Project managing is difficult enough in the office, but trying to stay on top of things while you're on the road can be nearly impossible. FastTrack Schedule 7.0 and FastTrack Schedule 7.0 for Palm OS, AEC Software's recently upgraded solution to this problem, attempts to offer compatible desktop and PDA project management applications, so you can create and monitor schedules wherever you go.
These upgrades provide significant enhancements including schedule views, customisation and planning tools added to the proven desktop program, as well as several enhancements to the more limited Palm application. The potential for these integrated programs to be a dynamic duo for flexible project scheduling won't be realised without a simplified synchronisation process and until the Palm application envelopes more of the features found in the desktop program, such as resource and critical path schedule views.
Among the FastTrack Schedule 7.0 upgrades are 16 QuickStart templates, a Microsoft Project 2000 Exchange wizard, menus for faster navigation, 15 new project detail fields, and a new Calendar View (not everyone likes to read Gantt charts). A significant addition to the tracking function is a customisable critical path highlighter for linked activities. In the new Resource View you can enter details about a project's people, equipment, and materials resources and format usage graphs. The new QuickRange Palette allows you to view date range subsets within various schedule views.
Other notable desktop enhancements include the Resource Work Calendar for entering schedules for each person or piece of equipment assigned to a project to reflect variables like vacation time and equipment maintenance. The Palm Manager tool allows you to organise schedule data by selecting individual files and identifying the PDA users they are meant for to simplify the HotSync process.
With FastTrack Schedule 7.0 for Palm OS you can create schedules on your PDA and exchange them with the desktop program. The FastTrack Palm program allows users to format schedules with activity hierarchies and dependencies, as well as progress tracking of scheduled, revised, and actual dates. The Palm OS version also adds a function for duplicating schedules to create templates for new schedules, a Link screen for displaying activity dependency data, and support for beaming schedules to other FastTrack users.
When you synchronise schedules between the desktop and Palm programs, activity hierarchies retain their collapsed or expanded format, and multiple PDA users can synchronise with the desktop program. Choice Lists, or pop-up menus, have customised values that are created in the desktop program and display on the PDA screen for faster data entry. More intuitive interfaces are needed for both the screen navigation in FastTrack Schedule 7.0 for Palm OS (less screen tapping and more use of menu buttons and lists) and the file manipulation steps required to synchronise files.
During our testing, the depth of schedule formatting options in the desktop program impressed us. But we were unable to resolve synchronisation problems between the desktop and Palm OS programs, using a Palm IIIc and Windows 98 SE. AEC Software is aware of the problem and is addressing it.
The concept of pairing FastTrack Schedule 7.0 and FastTrack Schedule 7.0 for Palm OS for mobile project management is positive and will mature once the Palm OS program is past its growing pains.
FastTrack Schedule 7.0
Requires: 386/DX or higher processor; 4MB RAM; 30MB hard disk space; CD-ROM drive; Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, or NT 4.0 or higher.
FastTrack Schedule 7.0 for Palm OS
Requires: 386/DX or higher processor; 4MB RAM; 30MB hard drive space; CD-ROM drive; Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, or NT 4.0 or higher; PDA running Palm OS 3.0 or higher with 200KB free memory.
Distributor: Intellitron
Ph: 07 3257 3211; Fax: 07 3257 1009
Price: ERP AU$878.90
Rating: 3 Star
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