We need an Outlook compatible contacts system for sales similar to
Goldmine or ACT!  It needs to be an add-on to Outlook that gives it
functionality similar to programs like Goldmine or ACT.

What are the available options for Windows operating systems? What are
the available options for Macintosh operating systems?

Since I don't know what your requirements are or how you will use your
contact manager, it's difficult to point to any one application or
solution.  The resources below however, should be helpful to you
regardless of your specific application.


The following link points to one of the leading contact managers.  The
product claims to integrate with outlook but is not actually a plugin.

http://www.maximizer.com/


The following link claims to be an add-on for outlook and has a free
trial version available for download.

http://www.softwarevirtuosity.com/vc/index.html


The link below does not work with outlook at all but claims to take
the place of Outlook... might be worth reading the customer comments
on the front page (If eliminating Outlook is an option)

http://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/test.html


As a side note the following link points to a hardware device that
integrates with some of the populat contact managers to provide
additional functionality.  Not sure what your budget is or the size of
your operation but thought you might find this of interest.

http://www.toshiba.com/taistsd/strata_cs_brochure/pages/2_FeaturesBenefits/Features08.html

Search phrases:
+"contact manager" +"outlook"

I hope this information proves to be helpful to you.

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Request for Answer Clarification by sherpaj-ga on 19 Sep 2002 01:58 PDT

Were you able to find any that were compatable with Mac?  Is ACT still
made for mac?  Is there any add-ons to Outlook 2001 for Mac?

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Clarification of Answer by resolutionman-ga on 19 Sep 2002 09:23 PDT

Hello again.  In answer to your question about Act! for the Mac,
unfortunately the product has been discontinued.

The link below discusses the details of their decision but here are
some of the "highlights"

"Interact Commerce Corporation has decided to discontinue the ACT! for
Mac product for business reasons"

"The last update to ACT! for Mac was Version 2.8 in 1996"

"Power On is making a special offer available to ACT! for Mac
customers on their product, Now Up-To-Date & Contact."

Read all of the details at the following link.

http://itdomino.act.com/act.nsf/docid/2000102112624

I will search now for other Mac products that might interest you and
post them in my next clarification.

Thank you,
resolutionman-ga

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Clarification of Answer by resolutionman-ga on 19 Sep 2002 11:27 PDT

Ok here’s the latest…

If you’re looking for one application that will run on both platforms
(Mac and Windows), you might want to consider SaleSmartz.

http://www.salesmartz.com

"SaleSmartz now uses Plug-in files to add more functionality. These
files are placed in the "Plug-ins" folder inside the SaleSmartz folder
and consist of such items as Fax, Email, Caller display and Export
format modules."

SaleSmartz- Internet edition - is now available as a web browser
plugin for existing network databases.

----------

Another contact manager that you might look into is:  "Now up to date
& contact" made by "Power On Software".  I believe that these are two
separate programs that are now being sold together in a bundle.  "Now
up to date" is a calendar program while "contact" is a contact
manager.  While these are not plugins for Outlook, this product is
reported to be the best selling calendar and contact manager for the
Mac platform.  In addition, this product does have support for Outlook
Express®, Entourage®, and Outlook® in the email preferences.

You can read more on this product at the link below.

http://www.poweronsoftware.com/products/nudc/

-----------------

One last one for you (going back to the Windows platform) is 

"Time and Chaos"

http://www.isbister.com/chaos32-plugins-outlook.html

Again not a plugin for Outlook but there is a utility to import your
Outlook data for a seamless transition to the "Time and Chaos" product
(if that's an option for you).  Keep in mind that this utility is a
"one way" utility (only moving data into Time and Chaos from Outlook
and not the other way around.)  I'm guessing that your data will
remain in-tact in Outlook after running this utility but check on this
with the manufacturer BEFORE you use it.  If you decide to switch back
to Outlook from Time and Chaos you will not be able to transfer any
new data entered into Time and Chaos back to Outlook with this
utility.
 
The link below addresses the transition procedure...

http://www.isbister.com/chaos32-plugins-outlook.html

Hope this helps you,
resolutionman-ga

great!  thanks