Contact Management
Ratings and Reviews of Contact and Calendar Management |
Contact and Calendar Management
If you
don't want
to rely on
the
capabilities
of your
email
package
for
contact
management
and
calendar
management,
or you
need more
capabilities
centered
on
tracking
and sales
and
relationship
management
or even if
you just
want to
keep your
email
package
simple and
do more
with
another
piece of
software -
then
contact
management
systems
are for
you.
Contact
management
software
can be
inexpensive
(simple)
or costly
(robust
and
complex)
so it's
best to
think
about your
unique
requirements
before you
buy.
Here are
some
things to
think
about when
considering
contact
and
calendaring
management
software.
-
Integration
- does
the
software
integrate
with
your
email
package?
Accounting
package?
Keeping
all of
these
packages
in
"sync"
is
important
(and
time
consuming
if you
can't!),
so make
sure
your
software
all
"works
together".
-
Time
Savers
- if
you use
a
Daytimer
or
DayRunner
or
Franklin
Covey
Planner,
does the
software
allow
you to
print
out
pages
that
work
with
your
system?
Does it
have
templates
for
notes,
memos
and
letters
to help
you get
things
done
faster?
-
Handhelds
and
Phones -
does
the
package
work
with
your
handheld
or
phone?
Is it
easy to
keep in
"sync"
as well?
-
History
-
does
your
software
track
all your
customer/business
partner
correspondence,
showing
you what
you've
done,
when and
with
whom?
If you
are in a
"sales
intensive"
business,
tracking
these
interactions
is
critical
to save
you time
and keep
your
customers
happy.
-
Alerts -
what
type of
alerts
are
included?
Dates?
Events?
To dos?
How do
the
alerts
manifest
themselves?
Do they
fit in
with the
way in
which
you like
to do
business?
Looking
for more
from
contact
management?
Let's see
what's out
there.

Some
vendors
offer more
than one
package in
this
category.
We'll
review
them in
table
format
within
that
vendor's
detailed
review.

Contact and Calendar Management Review
Contact
and
Calendar
Management
Software*
(Rankings
- best, 5
symbols,
worst, 1
symbol)
|
Company
|
Best
For* |
Simple Start-Up |
Cost |
Time Savings |
Ease of Use |
Works With |
Support |
Features
|
Overall
Rating |
|
ABS |
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY1/2 |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2+ |
|
ACT!
|
ARP |
¹¹¹1/2 |
$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Apple
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YY1/2 |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2+ |
|
Avanquest
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$1/2 |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
Ballantine
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YY1/2 |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2+ |
|
Chaos Software
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YY1/2 |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2+ |
|
CompanionLink Software |
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$1/2 |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp1/2 |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
Corel |
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2+ |
|
Franklin
Covey
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$1/2 |
¹¹¹¹
|
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp |
iii1/2+ |
%%%1/2+ |
|
Frontrange
|
ARP |
¹¹¹1/2 |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹
|
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp1/2 |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
G7
Productivity
Systems
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
IBM
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
Individual Software
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
Intuit |
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$1/2 |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
pppp1/2 |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Microsoft
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$1/2 |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYYY |
pppp1/2 |
iiii |
%%%% |
|
Poco Systems
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$$ |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYY |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
|
Power On Software
|
ARP |
¹¹¹¹ |
$$$1/2 |
¹¹¹¹ |
@@@@ |
YYYY |
ppp |
iii1/2 |
%%%1/2 |
* A =
Amateur,
R =
Rookie,
P =
Pro
ABS
Simple Start-Up
-
¹¹¹¹
ABS' (Atlas Business Solutions Inc.) Customer Appointment Manager, Visual Staff
Scheduler, Visual Staff Scheduler Pro and ScheduleAnywhere straight forward to install and customize for your
business requirements.
