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The Sage 300-integrated version of Sage CRM 2017, released in December by Sage for stand-alone systems, is now available. This was a nice surprise as we typically wait a good 6 months while it is tested with the latest Sage 300 versions.
It was great as well to discover some new features that I think will be appreciated by Sage CRM users, namely a completely revamped calendar and task interface along with continued improvements and added features to the new Sage CRM Contemporary interface first introduced in version 7.3.
The new calendar has a more modern look and feel along with new functionality found in many of today’s web calendars. For example, there is a new Agenda view that allows you to see your tasks and appointments on one list by date, similar to what you see on today’s smartphones. Also added is a separate Tasks view with the option of viewing overdue tasks or not. A couple of things to note, if you liked the split screen with appointments on one side and your task list on the other, you’ll need to switch to the Agenda view . Also, drag and drop functionality is no longer available at this stage of the game.
The other major changes are contained in the top bar in the Contemporary theme. It has been updated to include a new incremental search feature called Quick Find that will query all the fields from all your CRM entities, narrowing your search as you type. This functionality works with any custom entities you may have added as well. Also new is a Favourites button that lists records that you have flagged as favourites. Although similar to the Recent list, it does not replace it but rather allows you to flag records that you like to return to in a more permanent way. And finally, the notifications functionality has been improved to make it less disruptive and easier to use.
I don’t know about you…but I’m thinking the incremental search feature on its own makes this version worth jumping to.