Act! – Bewertungsseite 4

Vorteile

It is easy to use when it actually works. I receive emails advising my current version is expiring quite often so it keeps me informed regularly.

Nachteile

The syncing feature doesn't not always work between the different platforms that we have in our office. In an office of Sales Reps, we need a CRM that will sync in real time but sometimes this CRM won't sync for an hour which makes it difficult for us to schedule appointments for our Sales Reps.

Vorteile

Our office has been using this product since before I started. It is a solid database program and if that is all you want to do is have a large database of contacts, then this performs well.

Nachteile

I dislike how this is still only available for windows computers which makes communicating information in an office with both Mac and PC impossible. Also, the outlook plug in that allows emails to be synced with a contact in ACT will only link emails to the PRIMARY contact. So that means you have to manually sync that. If you are emailing over 100 emails a day, you end up either spending most of your time manually syncing contacts or just foregoing this feature. Also, you can only add 4 contacts to a company. Often times, we need to have upwards of 6-10 contacts for a company so the inability to add more is a huge issue. And since ACT isn't online, any changes made on any employee computers while not connected to the server means no one else has access to that info until they make it back to the office to sync. Which means our data is never fully up to date. There are so many problems with this software that we often don't try to take advantage of any of the other functions.

Vorteile

Started using Act about 25 years ago. Have added contacts since and used most of the features. Over time the use of certain features such as mass mailings to customer lists have faded, and now occasionally by e-mail. Over time I have come to value how I can locate someone that was a customer years ago, and have a complete record of a transaction, conversation or specific subject we were involved in. You have to learn to use for nearly every phone conversation or piece of correspondence. If you do, you will always be able to revert back to a contact, and who said what when. What correspondence was involved etc. To say nothing about scheduling appointments, and being reminded of birthdays and other important events. Act is the backbone of my business and personal contact information. Invaluable and used every day. I have used over may revisions and Company changes. Sometimes the customer service is better than others. Presently the Customer Service is Excellent. If you are a first time user or considering starting to use it I would recommend you take a course on using it as many of the features are not apparent unless someone shows them to you. A great tool to keep track of what everyone on your team is doing and as they move on a record of what they did and who was involved. A great tool that I rely on daily. Happy to spread the word.

Nachteile

Many features that I never use, but see how others would. Don't like having to use MS Outlook for e-mail.

Would like to access completely by phone, but my database is too big.

Vorteile

it was inexpensive. but you get what you pay for.

Nachteile

No tech support. ACT is always putting out a new version. each new version trips off problems and requires new integrations and updates that they do not tell you about and cause integration issues with all of your other software expecially microsof.

Vorteile

The way it’s supposed to work is ok. Not great. But getting it to work is a very heavy lift. And with inadequate support, it’s totally up to the user to figure it out.

Nachteile

Where do I start? Bottom line is that setup for marketing automation is nearly impossible. I’ve used successfully ACT! for more than 20 years. But marketing automation is a disaster. The documentation is unhelpful, and in some places, downright incorrect. It has lots of broken links. And their support staff, all offshore, knows nothing about how to help with the marketing automation feature. I had to hire someone who finally figured it out, by trial and error, after several weeks of work.

Vorteile

Act itself is as a good database software. Compering to previous version synchronized with Swift Page it has a better platform to create a template. There are other things you improve but for our small company we do not use them (like several times of sending same e-mail to one customer)

Nachteile

In Marketing Automation:
- you can not add and SAVE our data base fields in the template
- you can not send an e-mail from the template to one person (only to the group)
- you can not sent an e-mail to lookup (every time you must create the group from lookup)
- may e-mails is getting lost (in our 2 campaigns about 20% e-mails were not delivered)
In e-marketing
- you can not add and SAVE our data base fields in the template
******
In your previous version of ACT I was able to add fields from my database SAVE them in the template and send them to lookup without a need to create the group.
******
And your customer service ??? I believe you can do better work.
For example - I wrote an e-mail to you about month ago - with totally no answers from you.

Vorteile

Perfect fit for mid-sized businesses. Great price point. Only truly hybrid solution that allows you to use Act both on your desktop and in a hosted environment.

Vorteile

When we first bought ACT! around 17 years ago we loved it. We were all happy with what it could do to automate the office and with client/lead management.

