Question: How do I configure Microsoft Outlook as my email client in Act! Premium (access via web)?
Product Details:
Product Family: Act!
Product: Act! Premium (access via web), Act! Premium Cloud
Version: 2010 and later
Environment:
Third Party: Microsoft Outlook
Answer:
Act! has the very powerful feature of allowing a user to automatically record the details of any emails they send to their Contacts in Act!. These emails will be recorded in the History tab of the Contact you have sent the emails to. Even if Act! is closed down and you are sending emails through Outlook only, as long as a matching email address can be found in your database these emails will still record, even though Act! is not open.
As of Act! v21, you also have the option to record emails you receive from your Contacts automatically as well.
Important Notes:
- You must be logged into Windows as the intended user with Windows Administrator Permissions in order to install the Outlook Integration for Act! Premium (access via web)
- If you have a local installation of Act!, it is recommended that you uninstall Act! prior to installing the Act! Premium (access via web) Outlook integration. This is because the installed version of Act! has its own method of recording emails automatically in your database and this will clash with the integration for the web version.
- Prior to attempting to configure Outlook and Act! integration, ensure that your version of Outlook is compatible with your version of Act!. For more information, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
Supported Versions of Microsoft® Office by Version of Act!
Answer ID Supported Versions of Microsoft® Office by Version of Act!
To complete the email system setup, please follow the steps outlined below:
Downloading and installing the Outlook Integration
Note: If you have already installed and have been using the Outlook Integration and simply need to update your connection or database information, skip to the next section. You only need to install the Outlook integration if you have not already installed it, or if you're trying to uninstall an older version and reinstall a newer version of the Outlook Integration because your database server's Act! version has been updated to a new version of Act!.
- Ensure Outlook is closed
- Using Internet Explorer or Google Chrome (v21.1 and above for Chrome), login to your Act! Premium (access via web) database
- Inside the page, click Tools > Preferences
- In the Preferences window, click E-mail
- Under E-mail integration, click Download to begin downloading the ACTIntegrationSetup.exe file
- When prompted whether to Run or Save, choose Run and if prompted again, click Run
- If prompted to install Microsoft Visual C++ , click Install to proceed
- Click Next on the InstallShield Wizard window
- If desired, click Browse… to choose a custom installation directory, otherwise click Next to begin installation
- When the installation completes, click Finish
-
Note for Act! Premium Cloud subscribers: After clicking Finish, a message will appear telling you that you need to recycle the IIS application pool. This message does not apply to Act! Premium Cloud subscribers.
Adding your Act! database as an address book in Outlook
Outlook 2007 and later
- Launch Outlook
Note: In most cases, the Act! Address Book will have been added automatically with no further input required. However in rare cases the address book may not be present. The isntructions below outline how to check this and add the address book if necessary. If when you launch Outlook you are be presented with an error stating that the Act! Premium for Web address book service cannot be reached, click Yes, and skip to step 6 of these instructions.
- Depending on your version of Outlook, perform one of the following Actions:
- Outlook 2010 and later: Click File > Account Settings, then choose Account Settings again
- Outlook 2007: Click Tools > Account Settings
- Click the Address Books tab. If the ACT! Premium for Web Address Book has already been added, you can close the Account Settings window and test sending emails to your Act! Contacts. If the address book does not currently show, then click New…
- Select the option for Additional Address Books, then click Next
- Select ACT! Premium for Web Address Book from the list, then click Next
- In the Address Books window, click Add…
- Ensure that the Web Service Address shown is the correct Web Service address
Note: If you are unsure of the Web Service address, visit the Email preferences page (as described in the previous section of this article), then under E-mail integration, click the option to view the Web Service address
- Under Database, select the database name, enter your User name and Password, then click OK
- Click Close, click OK when prompted, then click Close again
- Restart Outlook
Outlook 2003
- In Outlook, click Tools > E-mail Accounts
- In the E-mail Accounts Wizard dialog box, select the option to Add a new directory or address book, then click Next
- In the Directory or Address Book Type dialog box, select the Additional Address books option, then click Next
- In the Other Address Book Types dialog box, select the ACT! Premium for Web Address Book option, then click Next
- In the Address Books dialog box, click the Add button
- Ensure that the Web Service Address shown is the correct Web Service address
Note: If you are unsure of the Web Service address, visit the Email preferences page (as described in the previous section of this article), then under E-mail integration, click the option to view the Web Service address
- Under Database, select the database name, enter your User name and Password, then click OK
- Click Close, click OK when prompted, then click Close again
- Restart Outlook
Setting the Default E-mail History Option
Outlook 2010 and later
- In Outlook, click File, then click Options
- In the Outlook Options window, select Add-Ins on the left
- Under Add-in options, select APFW.Office.Outlook.Addin and click the Add-in Options… button
- Under the Act! Premium Web tab, click History Options…
- In the History Options dialog box, under the Send Options tab, select the type of history that will be recorded when emails are sent to your Act! contacts
- If desired, click the option to Make history private if you wish to be the only Act! database user who can see the recorded email history
- In the History Options dialog box, under the Receive Options tab (Act! v21 and above only), select the type of history that will be recorded when emails are received from your Act! contacts
- If desired, click the option to Make history private if you wish to be the only Act! database user who can see the recorded email history
- Click the Attach Options tab, then configure the type of history that will be recorded when manually attaching email messages or when using Quick Attach to attach email messages to Act! contacts as history records
- If desired, click the option to Make history private if you wish to be the only Act! database user who can see the manually recorded email history, and any other configuration options that you would like to make use of
- Click OK on the History Options box, then OK again on the Add-in Options box to save your settings and return to Outlook
Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007
- Launch Outlook
Note: In some cases, when you launch Outlook after installing, you may be presented with an error stating that the Act! Premium for Web address book service cannot be reached. If this occurrs, click Yes, and skip to step 6.
- In Outlook, click Tools > Options
- In the Options dialog box, under the Act! Premium for Web tab, click the History Options button
- In the Act! History Options, ensure the correct Web address and database are listed in the Record history to contacts in the following database field
- Set the default History format options, then click OK
- On the Options dialog box, click Apply, then click OK to return to Outlook
Creating a new message
To select a contact from your Act! Premium (access via web) database, you can click the To button from within the Outlook compose message window, then change the selected address book to the Address book associated with your database to bring up a list of all the contacts in the database. From there, select the contact from the list, then click the To -> button and click OK. It is always a good idea to test the integration is working correctly by sending an email to one of your Act! contacts and checking that the message has recorded in the History tab correctly.
