How to Manage Contact Information

If you have a lot of business or social contacts that you want to organize, it can be inconvenient to only access their information by signing into your e-mail account. Contact organization applications can keep both basic and detailed information in an easily accessible system. You can organize not just names, phone numbers and addresses, but also spouse's names, birthdays, anniversaries and phone logs. You can filter your contacts by plugging information into one of the fields. Google Contacts Manager, for example, can be used by people who don't have a Google Mail (Gmail) account.

• 1

  Import contact information to your contact manager application from your e-mail accounts. This is helpful if you have more than one e-mail account. Your contact manager application may be Microsoft Outlook or another contacts program that you have on your computer, such as the Easy Contacts Manager from Tucows.com.

• 2

  Set the merge settings to not allow duplicate information to be imported. This means when you import a contact list from another platform, such as your cell phone or e-mail account, duplicate information won't be added into your contact manager. This will keep it organized.

• 3

  Create groups of contacts. You can group people by friends, family, co-workers or any way that makes the most sense for your work or personal life. You can also send out group e-mails to all members of a contact group.

• 4

  Sync your cell phone or PDA with your contact manager, so that your contact information matches everywhere you'll need it. Most PDAs, like BlackBerries, come with desktop software, which you can use to set up your contact information. When you plug your cell phone into your computer, a box should automatically pop up asking if you'd like to merge your contact information.