• PC World
• » Software
• » Browsers & Add-Ons

A fat address book is a business person's best friend --as long as the information inside is current. But keeping track of hard-won contacts can be a nightmare. Help may be at hand, however. Several new Web-based services promise to keep your contacts current, no matter where you--or your contacts--stray.

We tried out three services: ActiveNames, Scout, and Peoplestreet. Each uses a small, downloadable applet; pricing and options vary. In our tests, all three worked fairly well. But they share one big problem: Your contacts must subscribe to your service before it becomes truly useful.

E-Mail Only

The ActiveNames service alerts you when you send e-mail to an outdated address and notifies your contacts when they send e-mail to your old address. It protects your privacy by letting you decide whether to automatically pass on your new address to all contacts, or to go through your address book and decide which contacts should get the update.

The 150KB download works with most major e-mail clients, including AOL, Microsoft Outlook (97, 98, 2000, and Express), Eudora, Netscape, NeoPlanet, Pegasus Mail, and all the major Web-based mail services. It's free for individuals; a more robust version for businesses charges $1 for every contact update the service supplies.

While ActiveNames updates e-mail addresses only, Scout updates all of a contact's information. The Scout plug-in we tested (version 1.04) is compatible only with Outlook 98 and 2000, but users who prefer other contact managers can still use the service's Web-based database. For example, if you enter your new address on the Web site, an "auto-change-of-address" feature alerts registered colleagues.

If you do have the Outlook plug-in, you need only type in the e-mail addresses of new contacts, and Scout will check to see if they are registered; if so, Scout will complete the Outlook contact entry form with information from the server.

Users invite contacts who haven't registered to do so. If they accept, Scout keeps their information current by updating the address book on a regular schedule. Scout records any changes it makes, along with the time and date, in the notes field of Outlook 98's or 2000's contact window.

However, the publisher, Ants.com, says the application may not integrate fully with other address book plug-ins, and that users who also run Microsoft Small Business Manager have run into problems. And Scout's uninstall feature isn't as thorough as it could be, sometimes leaving behind a blank tab in Outlook where the Scout button had been, the company says.

Scout is a freebie for now, but eventually users will have to either pay a one-time charge of $30 or agree to receive targeted marketing e-mail. An enterprise version set for release this summer will charge organizations based on the number of updates it makes. Support for Lotus Notes 5, Outlook Express, and the Palm OS is due by midyear.

Peoplestreet is a Web-based contact manager that updates information through the exchange of LiveCards--electronic business cards you create online. When a registered user sends a LiveCard to someone who is not registered, Peoplestreet invites that person to sign up and download Peoplestreet's software in order to collect the LiveCard, which will automatically update the contact's entry in Outlook 2000.

Members can receive e-mail reports showing who has their LiveCard and what details have been updated. You can create an unlimited number of LiveCards and specify a list of subscribers for each--handy if you don't want to give your personal info to your business contacts, for example.

Support for Lotus Notes 5 and Outlook 98 is planned for this summer. The service is free for individuals; Peoplestreet charges for updating corporate directories.

PDA Versions Coming

The next generation of this kind of software will work with mobile phones or PDAs. But for now, if you're concerned only with staying current in the e-mail world, ActiveNames is a fairly hassle-free way of doing so.

Scout and Peoplestreet handle all contact info, which is more useful for professionals. If you can get your contacts to play along--that's a mighty big if--these services could prove helpful in keeping your address book current.

• See more like this:
• address book,
• contact list,
• email,
• e-mail,
• activenames,
• scout,
• peoplestreet,
• livecards,
• outlook,
• eudora,
• netscape,
• neoplanet,
• pegasus,
• web-based email