by: Jonathan Blackwood
Maybe I just think like ECCO--or maybe it thinks like me. From the start, I was an ECCO fan. I thought it was the easiest and most powerful PIM around, with its interface based on a nested folders paradigm and outlining tools in every module. I found this way of working intuitive. Others found it incomprehensible.
With version 3.0, NetManage, ECCO's new owner, seeks to bridge the gap between those who liked the old ECCO's way of doing things and those who found it intimidating. After examining the new ECCO, I'd say that, in large measure, the company has succeeded.
Gone is the quirky terminology. Outlines are now Notepads and they even look like notepads. Yet the outlining tools are still there. The typical user might not ever come face to face with those nested folders that tended to confuse so many people. But ECCO junkies will find the folders in the View menu. When you open the Folder window, it takes its place on the left side of the screen, looking very much like the folders in Microsoft Mail or Windows 95 Explorer.
The revamped interface is colorful and intuitive. The PhoneBook module, for example, now looks like a Rolodex. Similarly, the Calendar resembles a datebook. Named tabs at the bottom of the screen help you navigate between the Calendar, PhoneBook and Notepads. Tool tips, those pop-up identifiers for buttons and icons, make their first appearance in ECCO as well.
A unique feature that's been around since version 2.0 is file synchronization. With it, you can resolve differences between different versions of your Ecco working file on your desktop system and your notebook, or among workgroup members' versions. To accomplish this sleight of hand, ECCO creates a duplicate of the original (or Master) file, known as a Replica in ECCO jargon. Both the Master and the Replica track all the changes made since the files were last synchronized. As powerful as this feature is, it was difficult to understand in version 2.0. With 3.0, the process is easy. You can set it to automatically synchronize your files at regular intervals, via diskette, e-mail or even the Internet. And since only the changes are sent, the resulting synchronization file is quite small.
A new Correspondence Manager captures an address from the PhoneBook, fires up Word, WordPerfect or Ami Pro, and begins a letter to the specified contact. This functionality is in addition to the enhanced Shooter applet. Shooter spends most of the time as an icon at the top left of the Windows active screen, regardless of the application. Clicking on the arrow lets you move information back and forth quickly between ECCO and any other application. It's handy, for example, for e-mailing a contact's name, address and phone number to a colleague. A new capability is the ability to search for and retrieve an address from ECCO while in another application.
NetManage has added new group scheduling features. Cross-server group scheduling via real-time, TCP/IP access lets you see other users' conflicting appointments even if they're in a remote location. An Internet Address Book with more than 2,000 addresses is another notable addition. If you use NetManage's Internet Chameleon, ECCO will parse the HTTP address out of a location from which Shooter has gathered information, and drop it into the Internet Address Book.
The richness of ECCO's folder architecture, combined with its new simple interface, add up to an ease of use that novices will welcome. But the power is still there, so as you make the transition from novice to expert, you won't be disappointed.
--Info File--
ECCO PRO 3.0
Price: $175
In Brief: ECCO 3.0 is a powerful and usable program that aims for a wider audience, while extending its versatility for workgroups through group scheduling and file synchronization.
Disk Space: 11MB
System Resources: 13%
RAM: 4MB (8MB recommended)
NetManage
408-973-7171, fax 408-257-6405
by: James E. Powell
If you called Janna Contact 95 a PIM or contact manager, you wouldn't be telling the whole story. It's also a document manager that can be used to store letters, spreadsheets, even voice notes along with your contacts.
Janna Contact goes beyond handling the basics adroitly. It has preset fields for name, address and unlimited phone numbers, but it also offers custom fields that can vary from one contact to another. You can quickly search these fields or filter the entire list based on just about any field criteria.
Shortcuts abound. When you enter a new contact, you can choose from a list of companies derived from previously entered records. If the company has multiple sites, a pick list lets you select the right one. The QuickSort feature sorts your database by name, company or zip code, or you can just start typing a contact's last name and let Janna find a match.
Action Item lets you schedule tasks with one or more contacts and selected coworkers on your network. The scheduler checks for conflicts, and you can include a message or a document with the schedule request. Schedule viewing and update capabilities can be restricted for particular users, and you can now set up recurring events.
