Outlook Integration Features in Sage ACT! 2011
Outlook integration has been enhanced in Sage ACT! 2011. The latest version of the software (shipping Sept 2010) allows users to synch activities and contacts with ACT! This has been a long-awaited feature to be integrated directly in the product. Having the proper contacts and activities flow to Outlook smoothly creates opportunities for users who are either in exchange environments (shared Outlook data), or are synchronizing a smartphone with Outlook. This post covers this feature in detail, and shows a video preview of the feature in action.
Outlook Integration Features in Sage ACT! 2011
If you are a big Outlook user, but unsatisfied with the contact management functionality Outlook offers, you are not alone. Until now, for the ACT! user, synchronization with Outlook was a chore which required manual operations of exporting and importing, or investing in 3rd party products to make it happen. Sage ACT! 2011 now permits users to flexibly sync ACT! information with Outlook.
Note: NOW LIVE! complete video review of Sage ACT! 2011 here, it covers all that’s new, includes a demo of the webaccess function in Sage ACT! 2011, as well as a bonus video for those starting their search for a contact management system entitled, 7 Elements of a Good Contact Manager. It’s here
Contact Synching
Contacts that you a user specifies can be synchronized with Outlook.
Create New Outlook Contacts from ACT!
Using the new icon on the ACT! toolbar, an individual ACT! contact can be created in Outlook.
Create New ACT! Contacts from Outlook
After clicking the create ACT! contact button from the toolbar in Outlook, the user is prompted with contact information from the selected contact. The information can be modified or added to before saving as a new ACT! contact.
Here’s a preview video of Sage ACT! Outlook Integration in action:
Control Which ACT! Contacts are Synched to Outlook
As you can see in the video above, users can specify which contacts sync with Outlook based on criteria in the sync set. If a user only wants contacts whose ID/Status is a “Family” or “Friend” to appear in Outlook they can now do that with Sage ACT! 2011.
Outlook Contacts are Up To Date Regardless of Where They Were Created or Changed
One of the challenges in synchronizing any data is to make sure data is current. In my testing it worked pretty well (simple environment). The idea being that as ACT! contacts that are designated to sync with Outlook are updated, they will push the changes into Outlook. If another user in the ACT! database creates a contact that meets your sync set criteria, it will appear in your Outlook contacts. Also, be aware if a colleague updates an existing ACT! contact record designated for sync in Outlook, it will push the changes to Outlook without warning.
Calendar Synching
This feature has been in the Sage ACT! product, but needed improvement. As shown in the Sage ACT! 2011 Preview Video above, users have some flexibility in configuring this option.
Calendars are Up To Date Regardless of Events Were Created or Changed
Similar to contacts, if an activity meets the Outlook sync criteria, it will appear in a users Outlook calendar. This is the case for existing activities that are modified to meet the criteria, or if a new activity is created meeting the criteria(even if another ACT! user creates it).
Select Which ACT! Activity Types to Sync to Outlook
Users have the ability to decide which ACT! activity types sync with Outlook. For example, if you only want appointments to appear in Outlook, and not calls or to-do’s, or even a custom activity type, it provides this level of control.
No Duplicate Entries
I didn’t get to test this in great detail, but the idea here is ACT! is constantly checking to prevent duplicate contacts or Activities in ACT! or Outlook. Obviously Sage has to make this aspect of the program solid for users to have confidence to use it, and it appears they have.
Sync Runs Even With Outlook and/or ACT! Closed
A system tray icon appears which is responsible for the ACT! to Outlook sync activities, and it does not require either ACT! or Outlook to be open on the desktop.
Same Features Available for ACT! for Web Users
Sage ACT! 2011 Premium customers also get this functionality within the ACT! for Web product. This means users accessing ACT! over the Web interface will have the option to configure synchronization with their local Outlook installation, without also having to install Sage ACT! 2011.
Users Choose Which System Alarms Displayed In
Lastly, as a small point of flexibility, users can decide where they want alarms (popup reminders) to appear for a given activity, ACT! or Outlook. This is useful for those who know they have Outlook open more than ACT! and want to see those alarms in Outlook.
What say you? Questions? Ideas? Concerns? Chime in with your feedback in the comment boxes below.
Image Credit: LA Wad
