I'm starting to look into getting a smart phone and have been debating between Blackberry or Treo. Then at the recent Best Get Better training session, I found out that Act! can be used on both devices. Is anyone using mobile Act!? How does the syncing work? Can you see and add to your notes while on your smart phone? Can you keep the built in calendar on the phone separate from the Act! calendar? What has been your experience, and would you recommend it?
Thanks!
Don
5 comments:
I have a Treo and will be switching to the Blackberry. My understanding is that we have support for Blackberry but not for Treo. So you have to access your email you have to constantly log in through webmail. Everyone else who has a Blackberry has their emails pushed to them. I heard you can open a gmail account and have your email pushed to gmail and access it that way. I had a Blackberry at my previous job and it worked great. The Treo is a great device since it is Palm and Windows but not as convenient as a Blackberry.
Hope this helps.
I read your question and thought how great to have act contacts on your BB.
I called IT and the problem is that if you sync ACT, then it over-writes your existing contact list, essentially deleting them. Not for me...
I have used both. I experienced a number of problems with the Treo. Accessing email was very inconvenient and I did not like the touch screen features.
I prefer the Blackberry. Email is a breeze and using act is easy. I tend not to add notes via blackberry and prefer to use it as a resources for past notes, phone numbers and emails.
Don:
Couple of things to think about before getting the new device.
I did have a Treo and had a difficult time with it interfacing with ACT. I switched to a Blackberry and found it to be much better with ACT and the Crain e-mail system.
When I spoke to Kristy Caldwell in Detroit a few days ago, she thought that the new Apple i-phone would have the capabilities to sync with ACT and the IT Dept would be investigating this in the near future.
I would suggest you call Kristy and discuss the options with her and also ask for any Corporate discount/purchase plan that might be available to you.
Hope this helps
Tony
In deciding on what type of device to get, I suggest doing a little homework before running out to the store and buying the latest and greatest device.
First, decide what you'd like to do with the device. Do you want to use it as an email machine, phone, mp3 player, etc.? Next, figure out your budget. This will most likely narrow down your device options. Once your budget is set, contact your IT department and ask what devices they support and what devices work best with the company's infrastructure. Crain has officially certified the use of Blackberries.
For example, Nissan USA uses Microsoft Exchange and Outlook to fulfill their e-mail needs and they currently do not provide any type of Blackberry Enterprise integration with their email. Knowing this the employee at Nissan should look into a device that runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile.
At Crain, we use GroupWise for both a Mail Server and a desktop program. We also have Blackberry Enterprise servers that will allow email to be “pushed” out to a Blackberry device. Therefore, Blackberry devices will access more Crain resources than other mobile devices.
As far as synchronizing ACT data to the mobile devices, Crain supports a few different options: Companion Link
Handheld Contact
ACT! For Palm
ACT! Link for Pocket PC
Companion Link:
Supported Device Types: iPhone, Windows Mobile, Palm and Blackberry
Companion Link syncs the ACT database directly into the native device database via Bluetooth or USB. For example, on a Blackberry ACT! contacts will be imported into the Address Book on the device. Calls, Meetings, ToDos will be imported into the device's calendar.
Pros: Perpetual license. Once you buy it you own it.
Cons: Does not sync from device back to ACT very nicely. Does not work with ACT for Web.
Handheld Contact (HHC):
Supported Device Types: Blackberry
After Handheld Contact is installed on the Blackberry it wirelessly syncs ACT data into the Handheld Contact Database. This allows you to keep your Blackberry address book, calendar, tasks and memo pad separate from your ACT data. If you'd like to add your HHC addresses to your Blackberry address book there is an option to do that as well.
Pros: Tight integration with the Blackberry. Able to update Notes/Histories from the device. Able to automatically prompt to create history when sending emails and/or making calls from the Blackberry. Works with all versions of ACT.
Cons: Per month usage charges. Only supports Blackberry devices.
ACT! For Palm:
Supported Device Types: Palm
After ACT! For Palm is installed on the device ACT data syncs directly into the ACT! For Palm database via USB. Like HHC, this keeps your ACT data separate from your Palm data.
Pros: Perpetual license. Once you buy it you own it. Tight integration with the Palm devices. Able to update Notes/Histories from the device.
Cons: ACT! is phasing out Palm support so what works today on a Palm device may not work with future releases.
ACT! Link for Pocket PC:
Supported Devices: Windows Mobile
Like Companion Link, this software synchronizes via USB to the native Windows Mobile address book and calendar.
Pros: License comes with ACT! and is perpetual.
Cons: Not many Crain employees use Windows Mobile devices that sync with ACT! so help desk support will be limited.
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