While viewing a contact record, you can set an appointment with that person by switching to the calendar, selecting a time and typing in a description. Janna automatically links the current contact's name and company to the appointment. Each action type, such as Meeting, Presentation, Proposal, To Do, Special Event and so on, has its own graphic, so it's easy to find specific types of tasks quickly.
Action items can be displayed by day, week, month or year. Days are divvied up into quarters on the monthly view, with icons in each quadrant representing what's on tap for the day.
If you use Microsoft's Schedule+, Janna Contact will synchronize that program's data with its own schedule. That way, you can use the Schedule+ directory to invite people to meetings or other events.
Attach a document to any appointment, or create a new one on the fly using OLE in-place editing. A paper-clip graphic on an appointment indicates an attached document; right-click on it to view, edit or delete the document.
Janna Contact's Document Manager window lets you store and manage standard correspondence. Create mail-merge templates, using provided macros, and Janna fills in the contact information you select. Or you can select multiple contacts and fax a document to them.
The Information Log lists each contact's documents, action items or appointments on a single screen.
Janna Contact conforms to Windows 95 interface standards, with long-filename support, right-button menus, customizable toolbars and property sheets. The program uses the Microsoft Access Jet Engine for storing data, so you can use a variety of third-party tools to write custom reports. The built-in report writer needs improvement. Information sometimes printed off the edge of smaller-sized pages.
Janna Contact includes some unique features. You can purge records you haven't accessed for a specified number of days, or retain records permanently so that deletions are overridden. Integration with Microsoft Exchange lets you drag messages from your Exchange inbox to Janna Contact's Information Log or scheduler.
One of Janna Contact's few weak points is performance. But the company worked with Microsoft to resolve the sluggishness that arose when Microsoft Plus was also loaded. Fixes are available on CompuServe (GO: JANNA) and Janna's Web site (http: //www.janna.com).
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Janna Contact 95
Price: $99 (street)
Win 95 Software In Brief: This Windows 95 contact manager offers document management and an excellent scheduler.
Disk Space: 8MB
System Resources: NA
RAM: 8MB (16MB recommended)
Janna Systems
800-268-6107, 416-483-7711
by James E. Powell
I never hesitated to recommend Lotus Organizer 1.0 as a simple vehicle for maintaining name and address files and personal appointments. While that version didn't go much beyond the basics, the new edition of Organizer does, eliminating many of the original program's shortcomings.
With Organizer 2.0--which I tested in a late beta verion--you can have multiple address listings for an individual, track past and future telephone call activities, and categorize your entries in more ways. You now can create conflicting or overlapping appointments in case you want to note that you have to be in two places at the same time. These are just a few of Organizer 2.0's many new features--all of which are welcome additions that don't add complexity to an already easy-to-use program.
Organizer still has its tabbed notebook layout, with separate sections for your appointments, to-do items, address book, calls, anniversary dates, and a project planner and notepad. The interface is still clean, simple and intuitive. You can double-click on the address book to add an entry, and there's now room for both business and home address information. Organizer 2.0 has more fields, and you can change field labels. However, you still can't add custom fields.
You can create links just by moving the mouse. Drag a name to another address-book entry and you establish a link with a small link symbol appearing in the entry. When you click on the link symbol, you see a list of linked items.
The new Calls section helps you keep track of incoming and outgoing telephone calls. Notes in this section can include the name, company and address of the other party, as well as status (left message, will call back and so forth). When you receive a call, a drop-down menu helps you find the caller's name, and Organizer will fill in the company and phone number for setting up a follow-up phone call.
The calendar has daily, weekly, bi-weekly and monthly views. You can use the new Find Time option to locate available slots in your schedule to make new appointments.
Organizer's Notepad tab provides an area for free-form text. An entry can have a title, which can be used to create a table of contents.
The to-do manager lets you add repeating tasks. It also allows you to change or delete all repeating tasks, those in the past and future tasks. The to-do manager can also keep a task hidden until a specified future date. In addition, you can add alarms and codes--such as a customer ID or cost code--to tasks.
The Anniversary section is still a great place to add reminders of yearly events. It now has alarms, and you can display anniversaries by month, category or, for the astrologically inclined,the zodiac sign associated with the anniversary date.
Organizer can be customized to suit personal tastes, too. For example, you can determine which items you want on your calendar, such as calls, anniversary dates and so forth. You also can create subsets of entries with filters that you define. The app maintains its lead among PIMs when it comes to its flexible import and export facility.
