How Do I Access Act! On My Mobile Device?

Written on 04/05/2017

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Act! CRM Access on Mobile Device

We’re on the go more than ever before.  Lucky for us, we’ve got great choices for smartphones and tablets to keep us connected while we’re on the move.  But one of the key questions we get from our clients is “How do I access Act! on my mobile device?”  There’s no short answer to that question but we hope this information helps you make an informed decision and allows you to choose the access method that works best for you.  As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions or need any clarification.

There are a variety of methods that can be used to access Act! data from a mobile device.  Some are free and included with your Act! software.  Others are third-party applications that you would purchase and install separately.  Each has their own unique feature set that, depending on your specific needs, could make it a good fit for you and your team.  Let’s take a high-level look at the most common tools we use and recommend to our clients.  Please also see further below for a comparison chart of these tools.

Act! Premium Mobile

With Act! Premium, mobile users have the ability to access a mobile-optimized web site for their Act! database, and there is no additional software cost.  Additional setup may be necessary if you’re not already using Act! Premium Web on the server that has your Act! database on it.  With Act! Premium Mobile, you use the internet browser on your mobile device to work “live” in the Act! database on your server.  Act! Premium Mobile provides detailed access to:

  • Act! contact, company, opportunity and group records (including custom fields) along with related items like notes, histories, and activities.
  • There are also calendar and task list views to allow you to manage your schedule and follow-ups.
  • From records in Act! Premium Mobile, you can place calls, send emails, insert notes, schedule activities, record history, attach photos and edit the records.

Act! & Outlook/Google Sync

Many of us have our mobile devices configured to synchronize contacts and calendars with our Outlook or Google accounts.  Built-in to Act! is a native ability to synchronize your Act! contacts and calendar with your Outlook or Google accounts.  Once this is done, the Act! contacts (basic contact info only) and calendar will flow seamlessly into the native contacts and calendar apps on your mobile device, providing you with quick, offline access to those records.  Additionally, by utilizing the native mobile device apps, you’ll have Act! integrated with other native features on your mobile device such as push notifications, inbound caller ID, and maps integration.

CompanionLink

In addition to the built-in Act! & Outlook/Google Sync, there is a third-party app that we support called CompanionLink that accomplishes something very similar. This app does require purchasing a license for each user. CompanionLink will synchronize your Act! contacts and calendar with Outlook or Google but provides many additional configuration options.  Similar to the built-in Act! & Outlook/Google Sync, the Act! contacts and calendar will flow seamlessly into the native contacts and calendar apps on your mobile device, providing you with quick, offline access to those records.  CompanionLink also allows you to map custom fields from your Act! database to the contacts in Outlook and Google.  Additionally, by utilizing the native mobile device apps, you’ll have Act! integrated with other native features on your mobile device such as push notifications, inbound caller ID, and maps integration.

One word of caution, there are many settings in CompanionLink. If you are the DIY type, proceed with caution. It would be quite easy to end up with duplicates back in your Act! data. If you would like a little assistance implementing CompanionLink, we will set it up correctly the first time,  

Act! Companion

New to Act! Premium v19 and further developed in Act! Premium v20, Act! Companion provides a native mobile app for your iOS and Android devices.  The native app connects to your Act! database via the Web API, which requires an active Act! subscription.  Like Act! Premium Mobile, above, this too requires Act! Premium Web on the server that has your Act! database on it. 

With Act! Companion, you can quickly locate contact records and basic contact information, place calls, send emails, record history, update records, add new contacts and receive notifications of upcoming scheduled activities. Act! Companion works with your device's provide interactive maps. New with Act! v20, you can see your Act! Insights dashboards, providing dynamic visual snapshots of real-time metrics of your team's performance.

Act! Companion is a fast and easy and fast way to provide valuable live Act! data while on the go. Like the other apps on your mobile device, Act! provides updates via the app store.

Handheld Contact

If you’re looking for a feature-rich, native app for your iOS, Android, or Blackberry devices, Handheld Contact (HHC) is the way to go.  This app does require purchasing a license for each mobile device.  This is a third-party app and was the first native app to integrate with Act! many years ago.  Data is stored locally on the mobile device and is periodically synchronized with your Act! database server.  With HHC, you can:

  • Access detailed Act! contact records (including custom fields) along with related items like notes, histories, and activities.
  • There are also calendar and task list views to allow you to manage your schedule and follow-ups.
  • From contact records in HHC, you can place calls, send text messages, send emails, insert notes, schedule activities, record history, and edit the records.
  • Handheld Contact also enables you to copy contacts and calendar entries from Act! to your native contacts and calendar apps as well as import contacts from the native app into Act!.

Next Steps

With all these options, we know it can get confusing when you’re trying to figure out the best way to access Act! on a mobile device.  Hopefully, this handy chart will help.  Don’t hesitate to contact our team at AspenTech CRM if you’d like assistance in determining the right product, if you’d like to purchase any of these products, or if you need help with the installation or configuration.
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