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Because of its unique software partner development program, there have been plenty of add-on software developed for ACT! CRM (customer relationship management) software. Initially launched in 2004, the ACT! software partnership program produced an astounding 25 add-on programs for ACT! products in it's first year alone. Today, the figure has climbed steadily to 61 add-on software developed by ACT! partners.

For this year, 2007, ACT! announced the inclusion of more companies to the ACT! add-on partner network. These new partner companies are Alexander Vikhorev, Exponenciel, Equisys, Infinite Conferencing and RemoteTechGuy. Collectively, they have produced eight new add-ons for ACT!

ACT! CRM clearly has an advantage with the presence of the add-on partner network as they do sort of plug the holes within the ACT! software. The partner network provides a more customized version of ACT! for various industries. Admittedly, a single version release every year will not solve all the problems of customizability and compatibility with a business. There will always be areas or information in a business that cannot be included. The ACT! add-on partner program effectively removes this problem by providing various customizable software that is truly functional for each kind of company.

To date, the ACT! add-on partner network has developed and is searching for add-on software to address deficiencies in web conferencing; project management; queries, quotes and reports; sales management tools; and utilities and accessories. Shipping; data management; mass e-mailing; marketing; faxing, graphics and mapping; helpdesk support; importing and exporting data.

As one can see, other CRM solutions providers have a tough act to follow with ACT!'s add-on partner network working full time. It is no wonder that ACT! has been experiencing remarkable growth in their customer base. This innovative idea has certainly helped ACT! software to take giant leaps in the CRM industry.

Listed below are the add-ons developed by the new partner companies.

' Exponenciel developed an automatic field calculator function that provides ACT! contact, group or company layouts with more than 50 mathematical, date/time, string and financial functions.

' Conference Scheduler for ACT! from Infinite Conferencing schedules Web and phone meetings and automatically generates e-mail invitations using ACT! contacts.

' Excel Templates for ACT! from Exponenciel merges contact information into Excel spreadsheets and automatically attaches it to an ACT! record.

' Exponenciel's ExcelTemplates with Quote/Invoice Maker for ACT! creates quotes and invoices in Excel from ACT! opportunity fields.

' PicturePlus for ACT! from Alexander Vikhorev drags and drops pictures into ACT! and minimizes database size by linking picture fields to all file types. Users can insert images directly to ACT using a scanner or digital camera.

' Presentation for ACT! from Alexander Vikhorev uses the ACT! custom report engine and templates to generate on-the-fly Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) PowerPoint presentations.

' RemoteTechGuy's RDBWiz automates the simultaneous creation of remote databases. Users can copy and edit synch sets and automatically upload databases to an FTP site for easy distribution.