Lotus has added network awareness to Organizer with new integration facilities for its cc:Mail and Notes communications products. With the cc:Mail link, Organizer becomes a group scheduling tool. You can view other people's free time and book meetings with them accordingly.
For all its improvements, there are still some omissions in this release. You can search for text, but the matching text isn't highlighted in the found record so it's hard to spot immediately. There is no custom report writer, although some of the print options are flexible. The lack of a print preview is also disappointing.
Organizer 2.0 looks good and is easy to use. The features added in this version complement the old without making compromises.
INFO FILE
Lotus Organizer 2.0
Price: $99 (estimated street price); $49 upgrade
In Brief: This easy-to-learn, easy-to-use PIM with a bright interface and an excellent mix of features is designed to help manage contacts and appointments.
Lotus Development Corp.
800-343-5414, 617-577-8500
BY: Rich Castagna
The instinct to survive is basic, but the ability to survive is far from basic. Sidekick, after establishing its DOS dominance, made a late but successful Windows debut about a year ago. After testing the beta of Sidekick 95, I predict that this popular PIM's leap into Windows 95 will be equally auspicious.
Sidekick's transition was accomplished deftly. More importantly, the new features Sidekick picked up en route to Windows 95 didn't compromise its trademark ease of use. Current users will find themselves on terra that is both firma and cognita. New users should experience the almost instantaneous productivity that the intuitive interface avails.
Sidekick's cover page has been replaced by the Reminder view. This screen lists all your daily agenda tasks, including to-dos, phone calls and meetings. Each reminder is identified appropriately by its activity type in a sortable list that includes descriptions, dates and durations for timed events such as meetings. Double-click on an item, and the related list area, such as your calendar of appointments, will appear. You can print your reminders and view today's roster of events, as well as those for tomorrow, next week or next month.
Peripatetic PIM users will appreciate Sidekick's two other new views. EarthTime is a map of the world with local times for cities worldwide. You can display the time for eight cities around the edges of the world map, and when you right-click on one of them, a pop-up menu lets you select it as the local or home clock and change its color configuration. The same menu will show you the time difference between the selected city and your home city, and pop up a window with some key facts for the selected city, such as currency, population and international dialing codes.
Time isn't the only travel issue this PIM addresses. Sidekick gives money equal billing with its new Expense view. On the right side of this view, you enter individual expense items, such as airfare, hotel and meals. When you finish each entry, it gets tucked into an expense file on the left side. Sidekick can sort the expense file by account, amount, date or expense type. The pick lists that drop for some field entries will remember what you typed in and add those choices to the lists. You can also use the Setup dialog to customize the pick-list options. Click on the Go to Report button and you see your expenses formatted on a basic travel expense form. The expense forms are broken down by calendar weeks, with tabs at the bottom of the screen to switch among the weeks. You can also split expenses and allocate them to different accounts, and then show only individual accounts on your travel expense form.
Sidekick's phone dialer is better in this version, too. You can control the elapsed time clock and dial manually by clicking on the keypad in the dialog box. The notes you type in the window above the keypad can be logged and saved with the contact record, with Sidekick adding the time and date, call duration and a notation that you made the call.
Version 2.0's modest Notes feature lets you create correspondence and other documents drawing on information from your contact records. You can still do this with Sidekick 95's Write module, but your missives will no longer be missing the character effects that version 2.0's unadorned text lacked. It's now possible to add bold or italics, choose any installed typeface and change text color. Paragraph indenting and alignment are available, along with automatic bullets and underscores. Finished documents can be spell checked and then saved in .RTF, .TXT or Sidekick's own format.
Just about all Sidekick modules have been tweaked in one way or another. For example, the Calendar now has a list view so you can see all your bookings without looking at the empty time slots. In the Cardfile, the label and envelope printing dialogs have been improved with wizardly dialogs that step you through the process.
Current Sidekick users will be comforted to know that their favorite PIM is ready to move to '95 with them.
--Info File--
Sidekick 95
Price: $49.95
In Brief: Updated for the Windows 95 environment, Sidekick 95 adds new features without sacrificing ease of use.
Starfish Software
800-765-7839, 408-461-5800
by: Cheryl Dominianni
It's easy to see the rhyme and reason of Time & Chaos, even if you've never used a PIM. Its four sections--calendar, appointment list, to-do list and telephone book--appear on the opening screen for an instant overview of the day's events.
