ‎08-02-2011

ACT!ion eNews> Summer 2011

From the Sage ACT! Vault

Sage ACT! 2012 Webcasts

Sage ACT! 2012 is packed with new features and enhancements. What better way to learn more about what's new than by watching a webcast? Check out our line-up, all focused on Sage ACT! 2012:

Drive Results for Your Business with Sage ACT! 2012
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT
Register Here

For a complete list of new features and enhancements, check out our "What's New in Sage ACT! 2012" product brief.

Brian Benner
Marketing Director
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

^*Requires additional subscription.

^**Review Sage ACT! Connect system requirements at www.act.com/connectsystreq to confirm supported smartphones, tablets, and web browsers.

eNews_ACT!ion · ‎08-02-2011

ACT!ion eNews> Summer 2011

Spotlight on Sage ACT! Customers

Sage ACT! Connect Earns High Marks from Customers

Recently, some of your colleagues previewed the new features and capabilities in Sage ACT! 2012 while participating in a quality control process known as "beta testing". After every beta test, we ask participants to share (anonymously) some of their thoughts about the new release. This year, we asked them to tell us about their experience trying out Sage ACT! Connect¹.

Sage ACT! Connect delivers the next level in accessibility and mobility, empowering you to access contact details, notes, history, meetings, and activities from virtually anywhere. This subscription-based service delivers your contacts and calendar to popular smartphones, tablets such as the iPad®, and your laptop via supported web browsers².

Here is what your peers told us about Sage ACT! Connect:

"WOW so easy, this is so awesome."³
"It was easy to do."³
"This is just so cool and so easy to set up you guys have a real winner here."³
"Fairly easy to setup."³
"Saved me hours of work transferring data."³

Kelly Cody
Beta Manager
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

¹Requires additional subscription.

²Review Sage ACT! Connect system requirements at www.act.com/connectsystreq to confirm supported mobile phones, tablets, and web browsers.

³Customer is a participant in the Sage ACT! 2012 Beta Program and may be eligible for participation-based incentives.

eNews_ACT!ion · ‎08-02-2011

ACT!ion eNews> Summer 2011

What's New with Sage ACT!?

Sage ACT! 2012 Is Almost Here!

Does your workday flow smoothly from one task to another? Or are you more like me, interrupted often, running between meetings, and always trying to multi-task? If you use sticky notes and to-do lists to make sure nothing falls through the cracks, I think you will be really excited by some of the new productivity-enhancing organizational features in Sage ACT! 2012. It can really restore a sense of order to your busy days!

Sage ACT! 2012 delivers new productivity features that keep you on task, so you can finally rid yourself of sticky notes and legal pads with hand-written to-do's. It also includes options to work seamlessly with applications you already rely on, like Gmail® and Google Calendar™, improved accessibility and mobility, and usability enhancements to features you use most often.

NEW! Sage ACT! Scratchpad¹ Eliminates Sticky Notes and To-Do Lists:

Quickly capture impromptu notes, phone numbers, and personal reminders, with or without opening Sage ACT!.
Prioritize and check off items once completed, print the list to take it with you, or push updates into Sage ACT! with just a few clicks.
Send items to Sage ACT! as activities, notes, and history, even assign them to contacts.

Integration with Gmail®, Google® Contacts, and Google Calendar™ Lets You Work in One Application:

Send and receive emails from Gmail® and Sage ACT! will keep a history of those emails for a complete view of your communications with that contact.
Specify one of three default history types to record emails, including subject line, subject line and message, and email attachment.
Sync all or just a subset of your Sage ACT! contacts with Google®.
Sync your Sage ACT! and Google calendars manually or automatically using pre-programmed intervals.
Select if you want Sage ACT! or Google to "win" for conflict resolution when both calendars have been changed.
Choose which Sage ACT! activity types sync to Google and then clear activities from either application.
Specify if you want alarms displayed in Google, Sage ACT!, or both so you can be reminded in the place you work most often.

NEW Universal Search Feature Helps You Find Everything Faster:

Find that key document or piece of info you need in your contacts, groups, companies, opportunities, notes, history, and attachments, because search is faster and more expansive than ever.
Filter your search criteria by all dates, last 24 hours, last week, and last month.
View search results displayed by relevance and double-click on the item of interest to be taken to that particular field or attachment. If it's not what you're looking for, simply use the back button to view the search results page again.

Access CRM Data Anywhere, Using the Most Convenient Method with Sage ACT! Connect²:

Sync your BlackBerry®, Windows Mobile®, and Android™ devices to Sage ACT! Connect for real-time, mobile access to your contacts and calendar³.
Access these same details from tablets, like the iPad®, and your laptop via Internet Explorer®, Firefox®, Google Chrome™, and Safari®⁴.
Import Yahoo® and Google® contacts into Sage ACT! Connect.
Link Facebook® pictures to the contacts you keep in Sage ACT! Connect.
Sage ACT! Connect is included with your purchase of Sage Business Care Gold and Silver plans.