Cost
-
$$$$
Pricing for ABS products is outlined in the table below.
|
Software |
Price |
O/S
Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
|
Customer Appointment Manager 3.0 |
$295.00 single
user, 2 users $395.00, 3 users $495.00, 4 users $595.00, 5 users $695.00, 10 users $1,195.00, 15 users $1,695.00, 20
users $2,195.00, 25 users $2,695.00
Annual Software Enhancement Plan - Single User $90.00, 2-User
$120.00, 3-User $150.00, 4-User $180.00, 5-User $210.00, 10-User $360.00,
15-User $510.00, 20-User $660.00, 25-User $810.00 |
Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Vista |
Cust. Sched. |
-
Add or locate existing customers, find available
appointment times (by employee, time period or both)
-
Schedule one-time or repeating appointments
-
View appointments by day, week or month
-
Schedule all employees
-
Set appointment reminders
-
Fill cancellations and no-shows
-
Track appointment history and customer preferences
-
Email customer appointment reminders
-
Create personalized letters
-
Print mailing labels
-
Works with PDAs
-
Microsoft SQL Server version available
|
Exports
reports to PDF, MS Word, MS Excel, HTML
Quick Books
|
|
Visual Staff Scheduler Pro 9.0 |
$495.00 1 user, 2 Users $695.00, 3 Users $795.00, 4 Users $895.00, 5
Users $995.00, 10 Users $1,495.00, 15 Users $1,795.00, 20 Users $1,995.00,
40 Users $3,995.00, 60 Users $5,995.00 Software Enhancement Plan (free upgrades,
unlimited telephone and email support, free media replacement free updates
to address compatibility issues), $150.00, 2 Users $225.00, 3 Users $250.00,
4 Users $275.00, 5 Users $300.00, 10 Users $450.00, 15 Users $525.00, 20
Users $600.00, 40 Users $1,200.00, 60 Users $1,800.00 |
Windows 98, 2000, NT, XP, Vista |
Group Sched. |
- Pre-schedule shifts and time off
- Schedule based on skills, workload and seniority
- Apply shift rotations and schedule patterns
- Eliminate scheduling conflicts
- Track time off and staff assignments
- View staff availability and contact information
- Manage labor costs
- Set staffing requirements
- View total hours and employees scheduled
- Ensure coverage
- Set up read-write and read-only passwords
- Give managers and employees access to schedules
- Export schedule data to other applications
- Back up schedules automatically
- Access technical support by phone or email
- Print, publish or email schedules and reports
|
PDF
Quick Books |
|
Schedule Anywhere |
$19.95 per month for first 25 employees, $0.50 per employee
per month each additional employee Examples:
25 employees $19.95, 50 employees $19.95+$12.50 usage fee $32.45, 75
employees $19.95+$25.00 usage fee $44.95, 100 employees $19.95+$37.50 usage
fee $57.45, 150 employees $19.95+$62.50 usage fee $82.45, 200 employees
$19.95+$87.50 usage fee $107.45, 250 employees $19.95+$112.50 usage fee
$132.45, 500 employees $19.95+$237.50 usage fee $257.45, 1,000 employees
$19.95+$487.50 usage fee $507.45, 2,500 employees $19.95+$1,237.50 usage fee
$1,257.45 |
Browser-based |
Group Sched. |
- Schedule employees
- Create custom views and schedules
- View all employees, view employees by position,
department, location
- Check staffing levels
|
|
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
These
tools can make your life easier - you won't miss appointments or have coverage
gaps with your staff (if you have one!).
Ease of Use
-
@@@@
Software applications have simple user interfaces and are easy to use
- even for the novice. ScheduleAnywhere uses your browser as the interface
to scheduling and reporting.

Works With
-
YYY1/2
Customer Appointment Manager, Visual Staff Scheduler and Visual
Staff Scheduler Pro are
designed for the Windows environment only. ScheduleAnywhere requires only
a standard web-browser to utilize.
Support
-
ppp
Atlas
Business
Solutions,
Inc. web
FAQ is
very
simplistic.
They offer
30 days
free tech
support.
Thereafter
you'll pay
$35 per
incident,
although
support
plans are
available
(contact
the vendor
for more
information).
Atlas also
offers
email
support,
but has no
guarantee
of
response
time. You can also purchase support and upgrade protection for Visual
Staff Scheduler Pro - rates are listed in the table above.
Features
-
iii1/2
Staff and customer
scheduling - the best features are the reports that the applications can
generate regarding hours, coverage and daily activity as well as integration
with QuickBooks and PDF output for publishing to the web or attaching to email.
