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Next to the people tab is the Contacts tab. This lets you keep track of past, present or impending contacts with people. Whether it is a call,
meeting, or reminder, this is the area to keep track of it. There are areas to keep notes so that you know what was talked about and when, you can note follow up calls and meetings and these will show automatically on
your main opening screen when it is time. There is even a list for ongoing projects. If you want to keep a to-do list for yourself, just create a people record in your name and enter the to-do notes in this area.
Behind the contacts tab is an Intelligence tab, this lets you keep track of yearly sales, how the company is set up, what letters have been sent and when, and who their
current supplier is. Another tab in this area is the Letters tab. This is for writing letters. You choose the salutation or let the program fill it
in for you along with the closing. There is a small clipboard icon at the bottom, if you click this then the whole letter is copied to the clipboard so that you can paste it to E-mail or another program. You can also
print or CC the letter. Any letters written in this area are noted in the threads area of the calls tab automatically, how is that for keeping your filing up to date?The Buying tab allows you to enter purchase order
information and keep track of invoices. This area will give you the sub-total of each item and add in the taxes at the end for you. You can note the salesperson's name here too. To go with the buying tab is the
Payments tab. Here you can also see a list of invoices, notes, office or order department hours, shipping method to use and any notes to go on the PO form. One neat thing about this tab is the address field. Instead of
retyping everything you can just click a button labeled 'Same as Main Address' and the program will fill everything in for you. One other main tab that will be coming soon is the Inventory Tab. This will most likely
add even more power and ease to the whole program. The help features are not bad overall. In the top right corner of every screen you will see a small question mark icon. If you click this icon you will get a step by
step tour and explanation of every aspect of the program. If you click the Help menu at the top of the screen you may be a bit disappointed though, all that does is give you a splash screen about Filemaker pro. The
program does come with a FAQ file that is very helpful once you get it open. The FAQ files are supposed to be HTML so that they open in a Web Browser. I ran into a problem with this however. On my Windows 95 machine,
the FAQ files were named 7faqshtm.wq$. I have no problem with renaming files or associating them in Windows. I also had no problem opening Netscape and using File, Open from there to access the file. However someone who
is less comfortable with computers may be a bit daunted by doing these things. Are there any downsides to this program? For me, yes, but I am a bit picky at times. I like to have my contact
information integrated with my schedule. I like to schedule in my free and fun time, coffee or kid breaks and so on. This program will allow it but it is a bit cumbersome for just a quick note to myself. I also
like to see my time periods on a calendar so that I know when and where my free blocks are. The main screen of 7Office will tell me what time I have something scheduled, but it does not show the free time at a glance in
a calendar format and I cannot just click on a time and enter an item. One other bit of pickiness for me is a small thing in the customization area. If
you are entering information such as names and addresses, there is not an auto fill feature. For instance, if you want to add a city to the drop down list, you must choose edit from that list, type in the city, then
close the edit window. I feel that if a city (state, area code) is not in the list, then typing it should automatically add it to the list. Also if you have a city in the list, typing the first letter will drop down the
selection list and highlight that city, but it does not put the city in the space for you. Now on the plus side, this program is astronomical for
tracking and storing information. You can have as little or as much information about a company and its people as you would like. Also the fact that you can keep orders, payments, invoices and contacts of all sorts
together in one database makes this a powerfully indispensable tool for businesses of all sizes, especially small businesses. The tech support is also fantastic, I received quick, informative answers to all of the
questions that I could come up with. Navigation is intuitive and easy, you click a tab to go to a specific area, or you click the small 7Office icon that resides in the top right corner of each screen. Clicking the
7Office icon takes you immediately to your main summary screen. Ease of use is imperative in a program that you may use all day long every day. |
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