Almost everyone I know who uses a Pocket PC uses it for Personal Information Management (PIM).  Regardless of whether they primarily play games, edit documents, or even do their taxes, the one thing virtually every user has in common is their PIM.  Of course, there are two problems with PIM data on the Pocket PC.  First, all of the PIM data is stored in the main memory which can take up quite a bit of space.  Second, because it is constantly changing, by adding appointments, deleting tasks, etc…it is constantly growing.  This can leave quite a bit of leftover debris in your main memory, which does nothing but clutter your device and slow down everything.

In order to clean up the debris, you can do a hard reset and wipe your data clean.  While this blunt instrument method works, it can certainly cause its own headaches and is really unnecessary if you have the proper tools.  Like a carpenter, before you start any job, you must ensure that you have the proper tools, organized in a toolbox.  This enables you to forego the blunt instrument approach in favor of a surgical strike, which will remove the garbage, while leaving the necessary information unscathed.  This is the concept behind WebIS Toolbox, which offers an easy to use interface, based upon descriptive full color icons and wizards.  It provides you with all of the tools you need to clean up all of this unnecessary debris and optimize your device.

Installation and Registration: Like all WebIS programs, installation follows the standard procedure of downloading the desktop installer and loading the program onto your device via ActiveSync.  Once loaded, you can use a limited function trial for up to 15 days.  After that, you will have to register it in order to keep your PIM information neat and organized on your device.  Additionally, none of the changes you make will be saved until you register the program.

Correct Appointments: The appointment correction feature is the first and most important tool in your new toolbox.  This is the screwdriver which enables you to fine tune your appointments by ensuring that they travel with you.  Essentially, this critical tool modifies the start times of your appointments each time you travel to a different time zone.  This ensures you appointments are always consistent with local time…anywhere in the world.

So, for example, if you make an appointment in California and then travel to Washington, DC, when you switch your Pocket PC from Western to Eastern Standard Time, your appointments will all be off by three hours.  Simply run WebIS Toolbox, however, and all of your appointments will be adjusted to local time.  This will save you from both the time of manually changing all of your appointments and the embarrassment of being three hours late for those appointments you miss.  

Search and Update PIM Records: This basic search and replace tool should be a staple in any digital toolbox.  I have often wished such a tool was included with my PIM programs, such as WebIS’ flagship Pocket Informant.  Frequently, I might have a group of semi-related tasks or appointments which need to be changed individually.  This tool allows you to edit them as a group by searching all of your contacts, tasks or appointments for a certain word or phrase and replacing it.

Perform Maintenance: Like an improperly sized wrench, this was probably the most likely tool to sink to the bottom of the toolbox without being missed.  Why?  Quite simply, while you frequently need a wrench to make many adjustments, the wrong sized wrench will be little help and may actually do more harm than good on your job. 

The perform maintenance feature allows you to reset the default information displayed for your contacts.  This is a valuable feature, which is simply applied too globally.  Rather than allowing you to modify the information displayed only for specified contacts, groups of contacts, or even categories, this program will automatically scan all of your contacts and make the appropriate changes to each.  Typically, however, I do not want the same information displayed for all of my contacts.  My work contacts, for example, might need to have their office phone number as a default; while my friends might need a home number or even an email address first.  Making global changes to all of your contacts like this is not particularly helpful to me.  It would be better if WebIS Toolbox offered a more adjustable wrench, which could be sized to meet your needs.  This would allow you to specify which contacts would be affected by only changing a particular category or individually selecting the contacts to be changed.

Backup PIM Records: If I had to choose only one of the tools from this valuable toolbox to install on my device, it would have to be the backup and restore feature.  This tool allows you to backup your tasks, appointments, contacts, even your registry information and restore them after a hard reset or other corruption of your data.  Any tool which can turn a near catastrophic event like this into little more than a minor inconvenience will always be among the first tools I use on any job.

Remove Duplicate Records: One of the most common problems faced by many PIM programs is duplication.  Sometimes this may be the result of your own user error — typing the same information twice.  Other times it can be an ActiveSync problem, resulting in duplication of contacts, tasks or appointments.  Whatever the reason, WebIS Toolbox offers a precision cutting tool to slice off any unwanted duplicate entries. 

This semi-intelligent tool can scan through any designated field in your tasks, contacts, or appointments.  When it finds a duplicate entry, you can delete the top entry, delete the bottom entry, merge the entries together, or skip to the next duplicate.  Anyone who syncs PIM data via ActiveSync on a regular basis will understand the importance of this precision cutting tool.

Contact Display Name Fix: I don’t know about you, but I am notorious for entering my contact information with no particular rhyme or reason.  Sometimes they may go last name first, others will go last name at the end, with the company name first.  I am sure, at the time I entered the contact information, there was a reason for doing so, but that reason is long gone.  Now, it is just a jumble of confusion.  This is where the Contact Display Name Fix can help.  Just tell it how you want your contacts to be displayed (last, first; first last; company name).  Like every handyman’s best friend, duct tape, the Contact Display Name Fix Tool will ensure that everything fits together in its correct place.

Auto Categorize Records: In my mind, the Auto Categorize tool is the flipside to the Contact Display Name Fix.  Essentially, it is yet another use for the versatile duct tape.  Simply add a search term and enter the name of one of your categories.  This tool will search for any entries matching the search term and assign them to the selected category.  Nice and easy.

Interface: After spending all of this time talking about the tools in this valuable program, I would be remiss if I did not spend a few moments talking about the toolbox itself…the container in which the tools are all stored.

The main screen consists of a single screen, listing the tools by name and assigning each a unique icon.  This clean and simple interface makes it extremely easy to determine which tool you need to use, and load it in seconds. 

Once you have selected your tool, each function screen includes a description of the task to be completed, along with a single screen wizard, pull down menus, or checkboxes.  This clean and simple design makes WebIS Toolbox extremely easy to use.

Conclusion: The tools included in the WebIS Toolbox are absolutely essential if you are using a PIM, particularly if you sync information via ActiveSync.   They are so essential, in fact, that as I reviewed each tool, I found myself wondering why they were not simply included in WebIS’ flagship program, Pocket Informant.  As many of you know, Pocket Informant is already one of the leading PIM programs available for the Pocket PC.  Inclusion of these tools (or bundling WebIS Toolbox with Pocket Information) would seem to be a natural, almost inevitable conclusion.  Let’s face it, WebIS Toolbox is essential only if you use Pocket Informant (or another PIM), and useless if you do not use a PIM program at all.  Ultimately, however, like any good carpenter, you will realize that you cannot construct your house of data without the appropriate tools in your toolbox…The WebIS Toolbox.

Vital Statistics:

Name: WebIS Toolbox

Version: 3.12 

Platform: WM 2003 SE 

Also Available:  WM5

Developer: WebIS

Price:          $12.95

Available From:  WebIS

                           JAMM Store

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Related posts:

1. WebIS Monthly Contest (at JAMM)
2. Contest: WebIS Monthly Giveaway!
3. Popular iPhone Developer, Storm8, Sued For Stealing Users’ Personal Information
4. Tons of Good News and Updates Coming From WebIS
5. Monthly WebIS Contest