Nachteile

Email marketing and email functionality - or lack of - with Outlook.
Only being able to attach one document file to a history note has also caused much frustration.

Vorteile

This software is very user friendly and can be adapted to your business needs.

Nachteile

Some of the search features can be a bit difficult

Vorteile

When the software works it is good but the support from ACT is the worst we have ever experienced.

Nachteile

Act Marketing Automation does not work. We have battled with trying to get this working for over two years with appalling customer support and still no resolution.

Vorteile

I loved ACT when I used to use it. It was by far the best CRM at the time.

Nachteile

Last time I used ACT and granted it was many years ago, it wasn't cloud based. At one point my computer crashed and I lost my entire ACT database that hadn't been backed up in the last few weeks. I was devastated and decided I had to switch to something that was in the cloud.

Vorteile

This product allows you to integrate the basic and most complicated processes within your business. I love the email link feature, any time I send an email to a client (who has their email in their account profile), the system automatically saves that email in the client profile. You don't have to search for it in your inbox, or click an extra button to push the details over to the profile, it all happens automatically. The icing on the cake, is now that it is in the client profile, other members of my team can see what emails I have communicated to client, and when they were sent. It helps to keep my team all on the same page. This is by far the best Client Database system I have ever used. AMAZING!

Nachteile

The biggest downside to ACT is there is not a built in funnel email system. You have to select the group or type of clients that you want to email, export that to another database and then send the communications from there. The system will still tag your emails as long as they are sent from your domain, but having to export the list an use an additional software or service to send the mass email notifications is a little frustrating. If they can fix this option, it would make my life a lot easier.

Vorteile

Now it is on the cloud rather than desktop version we don't need to synchronise as this never worked properly anyway

Nachteile

they are removing useful features every year to the point it becomes a glorified database, it always has technical issues of some description. they fix one thing and break another.
It is very limited in what it can do, looks ok on the outside but when you come to use it you find that it is so limited it is difficult to make it work effectively.

Vorteile

We can leave internal notes, create and save contracts, create custom columns for searching and organizing, can edit the format to fit our needs without consulting with the software company. You can see which user has done the work, assign reps and task other users and yourself. You can create separate databases for different functions, and assign a group under various levels (inquiry, quote, confirmed, etc.).

Nachteile

It's not very pretty nor modern looking, but it does the job. My computer has changed a couple of times since starting to use ACT, and with one hard drive change it was very difficult and time consuming to figure out how to change the text size within the fields, because it was tiny and apparently most monitors are huge now, so it was a big strain on my eyes.

Vorteile

initially, I liked the ability to manage my various lists of contacts.

Nachteile

Lots of duplicates get created by not being able to have a master database with the option of placing contacts in multiple categories and then creating separate lists per project that do not change as the master database is updated. I want to be able to see what contacts I sent information to two months after I built the list so I am clear where we had a miss when we learn of updates/new contacts, but Act does not allow that.

Vorteile

I like the fact that a team of 5 can share effectively in real time, I like the ease of changing layouts and adding fields, and with Seamless the ablity to easily prdcue high quality documenation. It's link to outlook and ODBC is good and it is a stable, which being at the core of our business is a good thing

Nachteile

There are many things I think we could do to be more productive but can't, and we do see fields being changed or lost "by themselves". The web version was a poor version of the Pro, and we haven't been able to make it available when offline, which is a frustration.

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Gründe für den Wechsel zu Act!

Vorteile

Contact management, diary management, Opportunity management.

Nachteile

I need my CRM to integrate with Google so that potential customers can book appointments with me. The software is sold with Google synchronisation. I even asked if the software would synchronise with Google. 4 months later the software still does not synchronise and they cannot give any answer as to when it will be fixed. No worries I think, I could synchronise with Microsoft's Outlook instead… Except that doesn't work either!

Vorteile

It's easy to keep my tasks managed and know who to contact and when.

Nachteile

It's only utilized well for task management

Vorteile

easy to enter new contacts and track within ACT! system

Nachteile

Use to track comments, emails, and other communications and DOES NOT integrate with outlook in the newest version, They have messed up and really need to start over or do another upgrade. I have to start ACT! make sure it is going (but not integrating) then start outlook, then wait see if it loads ACT! add ons, then maybe restart several attempts EACH morning /day - lose much produtive time going back & rerecording records &documents i thought were attaching DO NOT RECOMMEND this at all

Vorteile

The fact that I was able to use the product immediately with no instruction was a great pro. Entering data and retrieving info about a client is easy, and building history of calls, Email messages, letters in a record is great.