Overall
Rating -
%%%1/2+
Good tools for what they do - easy to set up
and use.
ACT!
ACT! by
Sage 2007 organizes all your customer information in one place.
Simple Start-Up
-
¹¹¹1/2
ACT! is a
sophisticated
contact,
calendaring,
task
management
and sales
forecasting
package.
Expect to
take some
time
setting up
the
package to
meet your
specific
business
requirements.
Cost
-
$$$
Pricing for ACT! products is detailed in the table below.
|
Software |
Price |
O/S
Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
|
ACT! 2007 |
$199.99 download, upgrade $169.95, ACT!Link for QuickBooks $69.95 |
Windows
2000,
XP, Server 2003 |
Contact,
Calendaring
and
Task
Management
Software |
-
Includes
database
with
70
pre-defined
fields
-
Store
contact
information
including
name,
company,
phone
numbers,
addresses,
web
sites,
email
addresses,
last
meeting
data
and
more
-
Date-time-stamped
notes
for
each
contact
to
track
conversations,
commitments
and
meetings
-
Tracks
activities
for
each
relationship
including
meetings,
letters
sent,
emails
sent
and
received,
calls
completed
-
Standard
reports
for
phone
lists,
activity
report,
relationship
histories,
sales
summaries
-
Email client
-
Attach web pages with graphics to any contact
-
View
and
print
schedule
by
day,
week
or
month
-
Set
and
monitor
alarms
-
Schedule
recurring
events
-
Activity
series
automates
prospecting,
follow-up
and
sales
activities
-
Calendar pop-ups
-
Task List shows all important activities - calls, meetings,
to-do items by priority, date range, or user with totals by activity
-
Print
calendar
and
address
book
using
20
formats
including
Day-Timer,
Day
Runner,
Deluxe
-
Mail
merge
letters
faxes,
emails,
envelopes
and
mailing
labels
-
Link all correspondence to the associated contact
-
Pre-formatted
templates
for
email
letters,
memos
and
faxes
-
Manage
sales
pipeline
with
forecasting
tools
-
Create
and
print
sales
graph
showing
open,
won
or
lost
sales
-
New company and division records
-
Customizable activities, priorities and customizable field
types
-
Unlimited date and time-stamped notes and histories for
each contact
-
One click export to Microsoft Excel
-
Organize contacts into groups and up to 15 levels of
subgroups
-
Unlimited secondary contacts
-
Activity series defines a series of activities around an
anchor activity
-
Customized quote generation
-
40 standard reports for phone lists, activity report,
relationship histories, sales summaries and more
-
Use Outlook ad preferred email client while in ACT!
-
Track email received in Outlook in ACT! contact record
-
View multiple notes at once
|
Microsoft
Outlook
Outlook
Express,
Eudora,
Internet
Mail,
Lotus
Notes,
Microsoft
Word, Excel |
|
ACT! 2007 Premium for Workgroups |
$369.99, upgrade $259.95, 5 user pack $1,749.99 |
Windows
2000,
XP, Server 2003
Palm OS 3.5
and higher
Pocket PC
2000, 2002, Phone Edition, Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC |
Contact,
Calendaring
and
Task
Management
Software |
|
Microsoft
Outlook
Outlook
Express,
Eudora,
Internet
Mail,
Lotus
Notes,
Microsoft
Word, Excel |
|
ACT! for Palm OS |
$99.99, upgrade $69.99 |
Palm OS 3.5 - 5.4 |
Contact,
Calendaring
and
Task
Management
Software |
- Synchronize data with handheld device
- Customize view
- View information in color
- Track time spent on activities
|
|
|
ACT!
Premium for Real
Estate 2006 |
$419.99, upgrade $299.95, 5 users $1,999.99, upgrade
$1,349.95 |
Windows
2000,
XP, Server 2003
Palm OS 3.5
and higher
Pocket PC
2000, 2002, Phone Edition, Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC |
Contact,
Calendaring
and
Task
Management
Software |
- Access contact and customer information, manage and
prioritize activities, track contact-related communications
- Centralize buyer, seller and vendor information
- Prioritize work
- Manage leads from initial inquiry to close
- Report on activities for complete view of customer
interactions
|
|
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
ACT! is
especially
useful in
"sales
intensive"
environments
where you
are
constantly
managing
personal
relationships
with
clients.