See Sage ACT! 2012 in Action!
I hope you'll attend our upcoming webcasts about Sage ACT! 2012. These live presentations will show you exactly what you can look forward to with this release. If you are pressed for time, watch some quick recorded demos of individual features in Sage ACT! 2012. Find more information about both types of presentations here.

Suzanne Lai
Product Manager
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

¹Sage ACT! Scratchpad is not supported in a Citrix® environment.

²Requires additional subscription.

^3,4Review Sage ACT! Connect system requirements at www.act.com/connectsystreq to confirm supported smartphones, tablets, and web browsers.

eNews_ACT!ion · ‎08-02-2011

ACT!ion eNews> Summer 2011

Your Business in Mind

Top 5 Ways Google Apps is Transforming IT

First launched in February 2007, Google Apps™ provides businesses an alternative solution to traditional office suite tools—and more. Google Apps offers many free solutions and businesses can also opt for a Premier Version with technical phone support and additional email storage for just $50 per user, per year. In April, Google announced a flexible plan so that businesses can even buy apps on a month to month basis for just $5 per user.

In addition to its low upfront costs, Google also offers many other advantages. On its official site, Google reports that it provides mobile email, calendar and IM access, 50 times more storage than the industry average, 99.9% uptime reliability, and proven cost savings.

Who is using Google Apps? – Google reports that it has 3 million businesses and 30 million active users. Google Apps appeal to businesses of all sizes but it is their impact on the small and medium-sized business arena that Microsoft® took notice. Recently launching Office 365, Microsoft is hoping that its online package will cut off the inroads Google has made thanks to its cloud-based suite of tools.

Here are the top five ways Google Apps is transforming the information technology industry.

The cost-effective Cloud – Analysts call Google Apps the authentic cloud solution, with everything hosted by Google. Businesses can get the tools they need, when they need it, without having to set aside large infrastructure budgets. Small and mid-sized businesses benefit from significant cost and productivity savings since Google Apps do not require hardware or software and only need minimal administration. In addition, businesses enjoy a more cohesive experience for users who access Google Apps from their PC, tablet, and/or smartphone.
Easy group calendars – Google Calendar™ provides smaller businesses with the same kind of powerful team collaboration that used to require a Microsoft Exchange server. Cloud-based group calendaring functionality makes it easy for team members to organize meetings, check colleague availability for projects, and even share vacation schedules for easier paid time-off planning.
Growth and improvement – In just its first year, Google Apps added 500,000 users and then grew at a rate of about 20,000 per day. Four years later, Google Apps continues to grow the size of its offering and customer base. To stay competitive, Google® is currently redesigning Gmail® and is expected to soon launch Google+, which one analyst said "seems destined to take on both [Facebook and Twitter®]… Google+ is going to change the corporate landscape."
Efficient email search and organization – A powerful email solution, Gmail offers businesses the ability to not only search and store a large number of messages, but also helps users to better organize communication. Gmail is accessible anywhere, so you can always get to your important information and contacts. Plus, "Gmail's threaded conversations also helps to simplify messages among colleagues. . . eliminating the hassle of having to check previous messages."
Google Docs: A powerful way to collaborate and manage projects – Google Docs enables users to create and edit documents and store those changes in the Cloud, so that the most current file version is always within reach. Businesses can post documents so that employees can make and share notes about anything from marketing communications to product development.

There are many additional ways that Google Apps is changing the way businesses think about their IT. The Cloud offers small businesses the opportunity to access efficiency tools including improved scheduling with Google Calendar and intranet capabilities with Google Sites™. If Google does not have the application you need, you can check out the Google Apps Marketplace for many third-party applications that meet a variety of business needs.

Sage ACT! 2012 integrates with Google Apps!
Save time and work seamlessly with the tools you rely on every day. You can send and receive emails from Gmail and Sage ACT! will keep a history of those communications too. Sync Sage ACT! contacts with Google, then access contacts from either application. You can even sync your Sage ACT! calendar with Google calendars manually or automatically. Improve your productivity—close those open application windows and do everything from within Sage ACT! 2012.

Jennifer Osborne
Marketing Consultant
Osborne Communications

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

eNews_ACT!ion · ‎08-02-2011

ACT!ion eNews> Summer 2011

Listen to Your Sage ACT! Guru

Improve Field Sales Processes with Sage ACT! Connect

In early August, Sage is releasing an exciting new service called Sage ACT! Connect¹. This service transcends mobility and accessibility by enabling you to access Sage ACT! from where you are, from the method most convenient for you. This subscription-based service delivers your contacts and calendar to popular smartphones and web browsers on your laptop and tablet such as the iPad®².

With Sage ACT! Connect, your contact details, notes, history, meetings, and activities are stored in the Cloud. So next time you're on the move, you can quickly pull up that customer address you're headed to, make changes to an existing phone number or email address, and check your meeting schedule for the day from virtually anywhere.

