With Handheld Contact API, syncing is managed via a single Act! Group.  There are no syncing limitations for total contacts so this Group can contain as many or as little contacts as needed.  We recommend that this Group is created (or updated) in advance.  This article will give details on what is needed for creating, managing and setting this Group for Handheld Contact API.

Groups are used in Act! as a way to organize contacts into collections of contacts such as frequently visited contacts or mailing lists, etc.  For example Grouping can be done on fields such as ID/Status, City or State.  Grouping can be done on almost any contact field in the database.  

Note: Handheld Contact will not honor subgroups (child) from Act!.  All Groups (with subgroups) will be displayed in a single list to choose from when doing the device configuration.  

Creating a Group:

Groups can be created in two ways.  In the Groups view or via contact lookups.

Groups view:  Open Act! and along the left panel click on Groups.  At the top of the screen click on 'New' button OR in the File Menu select 'Groups' and 'New Group'.  In the new Group that appears, enter a name into the Group Name field.  Click the Save button.

Contact lookup:  Perform a lookup of contacts first.  If you need to know how to do a lookup, please click here.  If you are using Act! for Windows: From the File Menu choose 'Lookup', select 'Groups' and choose 'Save Lookup as Group'.  If you are using Act! Premium for Web (or Act! Premium Cloud): From the top Menu choose 'Contacts' and click 'Save Lookup as Group'.

Note:  Using either of the two methods above will create the Group and apply contacts as 'Static' members.  

There are two types of membership for Groups:

Static:  Static membership means that the contacts are added and they will remain in the Group unless they are manually removed.  To manage Static membership open the created Group from above and click on 'Add/Remove Contacts' button.  Then under the 'Static members' section press the 'Contacts' button.  Use the <> buttons to move contacts in/out of the Group.  Press OK to save.

Dynamic:  Dynamic membership means that the contacts can be added/removed to the Group based off predetermined requirements.  An example of this is membership based off State.  If the State equals NY they will be part of the Group.  However, if a contact has their State changed (no longer NY) this would automatically remove this contact from the Group.  To manage Dynamic membership open the created Group from above and click on 'Add/Remove Contacts' button.  Then under the 'Dynamic members' section press the 'Edit Criteria' button.  Then see this link for details on advanced queries.

Note:  You can utilize both Static and Dynamic membership in a single Group.  This is recommended via Handheld Contact.

To create a Group to sync with all Act! Contacts, please see this article for directions.

Adding this Group to Handheld Contact API:

During the initial configuration of Handheld Contact API you will be prompted for Act! API URL, Act! database name, Act! username/password as well as the Handheld Contact API account (email address).  The next option for setup is to select the Group for syncing.  If the new Group was just added to Act!, use the 'Refresh' button to update the Group list.  Use the Search tool to find the Group that was created using the steps above.  Once selected, press Next to continue.

Changing Act! Group for syncing with Handheld Contact API:

These steps are for after the initial synchronization has been completed for Handheld Contact API:

iOS (iPhone/iPad):

1. Open Handheld Contact API.  
2. From the Dashboard view, open the Menu (top left) and press 'Settings'.
3. Choose 'Act! Setting'.  On the pop up warning, choose 'Continue'.
4. Tap on 'Select group'.
5. Press 'Refresh' button in top right to view any new Groups added to Act!.
6. Use the Search tool to find the new Group you want to sync with.  Check the box to the left.  Note: Making this change will cause a new download all data procedure.
7. Press 'Act! Setting' option in top left corner.
8. Press 'Settings' option in top left corner.
9. Press 'Dashboard' option in top left corner.
10. Open Menu and choose 'Synchronization'.
11. Press 'SYNC NOW' button.  Choose 'Download All' on pop up message.

 Android:

1. Open Handheld Contact API.
2. From the Dashboard view, open the Menu (top left) and press 'Settings'.
3. Choose 'General'.
4. Tap on 'Select group'.
5. Press 'Refresh' button in lower left corner to view any new Groups added to Act!.
6. Use Search tool at the top to find the new Group you want to sync with.  Tap the Group and press 'Save' button.  Note:  Making this change will cause a new download all procedure.
7. On the pop up that appears about saving changes, press 'Yes'.
8. Return to the Dashboard view and open Menu, choose 'Sync status' and press sync icon in top banner.

Note: If you create a new Group to use with Handheld Contact API on a remote database, you must sync that database first for these changes to be present in the Master database.  Handheld Contact API accesses the Groups on the Master database found from the main server.  If you need help with managing Groups, please reference the video link below, reference http://help.act.com, or consult with your Act! Certified Partner.

For more information on managing Groups in Act!, please see the following links below:

• How to create and manage Groups in Act!
• Feature Tour: Groups (Video)