Computer Shopper
April 1998
By Bruce Brown

SOFTWARE: On-Schedule 97

Odyssey Computing’s new version of Pocket On-Schedule 2.0 for Windows CE adds contact history tracking, fax communications, function views, and other enhancements to an already strong contact and personal information management tool. It isn’t required that you run the program on a windows CE 2.0 HPC (CE 1.0 devices are fine), but to get the most from this powerful contact management program you’ll want the extra processing power, greater memory, and better display found on CE 2.0 devices.

The new features of Pocket On-Schedule 2.0 build off the program’s contact-based phone book., appointment schedule, and to-do list. You can set up and maintain multiple phone books and view your contact history, which includes automatic logging of calls, e-mails, and faxes. The program supports direct dialing using touch-tone telephones, e-mail broadcasting, and fax transmission using bsquare development’s bFAX. On-Schedule is voice-enabled to work with Advanced Recognition Technologies’ smArt- contact voice-command software and can display contact locations via MapQuest.

The program’s calendar views now include monthly views as well as six- or eight- month views, depending on the size of the display. The larger date-range views are a convenient way to get an overview of a time period, thought the daily and weekly views are still the best bet for seeing details about appointments and tasks. When using the month view, you can tap on a single day, and a zoomed window for just that day pops up, combining the longer period overview with single-day detail.

The new Journal view lists all appointments, tasks, and activities for contacts in a given phone book. Another really helpful new feature is Global Search, which looks in all of On-Schedule for a match to your criteria.

Though you can integrate Pocket On-Schedule 2.0 with Odyssey’s desktop version of On-Schedule, you can take advantage of a broader choice of desktop PIMs as well. Two programs, Microsoft Schedule+ and Outlook, synchronize directly with the program, and other leading desktop contact managers can exchange data via third-party conduits.

In tests using a Windows CE 2.0-equipped preproduction NEG MobilePro 700 with 8MB of RAM, On-Schedule ran at a sprightly rate, taking full advantage of the NEC’s wide format screen. Several of the program’s new views, particularly the calendar views, are best appreciated with a 640 x 240 resolution display. While On-Schedule’s ability to integrate and synchronize with other contact managers is laudable, this Windows CE program is powerful and complete enough to stand on its own.