Nachteile

I am not happy with support as all they do is provide a fix when there is a problem, but not direction in how to build reports or use other functionality. I have had to fix the same problem with direction from their service group several times. If I ask for help with reports they tell me I need to find a consultant for that.

Vorteile

Consistent interface through the years, reliable functionality and easy to resolve simple issues. Even in a small business, hosting the database on a consumer grade PC and operating system still provides a functional and fast connection. The ability to create an offline database that can then be synced with the master database is very useful for laptop users.

Finally in ACT 2018/2019, the interface between Outlook 365 (aka Outlook 2016) and ACT! is finally more reliable.

Nachteile

The time it takes to create a large offline database seems way to slow. Some troubleshooting issues require support from ACT!. I strongly recommend a support plan with ACT!

Vorteile

Marketing automation is easy to use and tracks email quite well.

Nachteile

A lot of marketing emails don't get through to clients. I have to send the emails to myself and then resend it to the client.

Vorteile

There is nothing good or helpful about this software.

Nachteile

The trial is not really a trial because you cannot see how their marketing automation works.

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Gründe für den Wechsel zu Act!

Vorteile

None that I can think of...over our old ACT versions.

Nachteile

We are a long time user of Act with 64000 contacts, and thought about an upgrade and tried the newest software. Connection to ACT did not work, called customer service which took DAYS to respond, and only with trivial solutions or told us out browsers were inadequate. We cannot use cloud based software, as many of our sales persons need to travel and out of internet on the road. We asked about purchasing a copy for local server use, and they STILL have not called back.

Uses alot of memory and crashed the test computer a couple of times.

I reviewed the posts, and many are favorable, but their usage is very different than ours. Most of the positives come from short time users who have no other experience. If you have alot of contacts, doubt if this will work for you.

Vorteile

It allows me to see the status of customers and prospects in real time and the history can be a business saver at times. The phone app integration is awesome when working in the field.

Nachteile

I'm really unhappy about the switch to subscriber based pricing. I will be looking at other CRM that I can do a purchase of.

Vorteile

When we first implemented the data base years back there was some push back from our current staff, but eventually everyone saw the value.

Nachteile

They upgraded and no longer offer service support for our version

Vorteile

we inherited this software and while it has some good basic functions, apart from knowing how to use it I have nothing positive to say about it

Nachteile

Customer service is the WORST. I'm currently waiting for my rep to get back to me about an unresolved issue (it's been over 4 weeks since we were able to access our task lists). In the 4 weeks i have left numerouse messages and followed up with emails. As a total I received 1 email correspondence.
We have 3 new staff members that started within the last month and although trying to reach out numerous times regarding setting up profiles for these staff, we haven't been able to get a response.

ACT for web speed
we have a database of about 28000 contacts and are unable to use ACT for web as it is that slow that it has become unusable.

INTEGRATION
Everytime there is a server update all integrations stop working. We have tried to set up email syncing since early this year. All that "support" has to say that it has to be our PC set ups. Yet they can't tell us which settings need to be changed.

Vorteile

I really like the layout and tab system for quickly navigating to relevant data and files attached to the case you are working on. ACT! Was the first CRM I learned to use and it has only gotten better with age.

Nachteile

I had a little difficulty figuring out how to get the datasets i needed to query properly but that wasn't a problem with their platform, it was a lack of knowledge.

Vorteile

ACT is limited in what you are able to accomplish which could be a good thing. The limit in feature availability makes it more seamless to use the features that are at the forefront of the application. The bare minimum is that I can access employee and client records and I can't complain on that front since ACT does provide those details.

Nachteile

On the flip side, the limited features and functionality makes it difficult to access any advanced features. The site glitches make the application quite cumbersome. Also, different company entities require entirely new logins which is an issue I never anticipated. If the option to log in to multiple sites within the same company were to become available, I'd be far more likely to recommend this to new prospective clients. The glitches only serve to make this transition more clumsy.

Vorteile

ACT! is my client record system of choice. We've been using ACT! for at least twelve years. I find it is an easy way to track client details and history. Data entry is simple. I particularly like the fast Search function. Keyboard shortcuts make the application even easier to use.

