DIY Planner - How do you organize your Adress Book? (PIM, CRM, online, offline, PDA, hPDA...) - Comments

Fundemental questions

reepicheep — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:29:23 -0400

Max said ...

I have smt like 1500 emails, but some doubles and surely only a few hundreds needed.

I presume you mean that you have 1,500 email addresses --- some of us receive 1,500 messages a day --- and this raises the question of what you are trying to do with all these addresses. Are they business or private?

If all business contacts then your employers should really have control of them and be storing them in the corporate CRM system or at least in something like an LDAP data store. Your employer's IT security staff ought to be very worried about you storing corporate information outside of the corporation's control be it in Plaxo or similar --- let alone the potential breach of EU data protection legislation with you doing trans-border information exchange.

If they are your own contacts and all you want to do is weed out duplicates and non-responsives then I'd dump the Outlook (?) address into a spreadsheet and clean the addresses up manually. Though I'd be amazed at a personal contacts list of 1,500 people.

If a mix of business and private then your IT security people might be very interested in what you are doing keeping private information on corporate machines or corporate information on a private machine.

On a whim

jonglass — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:22:07 -0400

I tried out Yahoo's address book, and it seems rather extensive, and the notes are searchable. The key for what you want to do is to find good keywords that you can use for searching as well.

Also, although I haven't had time to check it out, I just found:
zexer.com.

It seems to be rather attractive, but I don't know how flexible/powerful it is. :-) I'm about to look for online CRM, which seems to be more what you need.

-Jon

"something platform

maxsnet — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:16:53 -0400

"something platform agnostice"
Yes! That's why Excel (Google Docs) might do the work. Or any paper based system. But, I'd prefer some automatic system which would be
"accessible via the web"
Yeah! If Gmail had more features in contact management, that would be... perfect - I already use Gmail and Gcal. I could consider using the unique Notes box... I might do that if I don't find smt else more attractive...

Gosh I was editing my

maxsnet — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:09:24 -0400

Gosh I was editing my comment but couldn't confirm because you answered in meantime... I lost what I had typed, anyway, wanted to tell you that my goal is to keep track of the "Who said what when?". Like if I meet Mr X. and tell him "Hey Mr X, how is your fridge you bought 3 years ago? Yeah just before me met at the Stuff club with Mr Y, remember? Oh and How's Peter your son, still wanna be a fireman? ;)". Wanna do that personnaly and professionnaly.
Of course I need multiple adress, phones, multiple everything, etc.. too.
If I choose an online solution any note I make should be searchable, like in the Franklin Covey solution, but not like in BigContacts. Didn't try on Plaxo becauise you have the only unique "Notes" box for each contact. I obviously want infinite Notes for each contact.

well...

jonglass — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:03:13 -0400

none yet. I got side-tracked this evening, so haven't had a chance to do any digging.

I do see one difference between ourselves. I need double-addresses (postal) as well as multiple phones, as well as email. Also, I tend to do more CRM than simple tracking. This is where Now Contact (both Mac and Windows--and which I've used since the mid-'90s) has done well for me through the years. One trick that Now has that I forgot about, is web serving of calendars and, I think, contacts. If you can live with the upfront costs of Now, and you have server space to put it, this might be a solution, too.

However, I will admit, that between Now, and it's Mac-only Address-book sync, and my Apple dotMac, I'm pretty set--I think.... However, the links you have shared will give me a good jumping-off spot to look for others. :-)

-Jon

Lucky you!

maxsnet — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:00:09 -0400

Lucky you!

Hi Jon!

maxsnet — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:54:57 -0400

Hi Jon!

I have smt like 1500 emails, but some doubles and surely only a few hundreds needed. I might have a look at the free version of HighRise but I think that's not enough for me.
I found free (or cheap) solutions yesterday, with very interesting features (like Gmail Contacts synced!). Didn't test yet but sounds very interesting:
http://www.scheduleworld.com/
http://www.memotoo.com
http://www.hipcal.com/ *edit: not good, has been bought by Plaxo*
What solutions are you testing?

Thankfully I don't have to

OffLead — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:57:54 -0400

Thankfully I don't have to work cross-platform. My primary system is Windows. I spent YEARS going back and forth between different Contact and CRM and scheduling and task applications, and finally just threw in the towel. I'm currently using Outlook, with Business Contact Manager installed with it. (BCM is offered by Microsoft, and in not only merges with Outlook but also with the new Accounting 2007 -- formerly Small Business Accounting -- software as well.) I've given up everything else, and now keep my tasks, my calendar, my contacts, and my email all in Outlook. There are some new things in Outlook 2007 that make all this better and easier, especially in the way tasks are accessed and integrated. I use the tasks in Outlook primarily to track items that recur every year, like hosting and domain renewals. I also flag email from clients when they come in if there is something I have to deliver for it. Flagging an email automatically makes it a task, and it now appears in the task lists however you are viewing them. At the end of the day I can double check and compare between my paper system and Outlook to make sure I haven't forgotten anything that came through.

