Act4Advisors FAQ
Q. What is the Act4Advisors Addon for ACT!?
A. Created by Allied Financial Software, Inc. (AFS), Act4Advisors is a customized ACT! database, layouts, reports, queries and other plugin files designed specifically for financial services professionals who use the ACT! software. Act4Advisors eliminates the time needed to customize the ACT! database.
Q. Why should I consider a contact management system?
A. Contact management systems organize time and client data. Most advisors are inundated with data and they must be able retain and access information quickly and easily. Without easy and fast access to client and prospect data, an advisor may lose critical information eventually costing the advisor a lost sale, a lost client or a lost career.
ACT! by Sage combined with the Act4Advisors add-on helps you manage relationships by managing data and processes. With ACT!, you can:
- Remind yourself to call a special client on his birthday.
- Send out a disclosure letter to a new prospect.
- Enter a time stamped note about a concern the client has regarding a particular type of investment.
- Keep a history of every meeting, call, letter, email and task you have completed for the contact.
- Attach any electronic document to the contact for easy retrieval.
- Delegate a task to your assistant to send a welcome package to a new client and find out if and when it was sent.
- Keep in constant contact with your best clients and prospects.
- Contact Management Systems will help you better organize your current system of managing contact/relationships helping your business grow and flourish.
Q. I already use ACT! by Sage but why should I consider Act4Advisors?
A. When you purchase ACT!, the basic ACT! database comes with only a few predefined fields that allow you to keep track of names, addresses, phone numbers and email address. To add or modify data fields and the layouts, the software requires customization. This customization demands extensive knowledge and time… time that most advisors don’t have to spare. Act4Advisors IS an ACT! database but it includes over 400 data fields specific to the financial professional’s practice. Fields added include contact, spouse and children information such as dates of birth and social security numbers, fields for account numbers and account registrations, insurance policies, net worth, securities held, suitability information and much more.
Because Act4Advisors is used by thousands of other financial services professionals, it has become a “standardized” ACT! database. This allows us (or anyone else) to create interfaces to third party software programs and platforms. Without a standardized database, interfaces can only be written individually for each user’s database. This keeps industry platforms from interfacing with your ACT!.
Q. Can I import my existing data into Act4Advisors?
A. Most often, yes.
ACT! by Sage has an import wizard allowing the importing of data from several sources. The existing data can be other ACT! databases, Comma or Tab delimited text files (ASCII), Microsoft Outlook, Palm Desktop and dBase III-V. Importing from another ACT! database will bring in all of your old notes, histories, activities, groups and any other data you have that can be “mapped” to the Act4Advisors fields.
If you are using another database program, we may be able to import your data for an additional fee. As ACT! Certified Consultants, Allied Financial Software, Inc. can also import data from other third party programs such as Goldmine, dbCAMS+, EZ Data’s Client Data System and SmartOffice, FDP’s Contact Partner, Junxure, Brokers Helper, Brokers Ally and many more. Contact us at 800.831.7636 for more information or fill out a request form.
Q. Can I customize Act4Advisors?
A. YES. Since Act4Advisors IS an ACT! database, you can add your own customization. Also, Act4Advisors is compatible with most other ACT! add-ons giving you even more functionality and extensibility options.
Q. Can ACT! work with my PDA?
A. Yes. ACT! has built in integration with Windows Mobile Devices and Palm devices. Alternately, you can purchase an add-on program to interface ACT! to your Blackberry device or iPhone. Synchronization with these add-ons is available via both wired and internet sync.
Q. I often travel and am away from the office without internet connection. How can I access my database?
A. ACT! includes a feature for database synchronization. When you leave the office, your database on your laptop can record changes. When you are back in the office, you can synchronize your laptop database with the main database. Changes made to either database will merge into both.
Q. We have remote offices. How can we all share database?
A. There are several options for remote users including synchronization; remote access programs such as Gotomypc, Remote Desktop or you can alternately license a web version of ACT!
Q. What is the Act4Advisors' support policy?
A. Allied Financial Software, Inc. currently offers free telephone support for 30 days after purchase for installation issues only. After 30 days up to 12 months, any support issues that are sent to us via email or web site will incur no charge. After 30 days from purchase, telephone support is optionally offered under two options: Per Incident Support or Annual Support.
Click here for more complete details on Act4Advisors' support policy >
All support options allow us to connect to your computer (only with your approval of course). Remote access allows us to see your computer’s desktop and move your mouse. This saves you time and allows us to resolve issues quickly.
Q. What is the return policy for Act4Advisors?
A. We provide a conditional 30 day money back guarantee for the Act4Advisors Addon for ACT! software. This guarantee requires that you return the software, installation instructions and sales receipt for proper credit.
Click here for more complete details on Act4Advisors return policy >
Q. What are the system requirements for Act4Advisors?
A. Since ACT! is the underlying program, Act4Advisors will follow Sage Software’s requirements for the version of ACT! you are using.
Click here for ACT! 2009 System Requirements >
We do recommend higher requirements for a better computing experience.
ACT! 2009 and greater will work on Windows XP Home or Professional 32bit or Windows Vista 32 or 64bit.
For workstations, we recommend Windows XP 32bit running a Pentium 4 2ghz processor or greater with at least 1GB of RAM.
For Windows Vista workstations, we recommend 32bit and at least 2GB of RAM
Servers running Windows Server 2003 or 2008 are supported.
Q. What other software does ACT! work with?
A. ACT! 2008 and 2009 works with MS Office 2002, 2003 and 2007. It allows integration with MS Word, MS Excel and MS Outlook.
Act4Advisors also works with Laser App and QuikForms
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