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ACT! on Blackberry


We use this in house every day to manage our practice.  Handheld Contact helps us maintain ACT! while we are on the road seamlessly and without the hassle of managing the synchronization process.

For ACT!, we support Handheld Contact for the Blackberry, and here is why:

  1. Product stability. It simply doesn’t crash, and I have used it for over 4 years. Other programs tend to duplicate contacts on both sides if the sync log gets corrupted.
  2. It’s easy to use. You can allow the Blackberry and the computer to sync every 15 minutes, and you have to do nothing to make it work after the initial setup.
  3. Handheld Contact runs as its own application, so you can keep your personal life separate from your business life.
  4. It offers an offline copy of ACT while you are out of internet range
  5. You can record history from the Blackberry and it will show up as a “history” in ACT when you get back to the office
  6. You can send email from the Blackberry from Handheld Contact and it records right to ACT history
  7. You can send SMS (Text Message) from the Blackberry and it will record right into ACT history as well.

OK, what are some drawbacks ?

  1. The application supports 7,000 contacts on the Blackberry. If you have more than that, you need to make a group in ACT!
  2. Some may say it’s a disadvantage not to use the native calendar and contact list on the Blacbkerry.

It’s a different approach on licensing.

ACT! for the IPadHandheld Contact is a service that happens to be software at $79/year per user. This includes updates and technical support.  Some of our clients balk at paying an annual fee for software.  Let’s suppose another package runs for $50 as a one time fee; you need to factor your potential down time if the program breaks.  After supporting mobile devices since 1998, we know a $50 program cannot be perfect for many years in this industry.  Now, if cash flow is a serious problem.  They also offer a basic edition for $59.95 per year that doesn’t offer as many features.

But, in terms of productivity and a “fire and forget” approach to software, Handheld Contact is a critical tool for our CRM practice.