3. Anagram

Anagram is a tool that is similar in concept to ContactCopy - it is used to capture text and to get it into Outlook. We got a slightly different result using the same test example from the Tom’s Guide/Best of Media contact page with which we evaluated ContactCopy. First off, Anagram doesn’t pull up its own dialogue box like contact copy but rather starts up Outlook and shows the Outlook contact card immediately. Notice in the screenshot below that it got the same information as contact card and then some. It also includes the source of the data, which is something that contact card did not offer.

Additionally, it identified "sales" by name, while contactCopy didn’t know what to do with "sales." Anagram, like ContactCopy, also includes a mapping feature. But with Anagram, the mapping feature uses Google Maps as opposed to Microsoft’s Windows Live service. To handle multiple contacts from one selection, Anagram did almost as poorly as ContactCopy - though it easily handled European addresses on a one-off basis reasonably well.

Beyond just being able to copy contact information, Anagram offers the promise of being able to capture other contextual information, such as date information for a calendar entry. During our limited tests of the text capture for Outlook calendar input, we found some minor issues. We once again used the Best of Media Website as an example from a recent press release (Communiqués de presse - Bestofmedia Group). We copied the following information: "Naissance du premier groupe média Internet français 16.04.07." Anagram couldn’t figure out the date properly and provided a calendar date of December 1, 2007 somehow.