Long before there was Salesnet or Salesforce.com, there was ACT! — the tool most salespeople cut their customer management teeth on in the ’90s.
Today, the venerable sales force automation tool hit the Web. Best Software (parent company of ACT!’s publisher Interact) today introduced ACT! for Web, which it says is designed to offer all the benefits of ACT! for Windows over the Web. But there is a twist. Best Software is eschewing the conventional model for Web-based applications in two ways.
The product is offered for a one-time fixed price of $249.95 per user as opposed to a monthly fee. And while ACT! for Web is designed to offer fast installation and data sharing among workgroups, unlike other Web-based SFA services (or any online application for that matter), ACT! for Web doesn’t store data at a hosting facility. The reason, according to Best Software, is that small businesses prefer to keep all of their critical customer information within their own network.
“The majority of our SMB customers are averse to entrusting customer and sales opportunity data to a third-party hosting facility,” said Greg Head, ACT! general manager. “ACT! for Web data is stored within the company’s own network and enables customers to have both ACT! for Windows and ACT! for Web users accessing the same database so all users are working in real-time.”
ACT! for Web, according the company, allows users to perform the following tasks:
- Track up to 255 fields of customer information
- Perform quick look-ups using the hyperlink on each field label
- View daily, weekly and monthly calendars for individuals or workgroups
- Access activity and sales reports to get instant summaries
- Manage sales information using the built-in opportunity tracking and forecasting tools
Best Software is also the parent company of Abra!, CPASoftware, Peachtree, SalesLogix and others.
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