Import from ACT!

[JAldrich]

Moderator: I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but I can't find anywhere else it might be more appropriate. If there is a more appropriate forum, please move this post.

One of my users is currently using ACT! for his contact management. He's been using various versions of ACT! for years until he came to work for us, and we upgraded him to the "latest and greatest" available version of ACT! at the time he started here several years ago. There have always been annoying issues with ACT! but now it's gotten to the point where he's willing to look at something else. SugarCRM has been recommended by some of my fellow geeks as a good alternative to ACT!
My question is, does SugarCRM have any way to get the data out of ACT! and into SugarCRM? I'm told SugarCRM can run in "single user" mode if it's installed on a laptop, even though it's designed to be multi-user. Is that the case? Just wondering.

[arnaud_carrenet]

Hi,

You can have a look at the following links :

• http://www.jitterbit.com/
• http://jltechnical.com/
• From this forum thread : http://www.sugarcrm.com/forums/archi...hp/t-2215.html
• Also know that for Accounts and Contacts SugarCRM has existing import features from Act!

I'm not sure to understand well your last question but in the Enterprise version (Pro +) you can install SugarCRM on a laptop and get it synchronized with SugarCRM main server.
I wouldn't recommend this as synchronization is always a major source of issues (I've been using GoldMine a long time ago...) and also this SugarCRM version is more expensive.
Anyway migrating from Act! to SugarCRM is always a good idea ;-)
Hope that helps.

[JAldrich]

Hi,

You can have a look at the following links :

• http://www.jitterbit.com/
• http://jltechnical.com/
• From this forum thread : http://www.sugarcrm.com/forums/archi...hp/t-2215.html
• Also know that for Accounts and Contacts SugarCRM has existing import features from Act!

I'm not sure to understand well your last question but in the Enterprise version (Pro +) you can install SugarCRM on a laptop and get it synchronized with SugarCRM main server.
I wouldn't recommend this as synchronization is always a major source of issues (I've been using GoldMine a long time ago...) and also this SugarCRM version is more expensive.
Anyway migrating from Act! to SugarCRM is always a good idea ;-)
Hope that helps.

Thanks. We would need to mainly import contacts from ACT into SugarCRM. I'm going to set up a demo version and see if I can get management to buy into it. :-) I'm told we'll like it MUCH better than just having one copy of ACT! on a laptop. :-) I don't know much about that, as I'm an IT guy, not a sales droid.

Thanks for the info... I did do a search on the forum for ACT, but the various threads you referenced didn't show up for some reason.... *shrug*

[the0stranger]

Hi,
[*]Also know that for Accounts and Contacts SugarCRM has existing import features from Act!

Existing features? How is this done?

[JAldrich]

I would like to know how to do that, since I'm going to want one user's data imported, assuming I get permission to buy SugarCRM.

[arnaud_carrenet]

Go to Contacts (idem Accounts), Select Act! as datasource and follow what Sugar says, ie :

Act! can export data in the Comma Separated Values format, which can be used to import data into the system. To export your data from Act!, follow the steps below:
1. Launch ACT!
2. Select the File menu, the Data Exchange menu option, then the Export... menu option
3. Select the file type Text-Delimited
4. Choose a filename and location for the exported data and click Next
5. Select Contacts records only
6. Click the Options... button
7. Select Comma as the field separator character
8. Check the Yes, export field names checkbox and click OK
9. Click Next
10. Select All Records and then click Finish

That's all !

[the0stranger]

Ok. When I read importing from ACT was a built in feature, I thought there was a way to connect to the ACT db. Thanks

[Captivea]

In addition to Arnaud's answer, I found this documentation from SAGE Customer support to understand how to export groups of contacts from Act to CSV files.

The answer is to right click a group and then select create a lookup entry.
A new list view will open and the Export to Excel button will then be enabled, exporting all displayed fields.

Read more here : http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/cgi...?p_faqid=13534

Regards