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Act! Feature of the Month: Act! Scheduler

9/27/2016

The Act! Scheduler allows you to schedule automated tasks that will run without you even needing to have Act! open. As long as the Act! Scheduler is running and your computer is on, these tasks will run.

The tasks that the Act! Scheduler is capable of running are:

Database backup
Database maintenance
Remote database synchronization (from the remote workstation)

You can access the Act! Scheduler in Act! by clicking Tools > Act! Scheduler. Alternatively, you can also access it without opening Act! from the Act! Program folder located in the start menu.

Features of Act! Scheduler:

You can temporarily stop the service to prevent scheduled tasks from running and start it again after it’s been stopped.
The Act! Scheduler can send you e-mail alerts to notify you when a task has run.
You can use the Act! Scheduler Task Log to view a log of scheduled tasks and their result. This is useful for troubleshooting tasks in the event that you suspect that something may have interfered with their ability to run.
You can view details on scheduled tasks.

Do you need help learning to use Act! Scheduler?

FAQ: Can I Reassign Activities From One User To Another In Bulk?

9/22/2016

Yes you can! Maybe you’ve had an employee quit and you’d like to reassign their uncompleted activities to their replacement or perhaps an employee will be on a leave of absence and you’d like to assign their current activities to someone else in the interim. No problem – just follow the procedure below (we highly recommend backing up your Act! database before you begin).

1. Login to Act! as the user you wish to reassign the activities to.

2. Click Task List in the left hand navigation menu and filter the task list to the activities you wish to reassign to the new user. You can filter by the time the activity is due (past, future, today etc.), activity type, activity priority, and by which user the task is assigned to.

3. Once you have the activity list filtered, select all the activities in the list by clicking CTRL + A.

4. Copy all the activities by clicking CTRL+ C.

5. Paste all the activities by clicking CTRL + V.

You now have a copy of each of the activities originally scheduled by the old user, with the Scheduled For and Scheduled By now set as the new user. The next steps will delete the original versions of the activities originally scheduled for the old user.

6. Filter the task list to the activities originally scheduled for the old user that you are reassigning.

7. Select all the activities in the list by clicking CTRL + A.

8. Click the Delete button on your keyboard and choose the Erase option. Click OK.

You can ensure you have done the process correctly by clearing any task list filers, and ensuring all users are selected, then checking the All Dates list total at the very bottom. This should be the same before and after the process.

Need help reassigning tasks or have other “how to” questions?

FAQ: How do I recover my Act! username or password if I have forgotten it?

7/14/2016

Note: This does not apply to Act! Premium Cloud. If you are using Act! Premium Cloud, refer to Act! KB Article 38148.

DIY Username and Password Recovery:
If someone else on your team can login to the database, have him/her click on the Lookup menu, choose Advanced, then Users.

This will show a list of users.

In most cases, the Contact name is the same as your username.

If this fails to help and/or you can’t remember the password, ask your Act! database administrator to click on the Tools menu, Choose Manage Users, find your name, double click and then click Reset Password.

Username and Password Recovery Assistance:

If you are the Act! administrator and you’ve lost your Act! password, we have advanced password resetting tools and we can reset your password for you. If your Act! administrator is no longer with your company and needs to be changed, we can help with that as well.

Other options:
Note: These involve contacting Act! corporate support, not KSC.
Note: This section applies to North American Act! users only.

For Act! users with active support plans:

Act! users with only one database user and active Act! Support plans can contact Act! support during regular business hours (M-F 8:30AM - 8:30PM EST) at (877) 716-6296 to have the password reset at no additional cost.
Act! users with multiple database users and an active Act! Support plan can have the password reset at no additional cost, however it is necessary to first download and complete the Login Disclosure form. Follow the instructions on the form to complete and submit it.

For Act! users with no active support plan:

Act! users with no active support contract can purchase a one-time Username and/or Login Disclosure service. Users will need to first download and complete the Login Disclosure form. Follow the instructions on the form to complete and submit it.

Note: Refer to Act! KB Article 14150 for more details.

Are you looking for a quick, no-hassle password reset?

Act! Quick Tip: Gain Insight Into Your Sales Pipeline History

6/22/2016

Do you have a meeting that keeps getting pushed back? How many days have passed since it was originally supposed to happen?

With the new Activity Create Date stamp in Act! v18.1 it’s easy to find out. Commentary has been added to the Schedule Activity window to calculate the number of days that have elapsed since an Activity’s original Start Date.

Are you interested in upgrading to Act! 18 to utilize this and other great new features?

Spring Clean Your Database: Merging Duplicate Entries

5/11/2016

We’ve written before about how to prevent duplicate entries in your Act! database. But what do you do if your database already contains duplicate entries? This month we’re continuing our spring cleaning theme by discussing how to merge duplicate entries in Act!.

Act!’s Copy/Move Contact Data function will allow you to merge 2 contacts using the following procedure:

1. Look up both contacts using the Lookup box in the upper right corner of your Act! database.

Act! Add-Ons to Import, Export or Update Data

4/21/2016

Did you know that we sell and support powerful tools that allow you to import into Act! or export from Act! in ways the software doesn’t usually allow? These tools allow you to do things like:

Import into history
Import into opportunities
Run imports on a scheduled basis
Run complicated imports and exports
Repair damaged Act! databases by copying good data from one Act! database to another
Convert a salesforce.com database backup into an Act! database.

Looking to learn more or ready to purchase?

Act! Feature of the Month: Global Toolbar Customization

4/8/2016

The latest version of Act! allows you to customize the global toolbar to improve your productivity and make Act! fit the way you work.

NOTE: Before changing any default toolbars or menus, think carefully about what you are trying to achieve. Altering existing toolbars or menus could make it difficult to perform tasks and follow instructions in the Help, guides, and Featured videos, as they refer to a standard configuration.

The global toolbar cannot be relocated or undocked from its location. However, you can:

Modify the global toolbar by adding or rearranging buttons.
Remove buttons that you rarely use.
Create custom commands and add them to the global toolbar.

Experiencing Problems After Windows Update?

3/23/2016

Photo Credit https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterhess/

Are you no longer able to open Act!, history attachments or documents after recent Windows updates?

A Windows .NET framework update can cause all of these issues.

If you are experiencing any of these issues, please contact us for more information.

Safeguarding Your Act! Data - Don't Trust To Luck!

3/17/2016

Don’t trust to luck (whether you’re Irish or not) when it comes to the safeguarding your data. We recommend backing up your Act! database on a daily basis.

Rachel also recommends designating one person in your company to check the Act! backups on a weekly basis. The best way to make sure this happens is for the designated person to set a recurring activity in Act! to do the weekly backup check.

Learn more about best practices for creating, storing and checking Act! backups.

Do you have questions about your current backup situation, testing backups, or restoring backups?

Quick Tip: Dolphin Web Browser

2/24/2016

If you’re using Act! Premium Web or Act! Premium Cloud we recommend that you download and install the Dolphin web browser on your mobile devices for use with Act!. We’ve been pleased with how well it functions for us and several of our clients.

As an added bonus you can select "Desktop Mode" at the bottom, and it will display the full Act! for Web site, instead of the mobile view. This can be particularly useful on iPads.

For more information and download links visit http://dolphin.com

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