Whats new in Act! version 20?

Swiftpage has recently released Act! Version 20. Here is quick run down on the new features so you can determine if an upgrade is beneficial for  your company.

1. New Look: Experience a fresh, new look with visually stunning design updates consistent across Windows® and Web. Enjoy a modern navbar, new big button menu design, new Web login screen, and contemporary icons.

2. Optimized Emarketing Workflow: Manage Act! emarketing campaigns through an intuitive, optimized workflow in Act!. Everything you need to create, send, and track campaigns is available in five newly designed views—Overview, Options, Create, Send, and Track with full-screen Call List.

3.Interactive, Graphical Act! Insight Dashboards: Guide decision-making with rich insights from interactive, graphical Act! Insight dashboards. See dynamic, visual snapshots of real-time metrics for sales productivity and performance, sales pipeline health, top performing products, and more with 12 out-of-the-box dashboards. Gain insight no matter where you are with a new Act! Insight view in Act! Companion mobile app.

4. Compatibility & Usability Improvements: Benefit from compatibility and usability improvements that make Act! even better! Now you can work with Act! on Chrome for Mac, quickly identify opportunities that need attention with the new opportunity field ‘Days in Stage.

5. Ask Act! With Amazon Alexa:Interact with Act! through simple, verbal requests to Amazon Alexa1 via Ask Act!™—a leading edge voice integration available to active Act! Premium subscribers. Ask for key Act! contact and calendar details, then sit back as Amazon Alexa tells you what you want to know. No need to search your laptop or mobile device to stay informed!

System Requirements:See what what software and operating systems Act 20 is compatible with. Please click here for a complete list.

For a more comprehensive/technical list on updated features see below:

Meet the modern, new Act! v20 complete with interactive, graphical Act! Insight dashboards, visually stunning design updates, integrated emarketing with optimized workflow, and numerous compatibility and usability

Compatibility (requires Act! Premium (access via web) or Act! Premium Cloud)

  • New compatibility added for Chrome™ for Mac browser
    Extends our supported web client platforms out to Mac users, by providing support for one of the most popular web browsers.

    • Chrome™ for Mac has completed certification for use with Act! v20, and now features on our System Requirements.
    • Note that the native Office integration functionality in the web client is not supported with Chrome™ (for Windows or Mac).
    • Integration with Office for Mac is however supported using the Act! Premium Contact Link.

Act! emarketing

  • New embedded Act! emarketing with optimized workflow
    Provides a deeply integrated set of new, intuitive Act! emarketing views, to help customers maximize the functionality and value of their emarketing account.

    • Brings 100% of Act! emarketing functionality inside of Act!. No more redirects out to the online emarketing web site in your browser.
    • New Overview page gives quick access to support and education resources, and key account information.
    • New Create, Send and Track views provide an improved and intuitive workflow.
    • Full-screen Call List view makes it easier to follow up on sent campaigns.

Usability Improvements

  • Close opportunities from the List View
    Increases list view usability by adding frequently used functions.

    • New right-click/context menu option on the Opportunity List view for ‘Edit Opportunity Status’
    • Allows opportunities to quickly be re-opened, closed, or marked inactive directly from the list view.
  • New opportunity field – Days in Stage
    Provides additional insight into how opportunities are being managed, allowing you make process improvements or to quickly see deals needing attention.

    • New field ‘Days in Stage’ is available on opportunity layouts for new databases.
    • Shows the number of days a specific opportunity has been in its current stage.
    • The field can be manually added to opportunity layouts and list views for upgraded databases.
    • Use the field in conjunctions with lookups and sorts to identify opportunities of interest.
  • Freeze columns functionality (Windows client only)
    Increases the usability of list views and tabs throughout Act!, making it easier for customers to work with larger lists of data.

    • New option added to the existing Customize Columns dialog to freeze columns.
    • User can specify how many columns they would like to be frozen.
    • Frozen columns are preserved after restarting Act!.
    • Functionality is only available via the Windows client, due to limitations with the current web client controls for these areas.
  • Updated Act! demo database
    Update demo database provides more rich content, improving the Act! trial and demo experience, and giving a great educational tool for new users.

    • New ACT2018Demo database is installed with Act! v20.
    • Includes additional contact records, and a wide variety of note, history, activity and opportunity data.
  • ‘Share With’ and ‘Contact’ columns removed from Notes and History tabs
    Ensures the most relevant data is displayed by default for users.

    • The ‘Share With’ and ‘Contacts’ columns no longer appear by default on the Notes or Histories tabs.
    • These columns were found to be confusing for new Act! users, and were commonly manually removed from views due to the low value.
  • Updated Delete Database messaging
    Updated messaging helps to prevent accidentally deletion of Act! databases.

    • The two-phase confirmation messages when attempting to delete an Act! database now give more stern warnings that the deletion is permanent.

Integrations and Act! API (requires Act! Premium)

  • On-going improvements to the Act! API
    Continued improvements to the performance, stability and functionality of the Act! API, enhancing the power of both Swiftpage and partner driven integrations.

    • An updated API version will be available alongside Act! v20.0.
    • API access is now available to all trial users.
    • Details of the specific improvements will be published closer to launch.
  • Act! API installed by default
    Ensures the functionality of the API is readily available to all active subscribers.

    • The core components of the API are now installed by default with all Act! Premium and Premium Web installations.
    • These components are a requirement of the new Act! Insight functionality.
    • External (outside of the network) access to the API is not required for Act! Insight.
    • The Act! Connect Link is still an optional install for Act! Premium users.