When I was using a PDA, I could export stuff to that for being mobile. I'm not using a PDA anymore, though, so now if I need some info for a meeting or something, I just print it out to go. With the Outlook system integrated with Accounting, I can even track jobs, job tasks, and billable time through Outlook, and then it is right there in Accounting when I go to do invoicing. And I can link documents to an account, a job, or a client if necessary.

I'm back to using paper for my daily planning and task tracking, but I've given up all my other computer based applications and just stick to Outlook. One place that holds everything, and my stress levels over trying to keep things synched up between applications or platforms is a thing of the past. I'm much calmer now. ;-)

OffLead Blog - Dogs and other of life's joys.

I take it...

jonglass — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:24:56 -0400

...the free version of High Rise is not featured enough for you?

You've gotten me intrigued on this item. I'm going to try doing some of my own searching. I don't know that I need it--I always carry my Mac with me, and furthermore, print out those contacts I have meetings with. :-)

I shall be reporting on my findings, but maybe some more specifics on exactly what data you need to store/search.

BTW, have you looked into a TiddleyWiki or something similar? Also, how many names are you looking at? I've got over a thousand on my Mac, and the thought of trying to do what I do solely via web access makes my hair go grey! I could never do what I do without Now Contact/Up to Date. But I'm a bit unique... (only a bit?)

-Jon

Thanks!

jonglass — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:50:09 -0400

Especially because, now I can see what High Rise is all about! ;-)

Do I understand you correctly, that you are looking for something platform agnostice, and accessible via the web?

That may be difficult. If you were Mac-only, I would actually suggest a dotMac account. All my Mac Address Book data is easily accessible on my online address book, plus it's backed up if ever my Mac crashes. When I've been out traveling, it's also served as a wonderful backup to check data, etc.

This conversation has gone a long ways since I last picked it up, and I need to read further before I say any more, though. ;-)

-Jon

Everything in my contacts

Rebecca — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:52:49 -0400

Everything in my contacts list is a field in an excel spreadsheet.
I have two fields for "notes". One I use for relationship (brother of, etc...) and the other I use for miscellaneous info.
The style of the thing forces me to be as brief as possible; which helps me a lot.

Lifelines

reepicheep — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:03:52 -0400

For family info I use the LifeLines genealogical database program (open source too).

As for any general "who said what when" record --- well I don't. I am not a natural reflector and don't bother to keep a journal; as I've mentioned here before. I've read enough of the journalling literature (especially the pseudo-science coming out of university education departments) to know that it's not something I require. Indeed the more of that pro-journalling stuff I read the less enamoured of the whole thing I become.

If I'm attending a business meeting then I was will take unofficial miutes --- to compare to the official version later --- but otherwise it's all in my head. And I never volunteer to take the official minutes; dylexia has its benefits.

Ok, @rebecca and

maxsnet — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:26:11 -0400

Ok,

@rebecca and @reepicheep,
how do you - if you - keep track of "Who said what when?" and family info (brother of, etc...) ?
Thanx,

Hi. I've gone low-tech for

Rebecca — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:03:45 -0400

Hi.
I've gone low-tech for this information. After my last Palm died I converted the backup database file to an excel spreadsheet and printed it out landscape. I then trim and fold it into something the size of the PocketMod and keep it in my wallet. The back side of the page is blank. When an address changes I scratch it out on the front and put the new one on the back. I update it rarely, but at least I always have a copy handy when I need it. :)

None to my knowledge

reepicheep — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:18:20 -0400

If you know European site that do the job, I'd be glad to know them!

I'm not aware of any that are based in Europe (and therefore comply with EU legislation). But then I am not one for allowing easy traffic analysis either so haven't bothered to look for any.

How do you organize your Adress Book? (PIM, CRM, online, offline, PDA, hPDA...)

maxsnet — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:47:38 -0400

Hi,

Fan of GTD I now want to organize my adress book as best as I can.
I'm testing Plaxo right now which is good as an adress book. But I need more than that, something like HighRise or a perconal CRM.
Any hint from you folks?
How do you manage your contacts?

Max

D*I*Y Planner - How do you organize your Adress Book? (PIM, CRM, online, offline, PDA, hPDA...) - Comments

Fundemental questions

On a whim

"something platform

Gosh I was editing my

well...

Lucky you!

Hi Jon!

Thankfully I don't have to

I take it...

Thanks!

Everything in my contacts

Lifelines

Ok, @rebecca and

Hi. I've gone low-tech for

None to my knowledge

How do you organize your Adress Book? (PIM, CRM, online, offline, PDA, hPDA...)

DIY Planner - How do you organize your Adress Book? (PIM, CRM, online, offline, PDA, hPDA...) - Comments