New features in Sage ACT! Premium 2011
Quick Database Sage ACT! Premium 2011 includes new and improved features for working with contacts, groups, companies, and opportunities.
Creation for New Users
When you open Sage ACT! Premium, you are asked if you want to create a database or open an existing database. This page assists new users in quickly creating a new database to get started using Sage ACT! Premium.
Redesigned Welcome Page
The Welcome Page was redesigned for better usability. User testing results provided the new design. The redesigned page has links to Help topics and tasks, as well as Featured Videos, to help you get up and running quickly.
Back and Forward Buttons Added to the Global Toolbar
You can now navigate through views using the Back and Forward buttons. The Back button contains a drop-down list of your recently accessed views. For more information, see Navigating Through ACT! Views Using the Back and Forward Buttons.
Search and E-mail Access Changes to Global Toolbar
The Global Toolbar buttons on the Windows applications were changed to make room for the Back and Forward buttons. The Search button contains access to Lookups and Search on Keywords. The E-mail button lets you View E-mail, Write E-mail, and Set up your E-mail Preferences. The Sage ACT! Premium Web client only uses the new Search button.
Increased Security For Backing Up and Saving Attachments To Your Database
Several new features were added to increase security control for backing up and saving attachments:
Backing up attachments
New Admin tab under Preferences for saving attachments
Smart Tasks
Smart Tasks allow you to schedule a series of common and connected steps. You can use the Smart Task templates that Sage ACT! Premium provides or create your own using the Smart Tasks Manager. Smart Tasks can be run manually or scheduled to run automatically.
Contacts and Companies Integration with Sage Business Info Services for ACT!
Sage Business Info Services for ACT!* (provided by Hoover's™) provides tools to access critical business information for your contacts and companies. With Sage Business Info Services for ACT!, you can:
• Import contact and company lists directly into your database.
• Access links from the contact and company Web Info tab. These links provide key information about your contacts' and companies' profile, financial details, company contacts, industry information, and company news.
Import Data Changes: New Express Method, Ability to Create New Fields On-the-Fly During Import, and Synonym Mapping
Importing data into your database was improved in the following ways:
• You can easily import data from Excel, text separated by tabs (.TXT), and text separated by commas (.CSV) files. Selecting one of these source files has been added to the import from list.
• A new panel was added to the Import Wizard. This panel lets you do a "Typical" or express type of import, or select "Custom" to the full wizard for mapping fields and selecting other options.
• Another new panel was added to let you create database fields on-the-fly for Excel, text separated by tabs (.TXT), and text separated by commas (.CSV) files. You are prompted at the end of the import to add the new fields to your contact or company layout and automatically open the Layout Designer if you agree.
• Synonym mapping means that now when you import data from Excel, text separated by tabs (.TXT), and text separated by commas (.CSV) files, more fields are mapped by default.
Drilldown to Filter by History Types on the History Tab
You can filter histories by type (such as e-mails and correspondence, completed activities, system changes, or attached files), on the History tab. New categories with associated history types let you drill-down to see the histories you need. Select or clear the entire history category.
Outlook Contacts and Calendar Integration
Outlook Integration allows you to synchronize your activities and contacts between Sage ACT! Premium and Outlook. You can set synchronization options to determine what information is synchronized. Synchronization can be scheduled to run automatically or manually run at any time.
Cancel Group and Company Creation
You can now cancel creation of a group or company. Before, if you were on a blank group or company detail view, you had to give the group or company a name in order to leave the view. Now, if you want to leave the detail view, you are prompted to cancel creation or continue creating the group or company.
Search on Keywords: New "All" Option
An "All" option was added to Keyword Search. This option is set by default and lets you search all record types. All Look in areas are also selected by default
Default Reassign Records to Another User Option When Deleting a User
Now when you delete a user, the Reassign records to another user option is selected by default. You just need to select another user to assign their records to.
Note: This feature is not available in the Web server application.
Location Column Added as Default to the Task List
The Task List now contains the Location column by default. The Location column lets you view the location for an activity.
