Commence 2000 is an information management system that can work as a very effective PIM in single-user form but also handles company-wide information resources when networked. Its underlying relational database structure gives it great flexibility for those customising their own business information systems, but it's equally useful when applied to everyday contact, appointment and task information.
On this disk is the stand-alone version. Commence is yet more powerful run over a network - see our Upgrade Offer to save £191 when you purchase it.
Rod Lawton continues his tutorial from the magazine, and walks you through setting up contacts and link them to appointments and to-dos. If you are a PalmPilot user, be sure to see the PalmPilot Link section.
Linking Contacts to Appointments
. I .
You can create a new item in any of the windows by right-clicking and choosing 'Add item' from the shortcut menu. Or you can just select the appropriate window and click the 'Add item' button on the toolbar. Commence windows are custom views of your data, and the same information will appear, and be used in, many different places. You can create new contacts within other dialogs, too, as the need arises - we'll see how to do this shortly.
. II .
You add contact information via this tabbed window. You can enter as much or as little information as you need, and certain items (like the contact's name) will appear under several of the tabs. The 'Company' tab includes information like annual turnover and the type of industry it belongs to, while the 'Journal' tab lists any meetings, telephone conversations and correspondence you've had with that company. You can also track 'incidents' and collaboration on specific projects.
. III .
Now that we've entered a new contact we can set up a meeting. You can do this by clicking the 'Schedule Meeting' button on the toolbar, but we've clicked the 'Calendar' button on the View Bar to display our calendar first. Choose day, week or month views via the pop-up menu to the top left of the window, and add a calendar item by double-clicking on a day. Calendar items can be meetings, phone calls, to-dos and more - they're colour-coded and explained in the optional 'Legend' window, bottom.
. IV .
If you're setting up a meeting, the date will already be entered in the dialog automatically since you double-clicked on the right day in the first place. If you want to change it, though, double-click on the date field - this pops up a calendar, enabling you to navigate to another date. Next, double-click on the 'Start Time' and 'End Time' fields, which displays the 'Select Time' dialog. Choose hours from the left-hand dial, minutes from the right.
. V .
We haven't finished yet, though. We want to link this appointment to the contact we've just created - click the 'link' button to the right of the 'Contact' field. This displays a list of all current contacts, and double-clicking any of them adds a checkmark. Click the 'Save' button at the top of the list, and these contacts will be linked to the new appointment. Each time you see the 'link' button next to a field, you'll see an 'add' button too. Use this to create a new contact on the spot, rather than having to go back to the contacts window.
. VI .
By clicking the 'To-Dos' button in the View Bar, we can browse all our current jobs and add a new one - to prepare for our new meeting. You can also do this in 'Calendar' view, by double-clicking on a day and choosing 'To Do' in the 'Calendar Type' field. Now try clicking the 'Activities' button, and you'll see how Commence links all this data. The 'Activities' window lists all upcoming tasks and events, categorising them by type. All of the windows we've looked at can be customised, both in terms of appearance and the fields included and how they're laid out.
- Rod Lawton
Commence PalmPilot Link
The Commence PalmPilot Link provides two-way information synchronization between a Commence database and a 3Com PalmPilot. The synchronization process copies information added or modified in the Commence database and stores it in the PalmPilot. It also copies information from the PalmPilot and adds or modifies the items in the Commence database.
You will need Commence 2000 installed on your PC before installing the link. Then simply click the button in the installation section below.
Product Details
Contact: Now Distribution
Phone: +44 (0) 181 763 0700
Fax: +44 (0) 181 763 0707
Price: As sold for £388 (including VAT). Take advantage of our Upgrade Offer to save up to £191 when you purchase additional client licenses or the full server version.
Limitations: none.
Minimum System Requirements: Windows 95/98/NT4, Pentium processor, 16Mb RAM (more recommended), 20Mb hard disk space. Windows 95 note: requires IE4 or higher installed.
Uninstall: Yes - Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
Installation
Important Notes: During testing this program, the PC Plus team found it relies on libraries not present in a completely fresh Windows 95 installation. These files will be on your system if you have installed Internet Explorer 4 or higher, or are running Windows 98.
The documentation accompanying the installation is in PDF format - install Acrobat Reader to view them.
Click the icon to the left to install Commence 2000.
