Tomorrow Never Dies (Active Desktop)

Elliot Carver: Mr. Jones, are we ready to release our new software?
Jones: Yes, sir. As requested, it's full of bugs, which means people will be forced to upgrade for years.
Elliot Carver: Outstanding.

Get News from Efficy thanks to the Active Desktop technology

Just after logging into Efficy, you get to see the page My Day in Efficy that we also call Active Desktop because it allows us, the software editors, to interact directly with you, Efficy user.

You probably got on this Blog by clicking the link on your Efficy desktop. And you will also get important News from Efficy in real-time, like new available versions, newly published on-line manuals, upcoming training sessions...


More info about My Day in Efficy? help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

The Wizard of Oz (Document Templates)

Cowardly Lion: I'd be brave as a blizzard...
Tin Woodsman: I'd be gentle as a lizard...
Scarecrow: I'd be clever as a gizzard...
Dorothy: If the Wizard is a wizard who will serve.

Learn how the Templates Wizard can help you automate your company letters, contracts etc.

Oh yes, this Wizard will serve!

Imagine: the letters you and your colleagues write all have the same layout, with the latest version of your company logo AND the address of the recipient, the letter's reference number, the related project info etc. automatically appear onto the letter.

That is what Efficy's Document Template Wizard can do for you!

You can:

make templates in Word, in Excel and, last but not least, e-mail templates in Outlook too.

use fields from all items that you can link to a Document, and from the Document itself

launch the Document Template starting from an Efficy Document

launch an E-mail Template using the Instant E-mail feature on any Efficy record

Learn how to automate your offers, faxes, contracts, invoices, invitations and e-mails: help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

¡Atame! (linking and unlinking records)

Ricky (tying up Marina): Si puedes... Si puedes, dejar de pensar un momento en tí mismo... y piensa un poquito en los demás, ¿no crees?

Learn why it is useful to link records to each other.

In a strange way, Ricky is right: tying up, I mean, linking things is being less selfish. Think of your colleagues who might need to find back the info in Efficy: where will they look for it? On the card of the Contact? In the Project? On the Sales Opportunity? In a Document? Link as many records as useful so they (and the later you) would find it easily.

Linking records also makes sure that every piece of information (every task, every meeting, every e-mail) means something, builds up a history, is part of a full context.

Are you meeting a prospect? Link your appointment to his/her Contact card and Company card, link it to the Sales Opportunity, create a Project if relevant, link the Quote or Price Offer that you might send, etc.

In Efficy, you can link almost everything to everything: contacts-companies-projects-actions-documents-emails-products-opportunities-publications-users...

Help on (un)linking records in edit windows: help - aide - hulp

For help on linking items in the lists on the cards, see the chapters "Lists of linked items" for each module.

Good luck taking your data to the higher level!

Rachel

Direct Action (opening attachments without editing the document)

Frank Gannon (after his partner refused his chewing gum): You don't know what you're missing.

Learn how to open files attached to Documents without needing to open the Document window.

Well, I don't know about Frank's gum, but you'd definitely be missing something if you didn't discover this "direct access" feature!

No need to open the Efficy Document window each time you just want to read or print an attachment (without modifying it). Simply click the number of attached files in the list or search window!


The file opens in Read-Only.

Try it out!

Rachel

Italiensk for begyndere

Olympia's Father: That sounds disgusting.

Learn how to filter your Publications on the Language of the Contacts

You have grouped a series of Contacts into a Publication (Marketing Manager) to send them a Newsletter.

Your Contacts may not all speak the same language:

This is how to filter the Contacts linked to a Publication according to their language, so that you can send each of them a Newsletter in the appropriate language.


Now, you can launch a Mailing or Export the data: only the Contacts that match your Filter settings will be taken into account.

Try it out!

Rachel

Profile for Murder (using different login profiles in the Sidebar)

Hanna Carras: What do you want me to do?
Michael Weinberger: Get inside the man's head.

Learn how to log onto Efficy with different profiles (for different roles or databases)

Are you working on the Bloomingdale's database but also have a Central Perk database on your PC? Or do you have a login as the Administrator and another one as a regular User in your company database?

Now you can create several profiles in the Efficy sidebar. This will help you at login, but also e.g. when uploading e-mail into one or the other database.



For more info, see the Efficy Sidebar Manual

Try it out!

Rachel

Spanglish (Efficy in Spanish)

John Clasky: I know. I know.
Cristina: [translating] Yo sé. Yo sé.
John Clasky: Aw shit!
Cristina: [still translating] ¡Ay mierda!

Learn how to log into Efficy Spanish version.

Need to refresh your Spanish so as not to sound to Spanglish for your next holidays? ¿O usted es hispanohablante? Log into Efficy Spanish version!

From the login window:

By changing your Sidebar options:

Result:
¡Disfrute!

