Totally Terrific Tech Tools

When it comes to computers and what goes with them, I help clients tame technological needs daily, speaking Mac and PC as well as iPhone, Blackberry, Android and much more, but the available options are virtually endless for electronic tools that make life easier and help obtain optimum performance day-to-day. Here are just a few that I find most helpful:

- Customer Relationship Management Tool... While there are tons of options, like SalesForce, ACT!, Zoho, GoldMine and Kyliptix's KiBS, I find that BatchBook provides the best option for the most different industries, allowing you to create and sync contacts, invoices, eBlasts and communication logs online.

- Electronic Password Keeper... When not using a printed list, I prefer RoboForm for storing my online usernames and associated passwords, but other great options are Password Safe, SplashID and KeePass.

- Online Backup Service... To automatically backup everything on my computer with a service that encrypts my files during backup and storage, I rely on Mozy, but Carbonite offers a good alternative, too.

- Scheduling Application... While I prefer using Doodle, it is also easy to schedule meetings or gatherings with groups of people using TimeBridge, Tungle.me or Meeting Wizard.

- Keyboard Macro Program... Although Macs come with all sorts of shortcuts built in, there are options like ActiveWords (which I prefer) or AutoHotKey that enable PC-users to associate select words with Substitute Text, Launch a Program, Open Document, Navigate to Internet Site, Send Email, Open Folder or Scripting.

- Online File Sharing... To share or sync files between computers, especially when email just can't handle those really big files, I rely on Dropbox, but Live Mesh, Syncplicity, SugarSync and SparkleShare work, too.

- Task Management Solution... While I prefer Outlook since it can combine email and calendar in the same tool as my tasks, other great options include Producteev, Toodledo, Remember the Milk and TadaList.

- "Remember Everything" Tool... To save images, text, audio and video somewhere I can access anywhere (including desktop, smart phone or Internet) through a quick search of keyword, tag or included text, I rely on Evernote, but OneNote offers an alternative that many others utilize, too... Evernote is such a fantastic tool!

Since these are just the tip of the iceberg for available tech tools, I'd love to hear what you like, too... What electronic tools do you use to make life easier?