ACT! 5.0 (for Windows) is coming and is expected out later this year. In the meantime, to be Y2K compliant, you’ll need ACT! 3.08 or higher. Note, ACT! 3.06 is not Y2K compliant nor is any version of ACT! 2.0. Visit www.symantec.com for a full Y2K compliance statement.

MEETING FEATURE: Tales From the Trenches

Some of the best ideas on how to customize ACT! for particular functions come from fellow ACT! users. Our March meeting featured three different ACT! SIG members, each using ACT! in a slightly different way. We bring you "Tales From the Trenches".

Chuck Loveisky started Unique Promotions back in 1961. Unique Promotions supplies recognition awards to trade associations as well as the usual compliment of mugs and other promotional items. Chuck reminded us of the days before ACT!. He used to keep the names and addresses of his contacts on 3x5 index cards. (Remember them?) Chuck related one pre-ACT! incident to the audience.

While loading his car (most likely on the way to make a sales call), Chuck inadvertently misplaced his database. Unfortunately he didn’t know this until it was too late. There was this "thump…thump…thump" sound, as he put it, as he drove off. Turns out that he placed his "database" on the roof of his car but forgot about it. Imagine how Chuck must have felt seeing his entire database in his rear view mirror. Needless to say, Chuck was an early candidate for ACT! which he embraced in 1989 - back in the ACT! for DOS days.

During the past year, Chuck upgraded to ACT! 4.0 for Windows and now maintains a database of 4500 contacts. (Imagine 4500 index cards!) Like many ACT! users, Chuck uses ACT! as a sales tool. ACT! prompts him to write any necessary letters and make required phone calls each day. He is especially fond of using ACT! to track contacts’ birthdays. Chuck noticed that this seemed help prospects become customers. To accomplish this, Chuck configured ACT! to generate a reminder one week in advance of a birthday. This way, birthday cards arrive on time.

Eileen Schmidt organized 89 different databases (along with 89 unique ACT! directories) for her company, Sucsy Fischer & Company, an investment banking firm. Why 89 databases? Eileen explained that each database represented an individual client – or "deal". You are probably thinking that Eileen could have arranged all contacts in one huge database with 89 different "groups" but tight database security was required. Having all contact information accessible to all employees (both permanent and temporary) was deemed too risky. Also, each of the company’s 10 ACT! users wanted their individual databases customized a little differently than others.

Eileen shared some tips with us. First, in order to respect clients’ special needs for privacy and confidentiality, Eileen created a new database field which she called "Warning". This field was designed to serve as a reminder and contains special instructions to the database user – such as "DO NOT MAIL TO". Eileen included this field in address section of ACT!’s Letter and Envelope templates. This way anyone in the office doing a mailing to someone who should not be getting any correspondence sees the words "DO NOT MAIL" across the top of the letter. Eileen also explained how she made good use of the space in the margins of her ACT! screen layouts. She used the space to type instructions to aid temporary workers in data entry.

As you may know, ACT! can automatically record data in selected fields each time new information is entered. This information is saved in ACT!'s History. Eileen shaded all fields recorded in history in yellow to remind users which information is always tracked.

Jim Koretz, ACT! Certified Consultant, shared a few of his favorite tips with us, as well.

• Use dropdowns or "popups" to enter data in the ID Status field. This ensures consistent data entry and accurate sorts (lookups).

• If you are using a PDA with limited capacity, create a new field and use it to flag contacts to be transferred. Jim is a fan of the REX PDA – which slips into your laptop’s PCMCIA slot. Jim created a REX field in his database. A "Y" in the field designates the contact as being earmarked for the REX.

• Never delete a contact (or database). Instead, create a database called "deleted records". Move unneeded contact records to that database.

• The Costar Label writer integrates seamlessly with ACT!. The Costar prints individual address labels, complete with bar codes, verifies addresses, and recognizes (and permits you to switch between) home and business addresses.

• Enter holidays in ACT!’s calendar by creating contact records for each holiday then scheduling a "meetings" for each contact record on the appropriate date. Now, holiday names will appear in ACT!’s calendar. Jim suggests labeling the ID status for these records: "Not A Contact Record".

Q: How can I eliminate name suffixes (such as Jr., Esq., etc.) from the salutation of letters I create with ACT!? For example, when I write a letter to "John Q. Smith, Jr." the salutation reads "Dear Mr. Smith, Jr.".

A: Try making a separate field for name suffixes. Make sure to add this field to each ACT! template (fax, label, letter, envelope, etc.) you'll be using.

Q: Is there a quick way of entering notes in ACT! 4.0?

A: Use the F9 key to quickly open Notes.

Q: I’m using ACT! 4.0. Heavy black lines are appearing across my screen. Can this be eliminated?

A: Try changing video drivers and/or back down on your video acceleration. You may also want to check out the knowledge base on Symantec’s web site (www.symantec.com) where you’ll find more information on this topic.

OUR NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be Tuesday May 11, 1999. Our meeting features will be Selling With PowerPoint and Using Marketing Encyclopedias. ACT! Certified Consultant Dennis Frantsve will show ACT! users how to create presentations that sell. Mike White of MarketingSmart will explain what a marketing encyclopedia is and how ACT! users can get easy access to their company's sales literature, documents, presentations, and more via the Internet. As always, we will answer your ACT!-related questions during our Open Forum Q&A session. The meeting will be held at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts Lecture Hall, 201 Schaumburg Court (just off Schaumburg Road, between Plum Grove and Roselle Roads).

The ACT! SIG of the CCS holds meetings on the second Tuesday of the month, eight months of the year. SIG meetings are free and open to all present and potential CCS members. Call E Tech Systems at 847-352-4770 to get meeting notices or e-mail us at info@etechsys.com.