About logging in: help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

Domestic Import (Easy Import Wizard)

Marsha (seeing Sophia in an army-fashion outfit): Maybe she has a date...
David: With whom? ...Khadafi?

Learn how you can import contact and company information from an Excel sheet into Efficy.

Do you also have personal or professional contacts that are not yet in Efficy but tucked away somewhere in an Excel sheet?
Now you have no more excuses not to upload them into Efficy and let them participate to the shared experience of total efficiency!
The Easy Import Wizard will guide you through this in 5 steps.

This is what you need:
- an Excel file with contact and/or company data on the first worksheet and with column headers.
- to have inserted this file into Efficy as a Document
- to launch the Wizard from the button Tools - Easy Import Wizard

These are the available choices:
- choose which column goes into which Efficy field
- define what to do with the data: create new Efficy cards, only update existing cards, or both.

This is what happens:
- the data from your Excel sheet are imported into new/updated Efficy cards
- a Publication appears, with two sub-publications containing links to the Inserted records and the Updated records.

More info? help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

L'Auberge Espagnole (Language of Contacts)

Wendy: Xavier's gone to school. Okay?
Xavier's Mother: Ah, oui! Il est à la fac.
Wendy: What?
Xavier's Mother: La fac!
Wendy: LA "FUCK"?
Xavier's Mother: Yes. After fac he can telephone maman.

Learn how to specify the Language of the Contacts, and how to choose a Default Language when creating new Contact cards.

If you are working in a multilingual environment, efficient communication starts with adressing your contacts in the correct language... (I hereby wish to apologize to my non-english readers for this unilingual blog: désolée - mijn excuses - Entschuldigungen - lo siento - îmi pare rau.)

When you edit a Contact card, there is a field Language from which you can choose the contact's mother tongue or the language you communicate with him in, according to how you use your database...


If you cannot find the appropriate language in the list, you can ask your Efficy administrator to add it for you.
You might also input the Title of the Contact in the corresponding language (Mme being short for Mrs in French, and so on...).
If not, you can activate a Widget on the card that shows a flag corresponding to the person's language.

Now, if most contacts that you add to your database speak the same language, there's an Option that specifies a default language for all new contact cards.
In Efficy, go to Tools - Change my Options and adapt the setting:


Get help about
* Editing Contacts: help - aide - hulp
* Widgets and Options: help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

Me Myself I (use fields from 'My Contact' into Templates)

Pamela (holding Terri's baby): I think of having a baby... by myself if I have to.
Terri: I thought you didn't like it?
Pamela: But I could do it! (smelling the baby's diaper) Oh... pooh! (hands the baby over to Terri)

Learn how to insert your own contact information (name, job title, email,...) into Templates.

Efficy Templates allow you to insert fields like Company Name and Address, the Name of the Contact person etc.
But did you know you could also insert information from the User in your Templates? This way, the Name and First Name, Job Title, E-mail address, Phone number etc. of the user who generates the Document or E-mail based on your Template will be automatically inserted.

How do you do this? Simply click the Insert Fields button in the Template, select the table My Contact and insert any field needed.



When using the Template, the Document or E-mail will get the information from the Contact card linked to the current User.

More info about creating Templates: help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (Project Schedule)

Betty: All this for just a map?
Morgan the Goat: Just a map!
[putting his hands around her waist]
Morgan the Goat: Maps, my dear, are the undergarments of a country! They give shape...
[moves his hands up to her breasts]
Morgan the Goat: ... to continents.
[Betty raises her fist, and Morgan runs out of the room]

Learn how to view a project's schedule

Morgan may be right about maps... Similarly, I believe that a good schedule is the "undergarment" of a project!

That's why I was so thrilled when I discovered that you could view the project's "agenda" in just one click:


And there's more: if the project has sub-projects and you ask for the planning view, you get an overall overview!





Try it out!

Rachel

The Wedding Planner (check agendas when planning meetings)

Penny: Oh no, darnit... I just remembered that I promised my friend's brother's godmother that I would help her change her fax cartridge because she's going out of town tomorrow... on an African safari.

Learn how to check your colleagues' schedules when planning a group Meeting.

Internal meetings? I love them, as long as my cute assistant Tag can be there! I plan meetings with my colleagues all the time! Here's how.

First, check the schedule of your colleagues:


Then, look for a free spot:


And add your meeting as usual.

About viewing a colleague's agenda: help - aide - hulp
About the Planning view: help - aide - hulp
About adding a meeting: help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

Secrets & Lies (Sharing information)

Maurice: Secrets and lies! We're all in pain! Why can't we share our pain?

Learn how to share items with other Efficy users.

With Efficy, all information is stored into a central database. Get the most out of it by sharing the useful data.

Also think of sharing e.g. your Templates and your Views with others. Thus, you avoid that everyone creates his own - which is time-consuming and decreases the homogeneity of your external communication.

