ACT! 2000

Richard Price
29 September 2000

ACT!2000, a piece of contact management software with more gadgets than a Swiss army knife, allows you to fool potential clients that you really care as records and activity lists remind you to send birthday-cards, make follow up calls or reassure them about the status of their important orders.

I have never been a big fan of this sort of program. They work fine once all the information is there, but unless you are importing it from somewhere, you need to type it in, and keep it up to date --- and that is always a chore.

ACT!2000 installed easily enough, but doesn't earn any points for the messy way it handles files.

An ACT! database is not a single file, it is made up of more than 20 files. Regardless of how many databases you create, these files get chucked into a single database directory automatically created in the My Documents folder. It's up to you to tidy it up.

Starting ACT! for the first time launches the QuickStart Wizard, that helps set up word processor, fax software and e-mail.

A multimedia tour shows new users how to get the most out of the program.

Some enhancements make data entry easier. Certain fields are automatically filled in after the first few letters have been typed.

Importing data from other applications is not so straightforward. ACT!2000 only accepts data in the following formats: Microsoft Outlook (97, 98, 2000); Delimited text; DBase III-V.

Except for Microsoft Outlook, data needs to be saved as an export file from the original application. It looks like ACT! only integrates well with Microsoft products.

I found the interface a bit intimidating, and certainly not something to use just to keep track of a few phone numbers. A bit of scrap paper next to the phone is quicker. Whether you chose to add it to ACT!2000 later is up to you.

SideACT, included with ACT!2000, is supposed to be used for making quick notes. However, for some daft reason SideACT only uses the American style date format (MM/DD/YY).

There is a set of pre-defined templates to choose from when printing out a contact list from ACT!2000. The calendar also prints in a variety of formats --- with all appointments neatly marked.

Personal reminders can be entered, provided they are assigned to your personal record in the database.

ACT!2000 insisted on printing to letter size paper even though my default setting is for A4. This had to be manually changed every time.

E-mails can be sent from within ACT!2000 by clicking on the e-mail address field of a contact. Any attached documents are automatically attached to the contact in the ACT! database to help record keeping.

FoneSync software for transferring names and numbers to most digital phones is included --- the connectivity kit is not.

The ACT! PalmPilot Link helps exchange data between your Palm and ACT! While ACT!2000 data synchronisation allows contact information to be shared with a central ACT! database.

ACT!2000 runs on Windows 95, 98, 2000 or Windows NT 4.0, with at least 32 MB of RAM, 50 MB free disk space (plus sufficient disk space for your database).

The only sure way to get the most out of ACT!2000 is to be in front of the computer when the phone rings.

This type of software will always be old no matter how many times it is updated. I am not surprised Symantec got rid of it. If it was WAP compliant and existed on a wristwatch-sized iMac I'd love it.

www.actsoftware.com
RRP AU$215 (incl GST)

By Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com

For information on getting a product reviewed email richard@energyme.com