I have tested other CRMs. ACT! has always ranked top of the list for me. ACT!'s annual updates have always improved the product. Customer support has improved year by year too.

Nachteile

The Outlook interface is good but the synchronising facility could be better. Sometimes we experience hang-ups when synchronising selected lists between ACT! and Outlook.

Vorteile

It is very simple to use and yet very powerful. It provides me with Notes and Histories and as many fields as I need to put in data about my customers and vendors. It is linked to my phone as well as my admins data. I really cannot see running my business without ACT.

Nachteile

really nothing to complain about. they do updates and patches to fix any issues I have ever encountered

Vorteile

ACT has been around for a long time, as has Swiftpage who aquired them. The software itself has continued to evolve and improve, but hasn't lost the overall feel it has always had. What I like the most is that they have cloud AND desktop platforms for those that might not need cloud services. They also have a large number of plans available, are affordable, and there are a good number of independent technicians out there that can help you with your data, and design third party add-ons too.

Nachteile

The recent change that does not let owners of much older versions of the software activate what they already own has me concerned.

Vorteile

With only minor exceptions, Act! has presented and behaved in the same way for years. Given that I have relied heavily on Act since about 1992, that is some track record, especially for software. In my experience it is;
Extremely powerful
Very user friendly (minimises costs of staff training, increases productivity and compliance)
Very reliable
Essential

Nachteile

It can be resource hungry so good networks and reasonable computing power needed
There can occasionally be niggles with the MS Outlook interface (though how much this is to do with Microsoft fiddling with interface parameters etc I can't say)

Vorteile

I have been using Act! for a short time (less than 6 months) but already appreciate it so much more than other similar programs. From targeted lists and unique triggers for automated responses, Act! has been a powerhouse for driving our customer engagement. I think that what I appreciate the most about Act! is the prospect identification feature. By targeting specific buyers, it alerts me to others who may have similar metrics as these buyers thereby increasing my marketing campaigns' reach.

Nachteile

I think that Act! is only missing a few features. Namely, a better phone-based system. I think it's great as far as being behind a computer, and can understand that some of the computer based features are missing, but if they placed more attention on their phone-based CRM going forward with future updates, that would solidify this program as a powerhouse CRM for me.

Vorteile

I have a record of contacts and contacts I have had, plus a link to documents relating to the customer

Nachteile

The con is actually a plus for many as it has many features I do not need or use, so I pay a little more, but Act! is vital to our business.

Vorteile

I was probably one of the first purchasers of Act. It is a great program that needs a company to put some serious thought behind making it work better. After shopping several other CRM software's I still think it is above the rest in both user friendly and functionality. You price for the product is more than fair (in fact, I think low) but the software runs like it is somebody's part time job.

Nachteile

Customer service is the worst. The guys in India are great and I have nothing bad to say about them but is there some reason I need to sit on a phone 45 minutes waiting to speak to the representative? Again I think Act could be the CRM leader but I don't see much improvement over the past few years. The principles of this company have sat back and let opportunities walk by not focusing on the customers needs. With all the apps and technologies available Act should have more to offer.When I purchase a product I do not expect to have to spend hours chasing down my answers through videos.

Vorteile

It is in bad taste that you will not allow this box to be left blank and are trying to force users to say something nice about your software. Every time I come in contact with your software it is because it is broken.(N/A)

Nachteile

The Act! / Microsoft Office integration needs some work. It keeps breaking and we have to troubleshoot this issue with our customer on a weekly bases.

Vorteile

Very intuitive, and worked quickly. Unlike some other Cloud or Microsoft CRM solutions, there were no 'load times' when you switched to a different customer or different activity. It was highly customizable, and the import/export processes were intuitive and worked flawlessly.

Nachteile

Seemed harder to add new minor features we would like... However, we last used the software 2 years ago so it might not have been the most current version. Interface was cometically so so but worked well.

Vorteile

You can input any information and update it and the information can be seen by anyone in the organization. Makes communication between teams very simple and quick.

Nachteile

I am not a fan of the way they use multiple contacts past two for a business. If there are a list of people to communicate with each profile has up to two contacts, with more than two a new profile for the company has to be created, creating multiple profiles for each company which can cause confusion for other sections of the company, including processing payments and sending to the wrong contact at the other end or returning a product to the wrong section of said business.

