Keep organized with contact managers

 First I have to talk to Mark about the holiday schedule and how it works with the special editions.

 Then the boss wanted me to contact dealers and check on modem prices.

 Oh yeah, I think I was supposed to get some groceries today.

 What else? I had a list someplace.

 Oh jeese, I just remembered. I have to get out those invitations to the big banquet! That's 80 letters!

 HELLLLLLP!

 Ok, so I'm not the most organized guy in the world.

 I used to have one of those little electronic pocket organizers. I loaded it up with phone numbers, birthday and anniversary reminders, daily schedules and all sorts of important information I needed to remember.

 I kept forgetting to bring it to work with me.

 I suppose I could hire a secretary to take care of all this stuff, but I don't think my bank account or my marriage would survive.

 Once again my computer comes to the rescue.

 Programs to help you with your busy day, called PIMs, or personal information managers are as ubiquitous and varied as the enterprises they serve.

 But in today's business world, PIMs are about as out-of-date as rotary telephones. Now,  information managers aren't so personal. They offer enhanced workgroup features that combine e-mail, Internet, fax and a host of other connectivity functions to help businesses keep teams and departments in touch and on track, maintain client and contact databases, and still make
sure you remember to buy an anniversary present.

 These contact manager programs vary in power and price, from high-powered corporate information solutions to simple-to-use tools that try to imitate the old daily-reminder book that one graced every business desk.

 Three programs seem to top the popularity list for small to medium sized businesses. GoldMine 4, Maximizer 97is, and Act 4 are all powerful, top-of-the-line products but they differ in what they have to offer -  both in features and in how they are used.

 GoldMine 3.2 is generally considered one of the leading contact managers. GoldMine Software Corp. has garnered a host of industry accolades with the program, and with it's impressive list of features, Internet integration, and flexibility, and relatively low cost, the data manager will probably continue to win the hearts and desktops of businesspeople everywhere.

 A new release from the company is touted as a product which will rewrite the rules for contact management software. It may live up to that reputation. GoldMine 4 Standard Edition has been described as a perfect product for business that have outgrown simple contact managers but can't afford to move up to high-end products or hire someone to customize standard mid-tier software.

 It will automate a host of standard sales operations ranging from writing letters, to scheduling forecasted sales, to making follow-up calls. And version 4 continues and enhances GoldMine's tradition of support for synchronizing data. Folks in the field can use Internet connection, direct modem-to-modem links or access across a network to synchronize their GoldMine databases. The licencing situation for remote GoldMine users is also better. Rather than spending a fortune on a licence for each remote user, network admins can now change network users into licenced remote users.

 The interface of GoldMine 3.2 has been retained in version 4, so that the estimated 500,000 current GoldMine users can still use the program while they discover the new features.

 And one of the most important new facets in version 4 is how it allows users to identify and link everyone in a company involved in a transaction. This specialized Opportunity Manager lets you track everyone involved in the deal (or "opportunity" as GoldMine terms it), and stay on top of new developments, developing problems, etc.

 The good news for big corporations is GoldMine's SQL client, which supports Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase and Microsoft Back Office while the other client-server product comes with a runtime version of Microsoft SQL server. Both beat the cost of other client-server based products by thousands of
dollars.

 However GoldMine 4 has been criticized for incompatibility of file formats. GoldMine 4's dBase IV files are not compatible with version 3.2's dBase III Plus files,  meaning that networked users have to all upgrade to version 4 at the same time. It also is not fully Internet integrated. In order to have a form on your company web site collect data for use in a GoldMine database, you need someone well-versed in HTML who knows how to write CGI scripts.

 And GoldMine's interface has been labled unfriendly by many users, who complain that the program requires a good deal of training time.

 One of GoldMine's chief rivals in the contact manager field is Symantec Corporation's ACT! 4. While ACT is probably easier to use than GoldMine, it does not feature sales analysis and project-tracking tools.

 There are a host of default fields and form designs with ACT!, but the program is also fully customizable. You can define an unlimited number of data fields with explicit types, formats and indexes and the form layout designer will allow you to place fields anywhere and format them.

 You can add new contacts through the Schedule Activity input, and it will alert you if you try to schedule two meetings for the same time. A side program, SideAct, allows a user to enter tasks and then transfer them into ACT! even if the main program is not running.

 ACT! uses its own wordprocessor, as well as Microsoft Word, or WordPerfect. It also supports cc:Mail, Compu-Serve and Microsoft Exchange, which can used to update databases. (It can also synchronize directly between databases on a LAN or users can dial in with a direct modem connection and update.) Although you can use Eudora Pro, the built-in mail feature does not allow live URLs or HTML text. ACT! 4 information can be used as a WinFax Pro phonebook and another new function allows users to back up data, reports, layouts, labels and envelopes to a Zip file.

 Contact managers usually come in two flavors - form based and list based. While GoldMine and ACT! are examples of programs with form-based views, Maximizer by Maximizer Technologies has always been the product of choice for those who prefer list-based managers.

 Maximizer 97IS now tries to straddle the divide - offering both an enhanced list view as well as a form-based view.

 Maximizer performs all the basic functions as well as the other two high-powered packages - managing records, scheduling, phone dialing, etc.- and it is particularly efficient in taking care of multiple contacts inside a single company. It also comes with its own wordprocessor but still allows use of all the big-name
programs.

 It doesn't, however, come with it's own e-mail client, but it can incorporate any 32 bit MAPI or VIM e-mail product.

 One of it's major shortcomings is the way that users must buy add-on programs to provide some features like bidirectional synchronization, a client/server package and data transfer utilities for PalmPilot or Windows CE.

 Also, Maximizer doesn't let a user create permanent groups while making a schedule. It also won't find free time in your schedule, manage projects or track performance.

 Clearly, of the three, GoldMine is the all out winner, combining powerful features, connectivity, group solutions, and flexibility in one dynamic product. It lists at $295 U.S. for a single user, or $895 U.S. for a five-user network license.

 But if you don't need all of the tools available in GoldMine, then ACT! 4 is probably the program for you. It sells for about $200 U.S.

 And although Maximizer may be lacking in features, what it does do, it does very well. It sells for abourt $140.

  As for me, I'll probably end up wiping all of them off my hard drive.

 I figure if I forget an appointment, it probably wasn't that important in the first place.