SMALL BUSINESS : BUSINESS TOOLS: Software, Technology and new Products to Help Your Company : Synchronized Scheduling Needs Just a Few Strokes

Some people carry around their schedules and phone books in Day-Timers or other paper binders. Others use electronic organizers such as a Palm Connected Organizer.

I use Microsoft Outlook on my PC to maintain my schedule and contact list, then download the information to my Palm organizer so I can take it with me. But sometimes I forget to put the Palm in my pocket.

Not to worry, though, thanks to Web-based calendar services from Yahoo (https://calendar.yahoo.com), Excite (https://planner.excite.com), When.com and ScheduleOnline. They make it possible to use the Web as your calendar and/or address book. Not only can you get your information any place you have Internet access, but you can share information with co-workers.

Like a lot of other Web-based services, these are free to use. All you have to do is enter some basic information to set up an account. Once you pick a user name and password, you’re ready to start.

Excite and Yahoo’s personal planners handle both your schedule and your contact list, and they allow you to download software that will synchronize your Web-based calendar and contact list with desktop PC software, including Microsoft Outlook, ACT, Lotus Organizer and Microsoft’s Schedule Plus. You can also synchronize with hand-held devices such as 3Com’s Palm, Rex Pro, Motorola StarTac ClipOn Organizer and Motorola L-Series phones.

With synchronization software, you can maintain your data on your PC, your hand-held device or these free Web-based services, and, by running a program, make sure that data you enter in one are automatically transferred to the others.

ScheduleOnline, unlike the other services, is designed for group use. It handles both calendars and contact lists but it doesn’t come with synchronization software. The company plans to offer such software for use with a Palm device.

The person who sets up a ScheduleOnline account gets administrator privileges, which include the ability to add other users. Each new user gets a unique user name and password that he or she can use to sign into the group calendar or a private calendar. The group can also share a contact list, but, because there is no synchronization software, that has to be typed in at the Web browser.

The service also lets you share files such as word processing documents and spreadsheets. Each account gets up to 10 megabytes of free storage. You can also use the Web site to set up a private chat room for your organization.

Excite’s and Yahoo’s services aren’t designed for group use, but I’m using them that way anyway. I’m involved in a project that requires other people to schedule my time. I set up a calendar in both Yahoo and Excite and gave my user name and password to colleagues who are setting up meetings on my behalf. A couple of times a day, I update the sites with information from my Microsoft Outlook file and vice versa. I also synchronize the Web sites to my Palm. Any of us can update or change my schedule from any Web-enabled devices. Yahoo’s calendar also allows you to publish your calendar to a public Web site so, at your discretion, others can know when you’re available. Only you or people with your password, however, can modify your schedule.

Both Excite and Yahoo handle synchronization by allowing the user to download a free copy of Trusync Plus Software from Starfish (https://www.starfish.com). The software not only lets you synchronize between either service and your devices and desktop software, but also lets you synchronize the two services. That means that any data you enter at Yahoo can be synchronized with data you enter at Excite. The advantage is that it’s possible to try out both services. I started with the Yahoo service, which I find a bit faster and a bit more visually pleasing, but I settled on Excite because it offers more features, including the ability to insert long notes into each calendar record. Yahoo allows only up to about 900 characters.

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Lawrence J. Magid can be reached at [email protected]. His Web site is at https://www.larrysworld.com.