To share an item in Efficy, you need to edit it and to look for the button Select Users:

Learn how to use the Select Users window: help - aide - hulp

Please mind: Sharing something does not mean that all linked users will have access to that piece of information. So think of checking the item's Securities to make sure everyone will be able to use it as wished.



Find out more about Securities: help - aide - hulp

Find out more about Views: help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

Finding Neverland (advanced search options)

J.M. Barrie: When I think of your mother, I will always remember how happy she looked, sitting there in the parlor watching a play about her family, about her boys that never grew up. She went to Neverland. And you can visit her any time you like if you just go there yourself.

Learn how to use the advanced search options to find that missing piece of information

Sometimes it can be pretty tricky to find the data you need in Efficy - especially in large databases containing so many items!
Happily, the Advanced Search options can help you there. Neverland is just a few clicks away...

Start with a standard search window and click the link Advanced Search in the top right corner.
Example: searching for a sales meeting with Rachel Green and linked to any Contact, in a given period:



Find out all about the advanced search options in the Efficy Resources Center: help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

Out of the Past (view past undone actions)

Whit Sterling: My feelings? About ten years ago, I hid them somewhere and haven't been able to find them.

Learn how not to loose the tasks that you have not marked as done yet.

The My Day in Efficy page and the Task List show you what actions you're supposed to carry out today. But what happens to the tasks that you couldn't do? They stay "stucked" on the day you had planned to do them...

Happily, you can still view these undone actions. There are different ways to keep track of them

Using the Task List


Using the Deadlines to see the actions in My Day in Efficy



Try it out!

Rachel

Contact (link contacts to actions)

Young Ellie: [on HAM Radio] CQ, CQ, this is W9GFO. Is anybody out there?

Learn why it is important to link Contacts to your Actions (meetings, tasks).

Efficy databases are relational. That means that items can be linked to each other. For example, you can link a Contact card to an Action.

When people just start with Efficy, they often add Actions in their Agenda that mention the name of the person they are going to meet in the Subject or Memo. You kind of miss a point if you do so.

This is why it is worth taking those extra 10 seconds linking Contacts:

- if you need to look for the Contact's address, you can click the hyperlink in the Agenda and view his/her card instantly

- you build up a history of actions that you can see on the Contact's card, so that, in 6 months, you'd see who met him or talked to him, when and why.

To learn how to link a Contact to an Action, see help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

Spy Game (get notified of changes to records)

Nathan Muir: If I'm walking into a shit storm I wanna know which way the wind's blowing.

Learn how to follow-up a record by getting notifications when someone changes it.

Eavesdropping is one of my favorite activities... and seriously, it is even useful to know how some things evolve in your company.

In Efficy, there are several ways to follow up a record (e.g. a Task that you have delegated, or a Project that you manage, or an interesting Document...).

There is the "standard" way: notifications are sent for all records that you're linked to - according to your preferences set in Tools - Manage my notifications - My default notifications:


More info here: help - aide - hulp

And then there's the "spy game" way: you can ask to be notified about a specific record, even if you're not linked to it!
Just edit the record, press the button Notifications and check the operations that you wish to be notified upon.


More info here: help - aide - hulp

Try it out!

Rachel

Runaway Bride (click-and-drop to reschedule a meeting)

[Maggie has just left her groom standing at the altar, and has jumped aboard a FedEx truck]
Ellie: Where is she going?
Fisher: I don't know, but she'll be there by 10:30 tomorrow.

Learn how to quickly reschedule an appointment in the Agenda with the click-and-drop feature.

We all need to reschedule things from time to time, don't we? Even I ran away from my wedding... Admittedly, climbing through the bathroom window is less romantic than the FedEx truck or the horse.

So, this is the fastest way to move an appointment: in the Agenda, click the walking person in front of the action - then click on the day and time where it should be rescheduled.



Try it out!

Rachel

Mr and Mrs Smith (Gender or Title?)

John Smith: [after his wife checks his crotch for a weapon] That's all John, sweetheart.

Learn how to use the Title or Gender of Contacts in Templates.

When adding a Contact card, you will see a field Title (where you can choose Mr, Mrs, Dr etc.) but also Gender (Male or Female so far...).

Now, when you make a letter or e-mail template, you can use these fields to automate the greeting (Dear Mrs Smith, or Dear Madam).

Here are a few things to take into consideration:

- If you use the Title, bear in mind that the field often contains just the abreviation (Mrs and not Madam). In Word, you can add a condition to display the long version using the Insert Function button:


- If you use the Gender, you cannot use it as such in a letter (because the field contains M for male or F for female. You should then put a condition on the field in Word using the Insert Function button.


- Whatever you choose, make sure to encourage all Efficy users to input the used fields correctly and systematically!

Try it out!

Rachel