Reasons to Move to Act! Premium Cloud and Why we Did It!

Posted on January 8, 2025January 8, 2025 by Jean McCandlish

ASDS not only sells Act! but we have been a faithful desktop user since the product was launched. Recently we converted to Act! Premium Cloud. Initially we had the same reservations as our own clients. uptime, security, functionality. Now that we have been on the product for a few months, I have to say the benefits far outweigh any reservations we may have had.

As a user and administrator it is so easy!! I can get to our data from anywhere, and remain productive wherever I happen to be. Top reasons to do this:

Extremely Flexible: You can use on Windows, Web, or both. If you have a new user, you don’t have to install Act! anymore, it is so simple to add people. Users can work on the platform they like PC or Mac. Mobility – Act! Premium Cloud Mobile is included at no charge and it doesn’t matter if you are an Apple or an Android user!
API functionality works like a charm. This allows you to use Act! Marketing Automation without any hiccups!
Offsite backup, enhanced security and maintenance. You don’t have to worry about backups, upgrades or maintenance, it is all taken care of for you. The reality is that Act! Premium Cloud is more secure than most users current setups. Hardware and software gets outdated so fast in today’s world. Now you don’t have to care about SQL versions!
Money – Act! Premium Desktop is now $468.00 per user per year. Compare this with Act! Premium Cloud at only $360.00 per user per year – this includes hosting, backups, and now Act! Premium Cloud Mobile.

The time is now, make the move to Act! Premium Cloud!

Act! Connect Link to be discontinued this week!.

Posted on January 8, 2025January 8, 2025 by Jean McCandlish

Act! Connect Link was used most prominently for Act! Premium Desktop users in order to use Act! Marketing Automation. The Link’s discontinuation leaves Act! Premium Desktop users with three courses of Action.

Migrate to Act! Premium Cloud. By far the best choice. Act! Premium Cloud lets Act! take care of the hosting and the API technology to use Act! Marketing Automation. This solution lets you use both cloud and desktop options. As a bonus you get nightly backups, automatic updates and a mobile solution!
Remain on Act! Premium Desktop and use an External Hosting Provider. While this is a viable option, the reality is that it will most likely cause you to pay more that Option 1.
Remain on Act! Premium Desktop and set up the Act! Web API. While we have users operating in this scenario, we do not recommend for others to set it up now. It requires specific IT infrastructure and expertise and we have found that the costs in setting it up far exceed the benefits.

For anyone finding themselves affected by the ACL discontinuation, please contact us to discuss the options in more detail.

Act! Premium Desktop v25 now available!

Posted on June 20, 2023September 27, 2023 by Jean McCandlish

Act! v25 Premium Desktop is now available. Aimed at boosting business effectiveness, Act! v25 introduces an advanced dashboard builder and new SMS text messaging capabilities.

Now you can easily create new analytic dashboards to gain insights into your Act! data. This enables you to visualize more of your data by utilizing multiple queries, and retrieving data more quickly. The end result is that you can monitor your business performance, react to changing business conditions and respond with better decision making.

This release contains new SMS4Act! text messaging capabilities. Now you can send ad-hoc text messages to customers anywhere in the world. Messages can be personalized with contact or activity information, which can be saved as templates for future use. Texts and replies are automatically recorded in Contact or Group History records.

To top it off, enhancements have been made to Act! Marketing Automation and Act! Companion mobile App for more intuitive and end user friendly capabilities.

Act! Obsolescence Policy

Posted on April 23, 2021April 23, 2021 by Jean McCandlish

Act! like many vendors implements a policy whereby they support the current release of the product and specific older releases up to a certain date. When a release becomes unsupported, the products are no longer eligible for service packs, hotfixes, or compatibility updates. ASDS as a vendor can provide support on older versions of Act!, but sometimes a workaround cannot be developed without the manufacturer’s support. The dates below are the published upcoming Act! obsolescence policy dates. Products not listed here are already obsolete.

Act! Growth Suite v22, Act! Premium v22	Through 3/31/22
Act! Growth Suite v21, Act! Premium v21	Through 11/30/21
Act! Pro v21, Act! Pro v22	Through 11/30/21
Act! v20 products	Through 11/30/20

Act! Obsolescence Policy Dates

If you are running anything older than Act! v21, your software is obsolete and has already been locked at the last revision of that software. You can no longer get support from Act! In real terms this means your software is vulnerable from a security standpoint. When software is locked, you no longer receive the updates necessary to keep it performing with other related software. In the Act! world this mean Windows, Outlook, and Google^TM.

It is time to consider an Act! subscription plan to keep you up to date and in step with other software applications. Act! Subscription plans include free updates as long as your subscription is active.

The bottom line is that by staying on an old release to save money, you are putting your company at risk. Both security risk from hackers as well as taking the risk of having access to your data and functions interrupted. Don’t be caught trying to restore your applications functionality.

Meanwhile, If you run into an issue on an older product, please check with us to see if we can help – we have been supporting Act! for over 30 years!