Act Contact Manager Advances To Version 6.0 New E-Mail Client and Outlook Integration Eric Grevstad
Mon 8/26/02 -- Need more sales call- and client-tracking power than a personal information manager can give you? Best Software's Act has been a contact-management favorite since the days before anybody abbreviated to customer relationship management as CRM. Now the long-awaited Version 6.0 upgrade delivers over 50 new features, including an all-new e-mail client and superior integration with Microsoft Outlook.
The new e-mail client can work by itself or view Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Notes, or SMPT/POP3 Internet e-mail folders, letting users set up and view multiple accounts; send and receive HTML e-mails from within Act; and instantly add new contacts to any Act database. In addition to traditional e-mail history options such as including the subject line in a "notes" field or attaching a full e-mail to a contact record, Act 6.0 gives users the option to attach the subject plus the text of the message in the notes section.
The program's Library Tab offers enhanced Microsoft Office integration, letting users attach Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or MapPoint documents (or Adobe Acrobat, JPG, or BMP files) to and view them from within contact records, and map fields from their databases to fields in Excel for quick, efficient quoting.
New data-mining features range from contact activity look-ups -- finding, for instance, which customers have been contacted recently or not in a specified time frame -- and annual event tracking, so sales reps will never forget to wish a client a happy birthday. Act 6.0 is priced at $200, with a $70 mail-in rebate for existing users who buy retail (or a $100 upgrade price via the company's Web site).
