Time Is Right to Put PackRat to Work

Times have changed and so has PackRat. This aptly named personal information management software was severely handicapped when it first appeared several years ago as one of the first programs for Windows.

The trouble was most other programs didn’t use Windows in those days. Every time the phone rang and you wanted to take notes in PackRat or check your schedule or add someone to your phone list, it took too long to get out of whatever program you were running and into Windows and PackRat to do it.

Nowadays, increasing numbers of people with IBM and compatible computers are working in Windows all the time and access to PackRat is just a couple of clicks of the mouse button away.

Published by Polaris Software in San Diego, (800) PACKRAT, PackRat 4.0, $395, holds various kinds of lists. You can store names, addresses and telephone numbers, an appointment schedule and a list of tasks to be done.

You can also keep track of checking and expense accounts, manage a timeline for project tasks, keep index cards on any subject and set up alarms to alert you when something needs to be done.

But so can a lot of other personal information management programs.

Several factors set PackRat apart, however. It is tightly integrated with the Windows environment. You can launch other Windows programs from PackRat and return to the PackRat screen when finished.

For the time being, PackRat 4.0 includes an extra feature called the integration library that allows seamless access to PackRat’s lists from AmiPro, Word for Windows and WordPerfect for Windows. (Existing owners can buy the library from Polaris for $9.95.)

PackRat is extremely flexible. You can add as many telephone numbers to an individual’s phone book listing as necessary, and you can identify them by whatever label you wish. The program proposes just three choices--business, home and fax--but you can substitute whatever you want, like “beeper” or “cellular.”

Scheduling appointments is just as flexible. If you want to list a series of events at one-minute intervals, you can. Or you can schedule an event lasting several days.

Phone call management is probably the most powerful feature. If you have a modem, PackRat will place phone calls for you and automatically record how long the call lasted. If you bill for your time, you can assign the rate to each person on your list and the program will keep track of how much they owe.

Notes can be taken while you talk. When the conversation ends, you can click on a button on the screen to stop the time clock and then continue your note-taking until you finish.

PackRat 4.0 isn’t perfect, however. It is far too difficult to import an existing telephone list from another program into PackRat, which is a major impediment to switching from another phone management program.

PackRat will not accept dBase-format lists, which is a nearly universal standard for data exchange, nor will it accept most other standards. Unless you are well-versed in the complexities of data exchange between programs, expect trouble loading a phone list from another program into PackRat.