Communication Tools

[REW Reed]

I didn't see a category for this, so I thought Real Estate Chat would be a good place to talk about the importance of communication tools to your business. Discuss your tips for keeping track of all of the communications in your business.

The reason I wanted to start this thread is because I perform a lot of email communications during the average day. I talk to MLS Boards and clients and it pays to stay organized. I chose Mozilla Thunderbird as my email program of choice because I'm a big supporter of open source software and that it came highly recommended. It is very streamlined, seems to run without as many hitches as an MS product and has a community of plugin developers to create such simple things as a smooth scrolling option for reading messages or as advanced as scheduling extensions.

The folks at Mozilla just released a new version with a great new feature: back and forward buttons. Seems simple enough, but so powerful. For anyone who manages their information through email, being able to go back 3 or 5 or 30 messages to trace what you have been looking at is amazingly helpful.

So, what do YOU use to manage all of the communications you deal with? Which tricks, plugins, and tools could you not live without?

[Bigtoe]

Thunderbird for email. Anything to avoid mshell.

[pcdoc]

You Tbird users might be interested in my favorite addon, XNote (allows you to create a note for each mail. )

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/3093

[REW Reed]

Good idea. I have been thinking about using something like that. I have tags installed, but this would be better.

[RESteve]

I've been using Outlook 2007 to handle my email, but at heart am an open source fan. Upon switching to Tbird, I'm sure there is a way to import all my email messages so I'll probably give that a shot this week.

I also use Top Producer to manage and document my communications with clients. Verizon is my wireless carrier and I use a simple Motorola phone to make calls. I don't accept incoming text at the moment or do the whole blackberry thing, partly because I don't believe in answering the phone while driving or when I'm not ready to hit a homerun (on the right channel).

[Borino]

Long time Tbird user here. The only add-on I would like to see is a better address book with more customizing options.

Thanks for the link, pcdoc...I'll give Xnote a try.

[RESteve]

FYI: Been having issues importing Outlook 2007 (new version) settings and mail into Thunderbird. Currently looking for a solution and will post to my tech blog when discovered.

[REW Reed]

Thanks Steve. I do not envy you in attempting to transition to TBird. I'm sure you will be happy once you work the bugs out.

[Jason Painter]

I have been thinking about testing Vtiger as a Customer Relations Manager. Its open source and seems to be very customizable and powerful. Since its open source maybe this could be an easy solution to get working and tack onto a REW site? Here is the link:
http://www.vtiger.com/
Here is a similar program, not sure if its free or not...
http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/

But hey I still use AOL for my email so don't listen to me! **bows head in shame**