Act! Installation Considerations
Act! Premium CRM Desktop On-Premise version needs be installed on Windows based PC’s and/or servers. When installing Act! you need to consider:
- How it is going to be deployed – there are several ways Act! can be deployed and accessed and some of these are outlined below
- Hardware Requirements – check the Act! System Requirements
- What add on products you may require
- Software compatibility – including Microsoft Office and any other applications Act! will be integrated with.
If you need advice and guidance in installation, we are here to help you get the very best from Act! and installations are performed in conjunction with business consultancy and training with a view to reducing system downtime.
Client Server – On Premise
The Act! application and database are installed on a suitably specified ‘server’ and each ‘client’ user PC or Laptop has the Act! application software installed. The Act! application on each client PC ‘points’ at the Act! database, or databases, on the server, and is configured locally to the users email software client.
Remote Database Synchronisation
For Laptop or Remote users who require mobile access to the Act! database the Act! application and a ‘Remote’ copy of the Act! database is installed on the Laptop and then synchronised with the main Act! database either via the office LAN or a VPN on a regular or scheduled basis, this is an ideal CRM solution for mobile/remote sales teams.
Act! Premium Cloud – hosted on your server
By installing Act! Premium for Web (APFW) CRM on a Webserver on your network the Act! database can be published ‘in your cloud’ and made available over the web, your Act! database also be accessed on mobile devices, smart phones and Apple computers.
This approach means that you can have a combination of Windows clients and we users. It is also possible to have remote synchronised databases as well as a web based database.
There are also other considerations such as requiring a static IP address for your internet connection, SSL certificates if you use AMA, adequate internet connection speed/capacity and the router to be configured permit TCP/IP traffic to be passed between the Act! database server and external users.
Hosted Desktop / RDS / RDP
We have a number of clients who have Act! installed in a Hosted desktop environment either through a hosted desktop provider such as Your Office Anywhere, on on Microsoft Azure servers.
This type of deployment means you can access Act! and your Microsoft applications from anywhere.
