Need help with a contact database for my Mac

November 4, 2012 6:18 PM

Act! database vs. Daylite? I used Act forever & loved the fact i could keep notes per company & then look up companies by Co. name, first name, last name, city, state, or other custom tag i classified them as. I used ACT when i had my PC.... but for the past 3 years i've been on a Macbook Pro and only using Daylite... which i hate. I can't look up by anything other than Company name or contact name.... I need a new database contact program that is similar to ACT in the regards of how I can look up each company & allowing me under notes (or something) to keep track of my conversations. I'd also like it to sync up with my iphone 5.

In addition, i hope the new software i go with has support, because i need to import my existing Daylite datebase into the new one....

I'm okay with computers, but i'm no IT guy.

Preferably i'd rather not have it web-based, because i really don't want anyone else accessing my database & don't wanna be tied to an internet connection either.


I know a possibility is run parallels or something on the Mac & simply use ACT in the PC environment.... i'd prefer not doing that... as i didn't buy a Mac to emulate a PC.

All suggestions are welcomed & all questions will be promptly answered!

posted by foodybat to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

I'm not super familiar with it, but have you looked at Bento? It's a Mac-native database application made by the FileMaker people, but it's not as powerful as FileMaker so it's also more user-friendly. You could create your own database exactly how you want it to be and use it like that. (I'm not quite clear on what you're describing for looking up companies—shares notes between entries?—so I'm not sure if that is supported in Bento.) There is also an iOS app that can sync with the desktop app.
posted by jroybal at 7:19 PM on November 4, 2012

Also, a very similar question was asked in February.
posted by jroybal at 7:22 PM on November 4, 2012

And now I see that was you asking that question. Sorry.
posted by jroybal at 7:25 PM on November 4, 2012

Response by poster: To clarify, I'm not talking about sharing notes between entries..... All I want to do is be able to look up companies by company name, city, state, first name, last name, and any custom tags I specify.
posted by foodybat at 7:30 PM on November 4, 2012

Foodybat, I think you might want to look more carefully into Daylite's features. Just running a quick Google search:

Daylite - Search for companies by state/city
Daylite - Search through custom fields
posted by shivohum at 7:46 PM on November 4, 2012

You might want to look at programs and services that call themselves CRMs, Customer Relations Managers, or Customer Relations Management software. They're all over the map in terms of focus; some are for sales, some are for tech support, but nearly all of them are DBs full of companies full of contacts. I use salesforce which on the one hand does everything you say and has pretty good reporting system, and also would probably be nuclear overkill for anyone whose database could be comfortably run from a single workstation or server. (And it does tie you to an internet connection, but you don't really need to worry about other people seeing your data-- these companies could die from an act of indiscretion.) SF's mobile support is poor, though, except that you can run it in a mobile browser without wanting to kill yourself.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:46 AM on November 5, 2012

Response by poster: Sunburnt, thanks for your info.... but it cannot be web-based... i don't wanna be tied to an internet connection.... as many times i travel to places that doesn't have any internet.


It sounds as if Salesforce would work for me... but only if it wasn't web-based.
posted by foodybat at 7:20 AM on November 5, 2012

I am a Salesforce.com Admin and I totally endorse the product.

It is Web-Based, which is a shame.

You can work on it off-line and then have it synch up when you get to an Internet connection, via Outlook.

Would that work for you?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:14 AM on November 5, 2012

Response by poster: probably... please contact me at [e-mail]..... so we can discuss.
posted by foodybat at 10:15 AM on November 7, 2012