My pet peeve regarding computer software is having to re-enter the same data again, and again, once I have already entered it, twice, thrice, or more! I'd rather set up my computer systems to reference data entered in various applications so that once I have entered the data, every other application that needs that data has access to it, and I do not have to re-enter the same data I have already entered. > > Frank Emerson, RPT > I'd say that pretty much sums it up for me too. I don't usually enter all the customer info into Quickbooks, because there's no real need for that in there. But if there was a convenient way to port that info into and out of Quickbooks into my Palm Pilot (Treo), I would like to know about it. The problem comes when importing and exporting from different programs. Each "field" has a different title. So you have to specify where to put the information when syncing the two programs together. Companionlink, which Time and Chaos uses to import and export, makes this easier, and in fact, T&C relies upon this third-party software to do this. There is a need for a kind of "plug-n-play" type of information handling. Just like in the early days of computers, you had to do a lot of configuring the hardware before the computer would be able to use your new card or peripheral device. When plug-n-play came along, it was all done automatically. Sure would be nice to have that with the customer information. Even if you have a database with the customer information readily available, you still have to export/import it into your program to utilize it. What happens if you need to update the customer info? Then, you would have to modify the "master" customer file (in Excel maybe?), then export/import it, and delete the old file. Repeat for each program you are running. Such a hassle! Almost better to re-enter it manually! It almost seems that unless you have an all-in-one program, you are not going to get to nirvana. So, here we are, as technicians, looking for the Holy Grail of technician software. We know what we want, so somebody writes a program that we like, and later it fades into the sunset. One software developer can't possibly write a bulletproof program and spend the rest of his life supporting it, rewriting it when necessary, and all that, whereas the big guyz can hire dozens of whiz-kids to write a more powerful program to be all things to all people. Somehow, it doesn't seem hopeful we're going to find the "best way". PLEASE tell me I'm wrong! In the meantime, I'm all ears to anyone who can make this happen with an off the shelf program that is well supported for the long haul. (Please note: I'm not dissing PTBiz or any other specialty software out there. It's just that there's a history of disappointments from them). There is actually a kind of "universal" system, called vcard, which Outlook uses, as well as Palm. My online calendar sends vcard (contact) and vcal (calendar) files to me by email when someone signs up for an appointment. These are used to transfer the info into my Palm Treo and desktop computer Palm software. Even so, vcard files need occasional updating, so it doesn't help solve the problem (see above). Am I missing something? Oh, yeah. I'm CHEAP! I'm not willing to spend a fortune getting what I want/need. I know there are very good programs out there that are in the thousand dollar range. I'm not going there anytime soon. Paul McCloud San Diego
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