Here's just a few of the great benefits and features this service will offer:

Get real-time, mobile access.
Sync your BlackBerry®, Windows Mobile®, and Android™ devices³ to Sage ACT! Connect for real-time, mobile access to your Sage ACT! contacts and calendar. Because Sage ACT! Connect uses your phone's built-in address book and calendar, you have access to contact details, your schedule, and more in the same familiar way you do today. Further, you can control how your data is updated between your device and Sage ACT! when you set your individual sync preferences, including one-way or two-way sync, plus timed or manual sync.
Be more effective while on the move.
Improve your ability to be productive from virtually anywhere, whether you're traveling or working from your home office. With Sage ACT! Connect, you can view, add, and edit Sage ACT! contact details, notes, history, meetings, and activities from the easy-to-use Sage ACT! Connect Cloud or website. Access this site from tablets, like the iPad®, and your laptop via Internet Explorer®, Firefox®, Google Chrome™, and Safari®⁴.
Always have the most updated details with you.
Access the very latest Sage ACT! details, no matter who on your team last edited a contact's phone number, added a note, or scheduled an activity, because Sage ACT! Connect includes workgroup sync. When working as a team, you can designate a single computer or server can sync on behalf of your entire workgroup, so that updates can be received without each individual syncing on their computer.
Keep so much more than your Sage ACT! contacts and calendar.
Make Sage ACT! Connect your go-to for all things related to managing your relationships and schedule. Not only can you access your Sage ACT! contacts and calendar, you can import your Google® and Yahoo!® contacts into Sage ACT! Connect too. Even link Facebook® pictures to the contacts you keep, so it's that much easier to put a face to a name.
Rest-assured, your precious data is safe and secure.
Relax, your Sage ACT! contacts and calendar are safe and secure in the Cloud, because Sage ACT! Connect utilizes 128-bit encryption when syncing your data, plus provides secure, physical protection for unauthorized entry and catastrophic events.

Brandon Balsley
Product Manager
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

¹Requires additional subscription.

^2,3,4Review Sage ACT! Connect system requirements at www.act.com/connectsystreq to confirm supported mobile phones, tablets, and web browsers.

eNews_ACT!ion · ‎08-02-2011

ACT!ion eNews> Summer 2011

Get More from Sage ACT!

New Sage ACT! 2012 Customer Training

Sage ACT! 2012 includes many exciting new features that you'll want to start using right away. To help you quickly and effectively learn how to use these features, we'll be updating our Anytime Learning video libraries. Each video library includes demonstrations of how to configure, use, and maximize the effectiveness of these new features.

Sage ACT! Essentials
The Sage ACT! Essentials Library is a collection of online training videos that teach basic Sage ACT! tasks. New users or even those who have been using Sage ACT! for a while will benefit from learning about the new features, as well as being able to confidently manage and locate contacts, activities, and opportunities. Specific lessons that will be updated or added for Sage ACT! 2012 include:

What's New for Sage ACT! 2012
Installing Sage ACT! 2012
Getting Started with Sage ACT! 2012
Locating Data with Sage ACT! Search
Managing Tasks with the Scratchpad
Synchronizing Google® Contacts
Synchronizing Google Calendar™
Recording Gmail® History
Setting up a Connected Services Account
Signing up for Sage ACT! Connect*

Look for these updates in early October!

Sage Connected Services for ACT!
The Sage Connected Services for ACT! Library is a collection of online training videos that teach you how to set up and use each Connected Service, and receive maximum benefit from your sales and marketing efforts. After completing this series, you'll be able to configure and use Sage E-marketing for ACT!*, Sage Business Info Services for ACT!*, and Sage ACT! Connect*. Specific lessons that will be updated or added for Sage ACT! 2012 include:

Setting up a Connected Services Account
Signing up for Sage ACT! Connect
Installing the Sage ACT! Connect PC client
Configuring Sage ACT! Connect Preferences
Synchronizing Sage ACT! and Sage ACT! Connect
Importing External Data

Look for these updates in early October!

Sage ACT! Advanced
The Sage ACT! Advanced Library is a collection of online training videos that demonstrate how to get more out of your Sage ACT! product, by teaching you how to customize activities, opportunities, reports, dashboards, and maintain your database. Specific lessons that will be added for Sage ACT! 2012 include:

Using Wildcards with Sage ACT! Search
Administering Users, Teams, and Passwords from the Web client
Installing Google Integration on the Web client

Look for these updates in early November!

Sage ACT! Fast Tips
Every Friday, valuable tips and how-to articles are posted on the online Community, in the Sage ACT! Journal. These Fast Tips focus on helping you use Sage ACT! more efficiently. Following the launch of Sage ACT! 2012, we'll be posting tips and how-to's about each of the major new features, and even some older tips to help you get more out of Sage ACT!. Check out the Sage ACT! Fast Tips every Friday on the Community!

Brian Whalen
Senior Trainer
Sage

Did you find this article useful? Let us know by posting your thoughts here in the Sage ACT! Online Community. You must be a registered member to reply or post. To reply, click on the reply link at the top of this post.

^{*Requires additional subscription.}

LarryH · ‎09-05-2011

Are Google Apps available for ACT Pro 2011?