Days with notes or appointments associated with them are displayed in red on the monthly calendar. To set an appointment, simply click on a day and then on Add Appointment. If the person you're meeting is in Time & Chaos' telephone book, start the entry by dragging the name up to the appointment screen. Appointment bells and whistles include alarms, repeat options, notes and linking. Linking appointments with phone book records lets you create client-activity, sales-contact and other reports.
Information stored in Time & Chaos' telephone book can also be used to generate profiles, letters (including merges) and envelopes once you've defined your word processor--Microsoft Word, WordPerfect or Ami Pro are supported--in the file preferences setup.
Add items to a to-do list and color code them to indicate their urgency. A to-do item can also be linked with a telephone book entry.
Time & Chaos' four databases can be searched and shared with others over a network. Creating order out of chaos has never been easier--even if you're short on time.
-- Info File --
Time & Chaos 4.07
Price: $29.95
Disk Space: 900KB
System Resources: 3%
RAM: 4MB
iSBiSTER International
214-495-6724, fax 214-530-6566
by: James E. Powell
Keeping track of details can be taxing--especially if you're a beleaguered businessperson--but losing your grip on a single bit of data can cost you a customer. WinSales, a contact manager with a decided sales bent, can help make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
PIMs do a great job of storing names and addresses, but you need more when it comes to prospecting for clients or maintaining good customer relationships. Sales management programs like WinSales are based on relationship marketing--the idea that you need to make six or seven connections with prospects before they're ready to buy. WinSales is among the best of the sales management programs available.
Version 3.0, which I tested in beta, has a dramatically improved user interface, using tabbed dialogs to replace the former version's multiple windows. It's easy to add fields to any contact screen using WinSales' standard text and numeric fields, as well as a credit card field that performs check-digit verification. Fields can be defined as required entries and values entered directly or selected from lists. Tabs let you switch to account information or a notes field, and you can associate activities--meetings, mail, phone calls and so forth--with a contact using another tabbed dialog box.
Triggers, or user-defined actions, are key to this new version. For example, a trigger may assign or reassign a sales rep based on the zip code in a client record. I created a trigger to update a field called Successful Calls every time a customer expressed interest in a product during a phone call. The trigger "language" resembles Visual Basic, but you can use a series of lists that WinSales provides to build your triggers. The beta included only a short example trigger, but the company said there will be more in the final version.
WinSales' Action Plans check the status of events in your database and act accordingly. You create a plan outline, defining each task you want to perform. An Action Plan could be set up to send a brochure today, schedule a follow-up call in a week, and then automatically create and print a follow-up letter the week after. You can switch clients among plans, such as changing a contact from prospect to customer when a product is purchased. There's an administrative option that lets you balance the load, so you won't have 100 calls to make one day and only a few the next.
WinSales' reporting and query tools are also easy to use for preparing ad hoc reports. You can choose from a variety and, as you make your choices, the program builds a list--in English--of your query selections. Report results are displayed on a spreadsheet-like grid. Double-click on any cell and you're taken to the underlying detail, such as a contact record or appointment information. This type of drill-down access to information is more frequently found in financial reporting tools, but it's a remarkably fast and efficient addition to WinSales. For the graphically inclined, the program also includes an easy-to-use 3-D charting module.
Events that you create or that are scheduled by Action Plans are added to your appointment schedule. Jumping between a scheduled event and the corresponding contact information is easy. The calendar also lets you schedule events with several people, and has a MAPI e-mail hook to send meeting invitations. The scheduler will handle 90 percent of appointment juggling, but it lacks some high-end features, such as the ability to "decline" a meeting and have the group calendar reflect that status.
WinSales offers field and record-level security, unlimited customization and desktop/laptop synchronization.
If your business is sales, you need specialized help. A PIM is good for address lists and a contact manager is more business-aware. But the sales-centric nature of WinSales will help you zero in on prospects and turn them into customers.
--InfoFile--
WinSales 3.0
Price: Single user, $495; upgrade, $195; five users, $1,495; upgrade, $395
In Brief: WinSales has a vastly improved interface and introduces event triggers to automate your tasks.
WinSales
206-747-2464 x1, fax 206-747-2955