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Docketing/Calendaring A. The
Calendar. Of primary importance to any attorney is
his calendar. From the days when a
client’s tentative appointment was “penciled in” on the paper blotter to the
present, lawyers have used the calendar as the hub of their operation. In fact, so important is the calendar that
many insurance companies require attorneys practicing in deadline intensive
areas to provide the name of their docketing software! Something this important, of course, often
generates great debate as to what system of tracking time is the best, particularly
as regards software.
For me personally, Outlook suffices as
an adequate desktop application for my day-to-day appointments and conferences
(I miss the days of EccoPro, a truly remarkable
calendaring system that is no longer supported). Outlook synchronizes my information,
including contacts, to-dos, memos and dates, with my Tungsten T3. On that side of the virtual divide, I use Datebk5. Now, I will not fall into the trap of
arguing the merits of Datebk5 as opposed to those of Agendus. I know there are advocates of the
non-professional variety on both sides of that spectrum. Suffice it to say that both products function
extremely well as date book replacements, and that is the main point here. The software that is provided with most
PDA’s, with the possible exception of the new standard date book on the Sony
TH55, is woefully inadequate for use by any professional. For me, it was simple. I needed a date book on my PDA which allowed
me to quickly access the status of my
schedule on any given day. The monthly
view and yearly view in the basic date book provided on any PDA does not give
you that quick glance. Datebk and Agendus offer iconic
views which fill that void remarkably. Another important component of these
replacements is the linking feature.
Being able to track either an event or a task as it relates to a client
is important for an attorney. So, being
able to link either to a contact and have it recorded in the note field is
imperative. Again, both Datebk and Agendus do this. One of the strikingly obvious
differences between Datebk and Agendus,
in my humble opinion, is the perspective.
It seems to be that Datebk has a
calendar-centric approach while Agendus has a
contact-centric approach (much like the desktop software Act!). For me, the calendar-centric approach fits my
work style better, and I like the layout of Datebk
better than that of Agendus. I prefer the month view and week view in Datebk to that of Agendus.
I also use the custom views feature of Datebk, something that I feel is not developed in Agendus at all. With
Datebk, I can create “saved views” of my calendar
based on icons. I always use the same
icon for court appearances. It happens
to be a little icon of the scales of justice.
I also use the same icon for all conferences, phone calls and trademark
activities respectively. This allows me
to set up a view which displays only the phone calls I need to make, for
example. Or, I can isolate all upcoming
court appearances with my custom “litigation” view. In addition to functionality, I like Datebk better because I like Stuart Dewar, the
creator. I like his attitude about
things and I like the corporate philosophy.
The $25 bucks you spend on Datebk goes to
support The Dewar Wildlife Trust, Inc., a Iambic Software is the creator of Agendus. I point
this out with the following caveat: I am
not generally satisfied with Iambic’s corporate
philosophy and practices. First, there
is the old controversy about whether or not Iambic hijacked www.datebk5.com in
an effort to frustrate its competition.
Regardless of whether or not that is true, the overall philosophy of
Iambic does not seem consumer friendly.
Which brings me to the second point: Iambic has, in my opinion, the most
horrendous customer support available anywhere. I have had serious problems getting
resolutions not only on Agendus (actually Action
Names), but also Timeslips for Palm OS. Their so-called “e-mail support” isn’t! To make a long story short, when I switched
from a Palm Vx to a Sony NV70 some years back, my
Action Names started giving me fatal errors for no apparent reason after about
two months of working just fine. After
approximately 20 e-mails over a two-week period, I was no further along than
when I started. That’s precisely when I
made the switch to Datebk and I’ve been using it ever
since. When you deal with a Datebk issue, although there are very few, you almost
always deal directly with it’s creator - and he very
friendly! Other packages which deserve some
consideration include ACT! For Palm OS, Beyond Contacts, KeySuite, FranklinCovey’s
Planning Software and PlanPlus for Microsoft Outlook. The first, ACT!,
is of particular interest if you use the
desktop software package by the same name.
If you’re interested in ACT! For Palm OS, buy it from Palmgear at $54.95, as that is $15 cheaper than their own
website.
Beyond Contacts by Dataviz
is interesting in that it claims to be the “Closest Thing to Outlook®” for your
handheld. I was really attracted to this
package at first, since Outlook is the center of my work day. However, once I started examining the
screenshots at Dataviz, it became apparent that there
was little support for iconic views, something I use extensively and something,
I believe, that is critical for a PDA-based system. When you’re dealing with such small screen
real estate, it’s important to use what is there to the fullest. I believe icons are the best way to do this
in a month view situation. You might
find, however, that Beyond Contacts is the perfect solution for your needs. Although Beyond Contacts may, in fact,
be the closest thing to Outlook, I’d have to say that KeySuite
by Chapura does a very adequate job at the same
task. I have the same gripe with this package
as I do with Beyond Contacts, however, in that it lacks good icon support, not
to mention a $59.95 price tag. Finally, Franklin Covey, the king of
organization, offers two solutions that incorporate their patented
goal-oriented style of planning.
Franklin Covey Planning Software is a standalone package with support
for Palm devices, while Franklin Covey’s PlanPlus for
Microsoft Outlook is an add-on to that software giant’s flagship calendar. If you like the Franklin Covey methodology,
you’ll like these software packages, however the price is steep, $79.99 and
$99.99 respectively. Here are the URL’s for the products and their
respective prices. Datebk5: www.pimlicosoftware.com $24.95 Agendus (Standard/Pro) www.iambic.com
$24.95/$39.95 Beyond Contacts www.dataviz.com
$29.95 ACT! For Palm OS www.act.com $69.95 (www.palmgear.com $54.95) KeySuite www.chapura.com
$59.95 Franklin Covey www.franklincovey.com $79.99/$99.99 (NEXT) |
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