In early to mid-March Act! is expected to release Act! Premium v23 for both desktop and web. This is the first new full release of Act! Premium since November 2019, and reflects a commitment to quality more than new features. In fact, this release will be the first version since 2005 that a new version won't involve a schema change. This fact will make upgrading much simpler for users since only the software will get upgraded, not the database itself. The Act! v23 upgrade process will require a full-media installation, however, and not simply a patch.
The key themes to this new release are as follows:
- Outlook Add-in Enhancements (continued changes built on the refactored plug-in from v22.1)
- Quality Improvements & Bug Fixes (full list of these will be published at the time of release)
- Refactored Word Add-in
- Act! Marketing Automation (AMA) Enhancements
- Act! E-Marketing (AEM) End-of-Life updates (read more HERE)
- General rebranding (Swiftpage to Act!)
With the launch last year of Act! CRM SaaS, a new cloud service that was dramatically faster than any of Act!'s previous cloud offerings, Swiftpage made a bold directional statement. For the first time the Act! CRM desktop and Cloud products diverged in their development paths. Act! CRM SaaS would no longer be held back by the slower development pace of the desktop product, and the desktop product would focus more on foundational, quality based changes moving forward. Act! Premium v23 is a reflection of that evolution.
The first release of Act! Premium v23 is expected in the UK/EU market in the first week of March, with the North American and Australian releases expecting the following week. Please note that all release dates and features are subject to change based on beta feedback.
