View July 2010 ACT Newsletter on Introducing Sage's ACT! 2011 in a  PDF Version

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Coming soon: Sage ACT! 2011. The

newest release is in final testing and

will be available soon. With each new

release, Sage conducts extensive research to

provide the tools customers need most. For

this release, Sage collected input from customers

via in-product surveys and searched

the Sage ACT! Community Forums. This

wealth of input was then prioritized through

discussions and additional surveys to arrive

at an overall set of themes and objectives for

this release.

The Sage ACT! 2011 release focuses

on these key areas: Smart Tasks, Microsoft

Outlook® Integration, Getting Started, and

Sage Business Info Services for ACT!. In this

article we will discuss Smart Tasks, a powerful

feature that allows you to automate tasks

such as scheduling activities. The Sage ACT!

development team designed Smart Tasks to

be very easy to use and included pre-defined

automated tasks so you can get a jump start

on using them.

What Is A Smart Task?

Instead of manually performing each

step in a workflow, with Smart Tasks you

can schedule a series of steps in Sage ACT!

to occur in sequence, automatically. If you

have a workflow in Sage ACT! that contains

a sequence of steps or series of tasks that you

perform frequently, it is an ideal candidate

for Smart Tasks. A well thought out Smart

Task can save workers time and dramatically

increase productivity.

Smart Task Components

When building a Smart Task, you will

define three things:

»» When: You can manually trigger or

schedule a time for the Smart Task.

»» Who: Use advanced query parameters to

filter Contacts or Opportunities.

»» What: The action of the Smart Task: send

e-mail alert, schedule activity, or send an

Sage ACT! e-mail template.

Here we will use an e-marketing campaign

as our Smart Task example.

Let’s say you set the When to be Monday

at 9 a.m., so that your message will be waiting

in the customers’ in-box first thing in

the morning. The Who could be defined as

all Opportunities with a dollar value greater

than $5,000, and the What could be to send

Sage ACT! 2011

(continued on page 2)

Headline News

New Smart Tasks Offer The Potential For A

Dramatic Boost In Productivity

1900 East Golf Road

Suite 950

Schaumburg, IL 60173

(847) 352-4770

[email protected]

www.etechsys.com

As a customer of Sage ACT!,

you may receive discounts on

useful business services that can

save you money and enhance

your productivity, including Online

Meetings, Remote Access,

Payment Solutions, and Voice-

Over IP for Sage ACT!.

a specific e-marketing template that you

have created with your targeted messaging.

So, rather than having to remember to send

a marketing e-mail at the beginning of each

week, with Smart Tasks you can make it happen

automatically with a few mouse-clicks.

Smart Task Templates

Sage ACT! 2011 comes with a selection

of pre-defined Smart Task templates. Several

will include Sage E-marketing for ACT! steps.

You can use them as they are, or customize

them to meet your needs. The following are

examples of templates:

»» New Contact Smart Task

»» Incomplete Information Alert

»» Birthday Reminder Smart Task

»» Opportunity A Week From Close Alert

»» Neglected Contacts Smart Task

»» Opportunity Follow-up Reminder

»» High-Value Opportunity Alert

Smart Task Designer

With Sage ACT! 2011, customizing the

Smart Task templates is easy; the Smart Task

Designer gives you the ability to simply drag

and drop information into individual Smart

Task steps. Out-of-the-box integration to

Sage E-marketing for ACT! is included. And

because Smart Tasks have been developed

using Windows Workflow as the foundation,

you can extend their use to other integrated

applications.

Smart Tasks can be created and run on

Contacts or Opportunities. The filter criteria

in the Designer matches the advanced query.

For activities and e-mail, you can dynamically

assign the following:

»» Contact in Focus

»» Record Manager

»» Static Contact(s)

»» User starting the Smart Task

You can build in a fixed delay after the

completion of other steps before an e-mail

is sent. You have two options on sequencing,

you can:

»» Time steps to sequence after a specified

time. For example, send an e-mail 3 days

after an activity is scheduled.

»» Set up your Smart Task to schedule a

sequential step when the previous step is

completed . For example, send an e-mail

when an activity is completed.

If you check the Run Once check box you

can prevent a scheduled Smart Task from running

over and over for the same Contact. The

Run Once feature is overridden if you run the

Smart Task manually; it will execute the Smart

Task for all Contacts that fit the criteria.

Running A Smart Task

Any Smart Task can be run manually by

right-clicking it or from the schedule menu.

Smart Task steps can be set to run in the background

or the foreground. If foreground is

selected, you will be able to see the steps being

executed in the Pending Smart Task Steps

Dialog. Each step in a Smart Task sequence

starts only when the previous step is complete.

Smart Task Visibility

Once you have a collection of Smart Tasks

running, you will want to be able to check on

them. A screen displays all Smart Tasks running

on the database for the current user. You

can filter the list of Smart Tasks to find the

one you are looking for easily, then pause or

activate it as needed.

A well-designed set of Smart Tasks can give

your organization a tremendous productivity

boost. Call us to discuss how Smart Tasks can

be put to work for you.

Sage ACT! 2011

(continued from cover)

© Copyright 2004–2010 Tango Marketing, LLC. www.tango-marketing.com All Rights Reserved. This newsletter and its content have been registered with the United States Copyright Office. This

content is licensed by Tango Marketing LLC and can be distributed by licensee until 01/31/2011 at which time the licensee must cease distribution and use of this content unless permission in

writing is obtained from Tango Marketing LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. The capabilities, system requirements and/or compatibility with third party

products described herein are subject to change without notice. Sage, the Sage logos, Sage ACT!, and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or

trademarks of Sage Software, Inc., or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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ZOOM IN

The intuitive Smart Task interface makes it easy

to edit Smart Task templates or design new Smart

Tasks.

(( Tips & Tricks ))

Creating New Activity Types

There are six Activity Types included with

Sage ACT! 2011: Call, Meeting, To-Do,

Personal Activity, Appointment, and

Vacation. You can create additional

activity types if you need them. For

example, you could create a Trade Show

activity type, or use additional call types

such as Telemarketing or Customer

Support. Take the time to think it through

before you start, though. Activity Types

cannot be deleted, only edited and

deactivated.

You must be assigned an Administrator or

Manager Role to create Activity Types. To

create a custom activity type:

1. Select Schedule, Manage, and then Activity

Types.

2. Click the Add button.

3. Name the new activity type. If you have

access to icon files, you can use the Browse

button to select an Icon for your new

activity type.

4. Select a Result, click Edit, and modify the

Result name to include the new Activity

Type name, and click OK. To add a new

Result, click Add, type the new Result

Name, and click OK.