Vorteile

This is very easy to use, simple yet powerful CRM. End users are very happy with the functionality and has been much easier for management to get staff engaged vs similar products we've tried in the past. The UI is clean and simple, data entry is fast and the inbuilt reports are intuitive.

Nachteile

From an IT administration standpoint, can be a little clunky deploying on multiple machines. Having said that, once installed it's pretty much maintenance free and requires very little hand holding.

Vorteile

The company I worked at previously used Act! to maintain data on all of our clients. It keeps track of everything, from names and emails to previous communications and future prospects (as you record them). It's so much easier than creating and maintaining paper records, which can easily become lost. With its syncing capabilities, Act! can be accessed from any of your computers, which came in handy during the odd weekend work emergency came up.

Nachteile

The 4 GB cloud limit on Act! Premium was less than I would have liked, but we dealt with it.

Vorteile

The fact that I can check my customer notes from anywhere I have internet access is great. You can be called to a last minute meeting and have all your customer notes at your fingertips before walking in to their office.
The ability to dictate notes using your phone or tablet is also great.

Nachteile

Occasionally glitches out when moving between contacts and agenda items.

Vorteile

Act! has been around for over 20 years. It is a CRM ahead of its time. Act! makes marketing initiatives a zinch!
News letters and email campaigning is very easy with Act! The Client birthday reminder system is a great customer service tactic for retention. Act! was very analogy back 20 years ago but now it has flourished into an advanced CRM with lead funnels and more.

Nachteile

My experience with Act! was very positive. There was a bit of delay in the beginning with customer service but that improved over time.

Vorteile

This software doesn't require a monthly charge (if you have the desktop version) It allows you to create customized reports and input more information then you possibly could need.

Nachteile

This software has several Cons, One of the biggest is that its not user friendly so much. it takes you a long time to figure out how to use functions. I had trouble when I fist started using it. Also, when I wanted up upload excel spreadsheets of client info into the CRM. I had to buy an "Add On" which I think should of been something included in the program.

Vorteile

Act! delivers when it comes to functionality. It's more than just a database with user information in it. It also offers tools to create and print customized letters and address stickers, and is fully integrated with an email service owned by the same company.

Nachteile

There are some glitches, however. For example, when you create a new entry for a profile in the database, it will often warn you (before you save it) that the profile you created already exists. This is not based on the name, but rather (I'm assuming) the user id. This is very annoying because the company I work for uses "ID Status" to group users, so many users may have the same id. Also, when it comes to adapting to screen sizes, Act! constantly fails with each new release. Specifically regarding the email marketing page, there are always buttons that are so small that the text is not even visible when I'm viewing from a high-resolution monitor.

Vorteile

The only reason I use this software is that I have used it for 25+ years, too embedded to change

Nachteile

The Company, the Pricing and mostly the Customer Service. How crazy is I have to pay extra to speak to someone in the US that speaks English. Appalling. The response time is poor. I requested a password change via email as it is set up to do because it would not take mine; never got the reset password email. I called the sales number thinking they would at least ANSWER the phone. He told me there was an issue with the reset email and customer service (which I pay an extra $480.00 a year for) can help... on hold too long, left a message for a call back.... waiting..... Years ago ACT was amazing, since the transitions it has become progressively worse. The Product itself is good, the sales people are nice. That is it. I do wish I had the time to research options and change, perhaps in 2021.

Vorteile

Initially I wanted to use the program because I had used it a decade ago and found it easy to use and customize. It has changed and I ended up having to hire a consultant for everything.

Nachteile

As mentioned, I have worked with ACT off and on for two decades. Their most recent "upgrade" has been filled with bugs and a lack desire to fix them. My consultants have been inundated with complaints they have passed on to ACT with no response. Plus, they lack basic integration with excel or outlook. What!?
Contact management programs are a competitive software. ACT is both more expensive than most, not user friendly and lacking in function and basic customer service.

Vorteile

Act is vert easy to use and customize to the users needs. Very little training is required for new users

Nachteile

None it is a very good CRM for marketing purposes

Vorteile

I have used this produce since the 90s and its consistency of value has remained. It's easy to use after learning just a few basics. Reports are easy to generate and are customizable to your field.

Nachteile

Only that it did not link to specialized software I was using in the field.