Ease of Use
-
@@@@
Again,
expect to
take some
time
"customizing"
ACT! for
your
particular
business
situation.
After the
initial
investment
in time
has been
spent
however,
the
software
is fairly
straight
forward to
use.
Works
With
-
YYY
ACT! is
designed
for the
Windows
environment
only.
Support
-
pppp
ACT! has
an
extensive
knowledge base
and
discussion
group
available
on their
web site.
The first
30 days of
telephone
support is
free
(Monday
through
Friday 7
AM to 4 PM
Pacific).
After that
you can:
pay $29.95
per call
(5 pack of
calls,
$99.95),
pay $3.95
per minute
or sign-up
as an ACT!
Advantage
member for
$299.95
per year
and get
unlimited
calls as
well as
online
chat and
discounts
on
database
repair and
product
add-ons (5 users $599.00).
Additionally,
tech
support is
available
for a
longer
period of
time, 6 AM
to 9 PM
Pacific.
Features
-
iiii
ACT! has a
rich set
of
capabilities
-
especially
for those
of you who
spend a
significant
amount of
time
"selling".
Lots of reports, links to software packages, lead tracking and more!
Overall
Rating -
%%%%
ACT! is a strong product that has been in the market for some time. It is
a quality choice, but one that you'll have to expect to invest time (in set-up
and customization) and money to realize its total potential for your business.
Apple
Simple Start-Up
-
¹¹¹¹
Apple's
iCal is a
simple
download
for Mac OS
X users -
it then is
very easy
to set up
and
customize
for your
calendaring
and task
management
needs.
Cost
-
$$$$$
What is
better
than free?
However,
you'll
need a .mac
membership
to publish
your
calendar
to the
Internet
for
sharing
($99.95
per year).
|
Software |
Price |
O/S
Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
|
iCal 2 |
Free (requires subscription to .mac service to publish calendars -$99.95 per
year) |
Macintosh
OS X |
Calendaring
and
task
management
software |
-
Track
appointments
and
events
with
multiple
calendars
-
views
by
day,
week
or
month
-
Color-coded
calendars
for
home,
work,
etc.
that
can
be
viewed
within
a
single
unified
window
-
Alarms
by
email,
mobile
phone,
pager
or
desktop
reminder
-
Synchronize with IPOD
-
Subscribe to public calendars available on the Internet
-
Detachable info drawer
-
Keyboard shortcuts
-
Auto event
-
Birthday calendar
-
Calendar groups
-
Notifications box
|
|
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
iCal will
help you
get your
schedule,
business
and life
in order!
Ease of Use
-
@@@@
iCal is
very
simple to
use and
the color
coding is
a nice
touch to
keep
various
parts of
your
business
or life
"separate".

Works With
-
YY1/2
iCal is
designed
for
Macintosh
OS X only.
Support
-
ppp
Apple has
an
extensive
knowledge
base,
technical
support
and more
on their
web site.
Apple expects most problems to be handled through their online discussion forum.
Features
-
iii1/2
The best
feature is
the color
coding of
multiple
calendars
that can
be viewed
in a
"unified"
manner to
avoid
scheduling
conflicts.
The other
feature we
like is
the
ability to
send
alerts to
multiple
devices.
Otherwise
- just the
basics.
Overall
Rating -
%%%1/2+
A nice
calendaring
and task
management
program
for the
Macintosh
OS X user
- and you
definitely
can't beat
the price!
Avanquest
Simple Start-Up
-
¹¹¹¹
Avanquest's
software
is really
aimed at
developing
mail
marketing
campaigns
and
managing
mailing
lists.
With that
said, all
the
Avanquest
software
is simple
to install
and use.
