I built my company on Act!, but as SwiftPage goes in their direction, I needed to take care of my clients’ needs in the meantime.  I added WiredContact in 2003 because I needed these features Act! doesn’t have, or they require plugins.  Plugins are awesome, but some clients refuse to pay for it, assuming Act! should just have it.  Or, it causes a longer sell cycle to approve a $150 reporting app.

Features in WiredContact That Don’t Require Plugins

1. Automate Report Distribution (No Need for TopLine Alerts , Durkin or Crystal Clear Essentials)
2. Automate Field Values (Ex: If State=IL; then, Territory=Midwest) – (No Plugins Needed)
3. Create Smart Tasks (Act! cannot fix it – No Need for SAM)
4. Automate Quote Numbers (No need for AutomatorR1 , Durkin or QuoteWerks)
5. Import Data to Any Table (No need for Oak! Merge)
6. Create Custom Tables (No need for TopLine Desinger/Durkin)
   1. Custom Tables Appear on Mobile Device/Browsers without Plugins
   2. Mail-Merge Custom Table Details onto a Document.  Example
7. Implement Security against Any Table (WiredContact > Act! Limited Access/Field Level Security)
8. Change Any Layout Based on Field Values (No Plugin Needed)
9. Undo Deleted Records (Not Available in Act!)
10. Undo Record Changes (Not Available in Act!)
11. Open Multiple Databases on The Same PC/Mac (No Need for Citrix, APFW or VM’s)
12. Edit System Fields (Not Available in Act!)
13. Read Accounting Data via SQL Alias (Act! Requires 3rd Party Plugins)
14. Copy Fields (Plugin Not Needed to Copy Billing Address -> Shipping Address)
15. Capture Leads from Website (No Need to Wait for AEM , sell SPEM , Hogan Data or Exponenciel)
16. Create a Client Access Portal (Requires Hogan Data Plugin)
17. Customize Activity Table and Layout (No Plugins needed)
18. Customize History Table and Layout (No Plugins needed)
19. One-Click History Entries (No Need for my Own Act ! App!)
20. Advanced Edit-Replace Features (No Need for Swiss Army Knife)
    1. Append Text
    2. Remove Text
    3. Replace Text
    4. Proper Case
    5. Edit/Replace 2+ Fields at Once
    6. Edit/Replace against Any Table
    7. Edit/Replace Can Be Disabled by User
21. True MacOS support (Still waiting for a MacOS client?)

Differences in Licensing

1. WiredContact offers concurrent licenses
2. WiredContact offers affordable perpetual licenses starting $439/user
3. Maintenance is $25/user/year with perpetual license purchase
4. SaaS license is $50/user/year (but I charge $65 since I include some additional reports and tools)
5. WiredContact offers buy+host licenses

Act! Features Not in WiredContact

1. Offline Sync
2. Microsoft Word Integration – WiredContact uses its own word processor
   1. But WiredContact can mail-merge documents with history, activities and custom tables within the document
3. WYSIWYG Dashboard Creator – WiredContact can send the data to a Google Graph
4. Keyboard Shortcuts
5. Drag and Drop Calendar
6. Outlook E-Mail Integration (Requires 3rd Party Plugin for WiredContact)
7. Recurring Activities (Requires 3rd Party Plugin for WiredContact)
8. Printable Calendar to Day-Timer / Hard Copy formats
9. Zapier Integration

“But It Looks Antiquated”

WiredContact supports traditional CSS for styling the look.  I took the v16 screen, and replicated it to WiredContact.  The icons are the same, and the buttons can be in the same places, and I matched the same grey used in the demo database.  So, it’s up to you or your designer to add flair, and it’s available.

Vivek showed me bootstrap.js , so the fields can dynamically shrink and expand as well for different screen sizes.  Haven’t implemented this yet.