Successful Management with ACT CRM (ACT! By Sage)
One of the software applications concerning customer relationships management (CRM) is Act CRM (Act! by Sage). The initial name of the software was Automated Contact Tracking but was later on became Act! This application is used by companies in order to observe clients and prospective ones through one database which could be shared even by numerous users. It incorporates with Outlook, Microsoft Word and other software for the purpose of creating and following communications through contacts kept in ACT!. It is The Sage Group which distributes the software with more than two million users which are registered as well as over 40,000 corporate customers. Its preliminary release was made in 1987 and the newest release was done in 2009. In the North America, ACT! has more than 400 consultants. That is in addition to the 600 plus active licensed consultants.
Conductor Software was founded by Mike Muhney and Pat Sullivan in Dallas, Texas way back in 1986. The following year, ACT! Was initially released and turned out to be a pioneer in contact management software group. Throughout this period, the company’s name was renamed to Contact Software. Starting with the software’s 2006 edition, the name was modified to ACT! by Sage. Sage 2009 released the 2009 edition (version 11) with the name Act! This progress occurred at Scottsdale, Arizona together with headquarter in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Let us look into the detail of the product
ACT! was offered in three editions namely:
• ACT! by Sage
It uses the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express. This version limits ten active users
• ACT! by Sage Premium
It uses the 2005 Standard or the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express. The express version is made for small and medium businesses. It limits to 30 users. On the other hand, the standard version uses multi-processor together with server’s RAM. Thus, it is intended for bigger installations along with 30 users and more.
• ACT! by Sage Premium
It uses the 2005 Standard or the Microsoft SQL Server 2005. It is made for companies and businesses that yearn to an access data from the internet and into their personal servers minus the requirement for hosting services.
Aside from the versions, here are the features of the ACT CRM
• Communication
It assimilates unswervingly with MS Word or MS Outlook in order to produce and follow communications with customers and potentials. It also offers a swap integral word processor as well as e-mail software. And, third-party software could likewise connect into the database intended for mass mailings.
• Contact Management
The store contact details are kept in one place but could be available for multiple users. Other than that, it can also be customized.
• Reporting
Generates reports through integral report engine and third-party software
• Calendar
Schedules activities such as meetings, calls, to-dos and directs every day responsibilities with the use of calendar
• Opportunities
Follows numerous details of prospects, permitting filtering, exporting MS Excel for investigation and reporting
• Web Access
Users can analyze ACT! data by using the internet along with close matching functionality with the desktop edition. Also, it could be positioned in any server along with a still IP address and does not need hosting as well as linked hosting charges.
• Synchronization
Coordinates contact information among other users and offices by using integral organization module. It could also be synchronized through Windows CE, Palm (PDA), MS Outlook devices. It also does with iPhone and Blackberry using ACT! Mobile Live and other software links.
ACT CRM was motivated by its customer’s response, thus making the ACT! 2009 version concentrate more towards improving the user’s productivity along with an enhanced Microsoft Outlook addition, activity and calendar visibility and database searching capacities. ACT! 2009 is initially accessible in parts of Northern America based on the statement made by Sage. Further neighboring language editions are being developed and are to be distributed incrementally according to the company’s officials. According to Joe Bergera of Sage CRM Solutions, they have finished surveys, interviews and usability analysis among thousands of clients in order to enhance the functionality of ACT!.
During a separate pronouncement from Sage, it was revealed that Sage software featured more than 60 ACT CRM (Act! by Sage) as additional products intended for marketing, mapping, shipping and mobile gadget synchronization potentials.