Cost
-
$$$1/2
MyMaillList
&
AddressBook
is priced
at $29.95, MyMaillListDeluxe
at $49.95.
|
Software |
Price |
O/S
Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
|
MyMaillList
&
AddressBook |
$29.95 |
Windows
95,
98,
ME,
NT,
2000 |
Mail
and
Address
Book
Management
Software |
-
Prints
labels
envelopes,
postcards
and
address
books
-
Fonts,
logos
and
thousands
of
clip
art
images
included
-
Create
and
manage
email
campaigns
-
Accepts
international
postal
codes,
countries
and
provinces
-
Prints
U.S.
Postal
Service
POSTNET
barcodes
-
Prints
phone
book
pages
in
Day
Timer,
Franklin
Covey
and
FiloFax
formats
-
Prints
Avery,
NEBS,
PaperDirect
and
custom
label
sizes
-
Contact management
-
Personalized email
|
Microsoft
Outlook, Excel, FoxPro,
ACT |
|
MyMaillList Deluxe 8 |
$49.95 |
Windows
95,
98,
ME,
NT,
2000 |
Mail and Address Book Management Software |
-
Manage
contact
records
-
Print
labels,
envelopes
and
post
cards
-
Create
address
books
and
form
letters
-
Insert
USPS
barcodes
-
Presort
for
bulk
mailings
-
Supports
Avery,
NEBS
and
custom
labels
-
20
mailing
templates
-
Prints
phone
book
pages
in
Day
Timer,
Franklin
Covey
and
FiloFax
formats
-
Personalized emails
|
Microsoft
Outlook, Excel, FoxPro,
ACT |
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
If you
need to
manage
large
mailing
lists or
email
campaigns
these
software
packages
will be a
big help.
Ease of Use
-
@@@@
Wizards
and
templates
make
managing
your
mailing
lists a
breeze.
Works With
-
YYY
Avanquest's software is designed for the Windows environment.

Support
-
pp
You get
what you
pay for.
Cheap
software -
expensive
technical
support.
In fact,
technical
support,
if you
need to
speak to a
"live"
body, will
cost more
than the
software
itself!
$24.95 for
the first
10 minutes
(and how
many tech
support
calls have
you had
resolve in
10 minutes
or less?)
and $2.95
per minute
after
that.
And by the
way, this
is not an
"800"
number,
you'll be
paying
long
distance
charges as
well
(unless
you have
one of
those new
"bundled"
local and
long
distance
packages
from MCI,
SBC or
Verizon!).
Finally,
tech
support is
only
available
7 AM to 4
PM Pacific
Monday
through
Friday
(with the
exception
of
Wednesday
when they
close at 2
PM!).
Basically,
if you
need help
- throw
out the
software
and kiss
your $20
to 40
good-bye!
Features
-
iii1/2
Basic
mailing
campaign
and
contact
management
software.
The nice "extras" are postal bar code integration and lots of clip art to easily
add graphics to email or "snail mail" campaigns.
Overall
Rating -
%%%1/2
If your
plan is to
do a
number of
bulk mail
campaigns,
Avanquest's
software
is a good
solution.
But it is
what it is
- for bulk
mail and
email
campaigns,
period.
Ballantine &
Company
Simple Start-Up
-
¹¹¹¹
Ballantine's QuickAssist software is easy to install and setup to
manage your contact information.
Cost
-
$$$1/2
QuickAssist is priced at $159.00. The multi-user edition is
$259.00.
|
Software |
Price |
O/S
Supported |
Overview |
Features |
Compatibility |
|
QuickAssist 2.6 |
$159.00, 5 pack
$636.00, 10 pack $1,272,
multi-user edition $259.00, 5 pack $632.00, 10 pack $1,164.00 |
Windows 98,
2000, NT 4.0, XP |
Contact Management Software |
-
Create, organize and store project communications
-
Addresses, contacts, project lists, mail, axes, email,
document storage
-
Built-in word processor
-
Built-in email client
-
Manage team to-do lists
-
Form letters, envelopes and label generation
|
|
Time Savings -
¹¹¹¹
QuickAssist can help you manage people and documents associated
with them in a single, unified area on your system.
Ease of Use
-
@@@@
The
interface looks like an address planner - simple and straight forward.

Works With
-
YYY
QuickAssist is designed for the Windows environment.
Support -
pppp
Kudos
to Ballantine and Company for recognizing the |