How Do I Access Act! On my Mobile Device - Update

Act! CRM Access on Mobile Device Options

As mobile devices become more powerful, it’s inevitable that we want to do more work on these devices. Today there are many great options that allow access to your Act! on a mobile device. We first wrote about this in April, 2017, but with the improvements in technology, we wanted to provide an updated set of options.

All of our clients ask us “How do I access my Act! CRM on my mobile device?” There are many answers to this question. The right solution for you depends upon a number of factors, including:

• What version of Act! you use? Some solutions became available in with Act! v19 and were updated in Act! v20 and v20.1.
• Are you using Act! Pro vs. Act! Premium? If using Act! Premium, are you on an active subscription?
• Do you want to use the native capabilities of Act! and your mobile devices, or are you open to purchasing a third-party app that extends your capabilities?
• What Act! CRM data do you want to have on your mobile device and what you want to do with that data? Are your needs met by just viewing your information or do you need to add, update, delete information and have it update your Act! database?

There is no short answer accessing your Act! data via your mobile device, but we hope the information below helps you make an informed decision so you can choose the access method that best meets your needs. As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions or need any clarification.

Let’s take a high-level look at the most common tools we use and recommend to our clients.  For a comparison chart of these tools, click here.

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.  It’s important to note that this is not an app. With Act! Premium Mobile, you use the internet browser on your mobile device to work “live” in the Act! database that is on your server. Performance of Act! Premium Mobile is driven by the upload/download speeds of your Act! database server and of your mobile device. 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 such as name, address block, email, phone number, and ID/Status) 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 you’re your Act! data available to other native features on your mobile device such as push notifications, inbound caller ID, and maps integration. The functionality provides the capability to sync all of your database contacts or just those you choose based on a set of criteria you create. As of Act! version 20.1, creating contact sync lists are managed directly using groups.

CompanionLink

CompanionLink is a third-party app that’s well established that accomplishes something very similar to Act!’s native Outlook/Google sync. 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! data 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 duplicate contacts 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 mapping tools to provide interactive maps. Act! v20, incorporated your Act! Insights dashboards, providing dynamic visual snapshots of real-time metrics of your team's performance. With the release of Act! v20.1, you can now access the Opportunities module, providing the ability to create, modify and delete Opportunities where ever you are.

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

Handheld Contact

If you’re looking for a feature-rich, native app for your iOS, Android, and yes, 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 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.
• For Apple devices HHC also these additional capabilities: Edit, create, or update Opportunities, access Secondary Contacts, Export calendar to iOS calendar, and more.
• While being an app on your mobile device, HHC also provides the ability to copy Act! contacts and calendar entries from the HHC app to your native contacts and calendar apps as well as import contacts from your device’s native apps into Act!.

Next Steps To Going Mobile With Act!

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. AspenTech’s handy chart will help you evaluate your options.  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.

Download and Compare All Features 

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Original Post:
How Do I Access Act! On My Mobile Device?