When you configure Outlook to integrate with ACT! and choose to use Outlook as your email client each product has separate duties. If you look at the overall process you see that it begins and ends with ACT! but that Outlook does all the actual work.
A breakdown of the process looks something like this:
- The email originates in ACT! where you have the option to either send a blank or a template email message
- At that point Outlook takes over; you can add finishing touches to your message and then Outlook sends the message on its way
- Outlook performs the actual sending of the email message; the message will remain in the Outbox until Outlook performs a Send/Receive
- Once the message is sent ACT! creates a history of the email on the contact's History tab
There are two things necessary in order to send an ACT! email message with the help of Outlook:
- Outlook must be open and fully functional. You've completed the E-mail Setup in ACT! and indicated your preference to use Outlook
- There is an email address in one of the email fields of the current contact record.
- Create a new email message using one of the following four methods:
- Click on the contact's E-Mail field
- Choose Write@@-->E-Mail Message
- Click the Write E-Mail Message icon on the icon bar
These methods all result in the opening of a new message Outlook message.
- Fill in the Subject field and create your message.
- If you're using Outlook 2007 or 2010, click the Add-Ins tab to change the default history option or to mark the history as private (optional). In Outlook 2003 you'll find this option on the main email toolbar.
- Click Send.
You'll notice that when the new Outlook email message opens, the contact's name already appears in the To field. If the ACT! contact record only contains an email address then only the contact's email address appears.
In a situation where your Outlook email is stored on a local computer, Outlook must perform a Send/Receive before the message is sent; the message will remain in the Outlook Outbox until that happens. You can configure Outlook to perform a Send/Receive on a regular basis if it is open. If Outlook is not open, the email will not be sent.
If you have configured Outlook to access a Microsoft Exchange Server and your Outbox is actually located on the server, the server will send the email message automatically even if Outlook is not open on the local computer.
You're probably using ACT! because you know it will save you lots of time. One of the great ACT! timesavers is its ability to merge the contents of a contact record directly into a previously created template. This is a great way to cut down on the time it takes to send routine emails.
You can take advantage of those templates by clicking on the Write menu, choosing email message (from template), and then selecting your previously created template. When the Outlook message opens it will contain not only the contact's name in the To line but the body of the message will already be filled in.