Ever since I got my first smartphone, it was an iPhone 3, I’ve been incredibly impressed with the functionality of the devices. They keep getting faster, have better cameras, and have better screens. I used to remark with a chuckle that the only thing those earlier iPhones really didn’t do well was the actual “phone” part. However, that wasn’t entirely true. One of the other things it really didn’t do well was put my contacts into an easy-to-navigate list with an intuitive interface.
With a long list of names, displaying duplicates if my home computer and my office Exchange had the same name, I’ve never found the stock address book to be a very effective way to manage my contacts. Particularly as an attorney, I was always a bit nervous about having the names of my clients mixed right in with my family. What I needed was a contact management app that had a truly intelligent design, one that allowed for grouping of contacts in ways beyond those contemplated by the original designer of the Rolodex.
What I’ve found is pretty cool. Here are 7 Outstanding Contact Management Apps for Lawyers:
1) Tacts: Smart Contact Manager
Developer: TernTek
Platform: iOS
Price:$1.99
Tacts is an intelligent contact management app with an incredibly user-friendly interface and impressive functionality. As soon as you import your contacts from your iOS device, Tacts will begin organizing your contacts into Smart Groups based on various criteria, such as hometown.
Tacts also comes equipped with a Groups Management feature that allows you to send group emails and text messages and a Top Contacts section based on call history and other interactions. You can even keep your contacts separated by what address book they came from, such as Exchange or Gmail, including being able to determine which address book each contact came from. A useful feature when you’re in need of keeping your client list separate from your family list.
2) Brewster Address Book
Developer: Brewster, Inc.
Platform: Android & iOS
Price: Free
As far as contact management apps go, Brewster Address Book has decided that it’s going to specialize in one important area: finding the information you need no matter which address book you keep it in. Brewster hooks directly into your many address books and provides you one clear list.
One downside to Brewster is that it requires you to connect to more than one source of contacts. Shouldn’t be hard, particularly because Brewster connects to your Facebook account, your Twitter account, your Android or iOS contacts, your LinkedIn, your Foresquare, and even your Gmail. Brewster will then auto-generate lists based on region, and even based on people you may be losing touch with.
One warning: Brewster offers a very unique search function, which actually encourages exploring your contacts list. It can get addicting, and it’s amazing how quickly you’ll get sucked in!
3) FastContacts
Developer: Spiceloop
Platform: iOS
Price: Free
Ever had a situation where you KNOW that you have someone’s contact information in one of your address book, but you just can’t remember the person’s name? What about their business? Well, Fast Contacts will actually allow you to run a search in the Notes field of your address book so you can find information you forgot you’d even recorded.
Visiting another city? One click and you can see a list of everyone in your address book nearby, and decide then and there who you want to see (or avoid)! FastContact even allows you to export your contact details via SMS or email, just like an Outlook VCard.
4) DW Contacts & Phone Dialer
Developer: DWP
Platform: Android
Price: Free/$9.80
This is your all-in-one contact management app, phone management a[[, and stock dialer for your Android device, focused on improving your business’s efficiency. By combining contact management functionality with the stock dialer, DW Contacts will display all the available information on each one of your contacts, including address, phone number, email, and statistical information on recent calls and text messages.
Additional features include a note-taking function to record information from your calls, and a whole bunch of flexible configurations to allow you to adapt the app to your preferences. But most importantly, you’re able to actively block calls on free definable date and time zones.
5) Simpler – Smart Contacts Manager
Developer: Yoni Tserruya
Platform: iOS
Price: Free/$2.99
Simpler Smart Contacts Manager bills itself as a contact management app that allows for “fast & fun” organization of your contacts list. Unlike many of the other apps on this list, Simpler avoids making grand promises about organizing your contacts based on use. Instead, Smarter focuses on keeping your contacts list organized based on available information.
Several different tools for combining entries for the same person into one are available. You can combine people with the same phone number, the same email, and even people with similar names (because yes, it’s still quite possible that you’ve misspelled someone’s name at least once). You’re able to create your own groups, and Simpler provides an excellent system for backing up your contacts list. Another VERY nice feature, in my opinion, is being able to sort your lists not just by the information that you have, but by the information that you don’t!
Sort your lists to determine whose phone number or email address you don’t have, which can be phenomenally helpful when updating your list. Let’s be honest, how many times have you insisted that you had a person’s phone number or email somewhere, only to be unable to locate it.
6) Contacts+
Developer: Contacts Plus Team
Platform: Android & iOS
Price: Free
Contacts+ is a contact management app for both Android and iOS, and has put a premium on making sure they have the most aesthetically pleasing app on the market. They succeed. Visualize all your contacts (which will look nice, unless you have absolutely nothing but ugly friends and family… if that’s the case, there’s really nothing we can do!) in one place, and that’s just the beginning.
Sort your contacts by name or by the frequency you interact with them. Quick action buttons allow you to press and hold any contact to call, text, email or video chat directly from the app. You can also group your contacts manually, or let Contacts+ group your contacts based on your pattern of use. Contacts+ will even integrate your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn contacts into your contact list.
7) EasilyDo
Developer: EasilyDo, Inc.
Platform: Android & iOS
Price: Free
My last entry is an app that isn’t entirely like the others. EasilyDo is a personal assistant app, rather than a contact management app, per se. As a productivity app, EasilyDo promises to save you time by automating a wide variety of tasks, across a wide variety of platforms, and it lives up to its billing. The app connects directly to your email account, your address book, your calendar, and a long list of other services (including Facebook, LinkedIn, Evernote, and Gmail).
Why is this app in my Advanced Contact Management Apps list? Because of this one cool feature: One of the tasks you are able to automate includes creating a new address book entry for people when they contact you through any of your connected services. Get a new email from a business contact, EasilyDo will prompt you with the option to add that person to your contacts list (if they’re not already there). Same thing goes for a Facebook message or a LinkedIn invite. Anyone who has dealt with Outlook’s ability to remember email addresses for some people and not others, while allowing for no real option to automate their inclusion in your contacts list, will understand why I find this particular feature so important.
Were there any great contact management apps that I missed? Leave a comment about your experiences, good or bad, with contact management apps!