Swiftpage Launches Act! Version 18

Swiftpage, a provider of software and services to small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), today released version 18 of its Act! offering. According to a statement from Swiftpage's COO, Lorcan Malone, the package's enhancements "are the next step in solidifying Act! as the central command center for our customers."

The Act! portfolio, last updated in October of 2014, aims to help companies manage and scale their businesses by giving them access to contact-related activities in a navigable hub. Within Act!, end users can schedule appointments, run email marketing campaigns, track pipeline activity, assess the status of their leads, and automate business workflows.

Central to version 18 is the Web API platform, the RESTful API, which allows customers to sync outside business applications with Act!; it is available only to Act! Premium users. According to Bob Ogdon, founder and chairman of Swiftpage, previous versions required companies to use a software development kit (SDK) to hook up to outside programs; the new functionality allows companies to stay organized and simplifies interactions with clients. For example, using the Web API, a company can connect the customer records stored in Swiftpage with Microsoft Outlook, or align the transactional information collected from Web or commerce sites with a scheduling platform. The Web API is "an anchor point of what we're doing with Act!," Ogdon says.

Act!'s integrated marketing solution has also been given major enhancements, Ogdon notes. Version 18 is optimized for team use and enables account administrators to oversee email subscriptions, launch campaigns, and (for additional charges) manage specific call lists. The tool will be particularly useful to salespeople, Ogdon says, as it can reduce the time they spend determining what prospects to pursue. As Ogdon describes it, the updated marketing tool will home in on the accounts that have proven to be most active during a mass email campaign. It measures a prospect's engagement by assessing click data and then lists for sales professionals those accounts that are most promising.

The new release also includes an enhanced Web UI, which promises to increase efficiency, Ogdon says, as well as built-in purchase and maintenance features. End users can now manage their subscriptions from within the Act! work space and instantly sign up for new features and services additions as they are released.

While the new version is available both as a cloud-based and a desktop offering, the release is part of Swiftpage's ongoing effort to transition existing customers into a software-as-a-service, or subscription, model, Ogdon says. This goal behind this model is to make affordable to SMBs the kinds of tools that have traditionally been reserved for larger outfits.  

Version 18 is available for $35 per user per month as part of the Act! Premium Cloud package and for $25 per user per month for Desk Top users. It is also available to existing customers at a "loyalty" price, according to a statement.  Version 18 has been released in English and will be released in other languages in the coming months.

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