The answer is simple.

Use CompanionLink. Syncing is as easy as downloading DejaOffice on your Droid, installing CompanionLink on your computer, and then configuring your preferred sync method. We’ll walk you through each step, and we’ve got free support if you need a hand.

So what are you waiting for? Unleash the full potential of your new Droid Razr Maxx with CompanionLink and DejaOffice. Download your free trial today!

“If you have used any business management software or CRM software you understand that duplicate records are a way of life. Salesforce duplicates are common in all size companies and contributing factor to low user adoption of Salesforce. Although it is a best practice to search before creating a record, duplicates still happen. Salesforce understands this and has tools built in to help you merge duplicate leads, accounts, and contacts.

Removing Salesforce duplicate records becomes even more important when you are syncing your data to other systems using CompanionLink, since you do not want to sync any duplicates into your other tools such as Microsoft Outlook.

Your sales leads in Salesforce probably came from multiple sources like purchased lists from sales lead generation companies, campaigns, trade shows, and manually entered. The Salesforce Lead Import Wizard does a good job of finding duplicates before they are mass uploaded but what do you do when they are already in the CRM system?

When you first go to work a new sales lead in Salesforce, the first thing you should do is click the “Find Duplicates” button. This searches the CRM system for matching leads, contacts, accounts, and opportunities based on the lead full name, last name, company, phone number, email, or email domain. You have the option to include or exclude any of the search criteria. By doing this duplicate search first, you may find that the new sales lead is actually a contact with a slightly different spelling in your Salesforce CRM system. Or, your co-worker may have been at the same trade show and entered the same lead.

If a contact matches the lead exactly, then depending on your sales lead process, you should either delete the lead or convert it into the existing contact and account. If you find a duplicate lead, then you can use the “Merge Leads” button. You are presented with a screen that gives you the option to pick any differing data and to select which is the master record. Any related items from the duplicate lead(s), such as activity or campaign information will be associated to the merged lead so you do not have to worry about manually moving these.

To merge accounts in Salesforce, you must first open the “Merge Accounts” tool from the Tools section on the accounts tab. Then you can do a search for the accounts to merge. This search is quite simple if you know that the accounts all start with Acme as you can just search for Acme*. But how do you search for Acme Business Management Software, ABMS, and Business Management Software by Acme?

The only way to bring accounts into the merge tool that have different names that cannot be found in a single search is to rename the accounts. Find your second, third, and other (you can only merge three accounts at a time) accounts and rename the duplicates so that they can all be found from a single search.

Once you have selected the accounts to merge, you will be presented with a page like the “Merge Leads” page where you can select the master record and any differing data. All records associated to the merged accounts will be added to the master account.

When merging duplicate accounts and/or contacts in the Salesforce CRM system, please keep in mind that it is a best practice to first merge the accounts as all the contacts will be associated to the merged account.

Once the accounts have been merged, then you can go to the contact related list to merge the contacts. Contacts can only be merged from the account they are associated with so by merging the accounts, all of the duplicate contacts will be associated to the merged account.

If you have duplicate contacts in an account in your Salesforce CRM system, select the “Merge Contacts” button in the contacts related list on the account detail page. You are then presented with a list of contacts where you can either search for specific contacts or view all of them. Once you have selected the contacts to merge (you can only merge up to three contacts at a time), you will be presented with a screen like the two above where you can select the master record and any differing data. All records associated to the merged contact will be associated to the resulting merged contact.

For leads, accounts, and contacts, there is some basic Salesforce automation available to make merging easier. But what happens if you have duplicate cases, opportunities, or custom object data? At this time, Salesforce does not have a tool to help with these objects so they will have to be merged manually. This is another reason to do a search before creating a record.

To merge records where there is not a merge tool in the Salesforce CRM system, first decide which record will be your master record. This should be the one with the most correct data and the most related records like activities or attachments.

Open each duplicate record in a new tab in your browser and copy any needed data from the duplicate into the master. Then copy the master record name or number and edit any related activities, attachments, or other records one at a time and paste the master record name or number into the “Related to” field. When you save, the record will be associated to your master record. Once all of the related data has been moved or associated to the master record, you can now delete the duplicate records. You may want to let the creator of the duplicate record know about it so they can be more careful in the future. You may also want to create some basic reports that you can run on a regular basis so that you can easily spot Salesforce duplicates before they get out of hand.

StarrForce is a leading Salesforce partner that helps companies optimize and support Salesforce.“

Syncing the Kindle Fire with ACT! is made easy with CompanionLink. You’ll need DejaOffice on your Kindle Fire to get started, so grab it from the Amazon Appstore if you haven’t already. It’s free.

Once you’re set up with DejaOffice, you’ll need to ensure you have either CompanionLink Express (download | upgrade) or CompanionLink Professional (download | upgrade) installed on your computer. Then, simply select Android as your device in the CompanionLink setup window. Next, choose your sync method. We offer Direct USB sync, Local WiFi sync, and Secure Hosted Wireless sync. Finally, select ACT! as your database and configure as desired. For full setup instructions for ACT!, click here.

So there you have it – a quick and easy way to sync ACT! with the Kindle Fire. Now you can take your data with you, wherever you need it.

As these devices are released over the next few months, we’ll be taking a closer look at them and testing them to ensure compatibility with CompanionLink and DejaOffice. It is our intention to support all of these new devices announced at CES. Stay tuned to the blog for updates on this!

And for those interested in what was announced at CES, but haven’t had time to parse through the countless articles, here’s a short list of just some of what you can look forward to over the next few months:

The Galaxy Note

The Galaxy Note from Samsung has been around internationally for a few months, but is finally coming to those of us in the US. Described as a “phablet” by some, this phone features a beautiful 5.3” screen and a stylus. It’s great for productivity buffs and creative types alike.

The Galaxy Nexus on Sprint

Another bit of good news from Samsung – the Galaxy Nexus is expanding its userbase to Sprint customers. No longer a Verizon exclusive, the Galaxy Nexus will be landing on Sprint’s new LTE network sometime in the next few months. With top-of-the-line specs and Android 4.0, it’s sure to be a popular phone among Sprint customers!

The Lumia 900 and Titan II

Not to be overshadowed by a host of Android announcements, the Windows Phone platform is gaining two great new devices. The Lumia 900 from Nokia improves upon the already quite popular Lumia 800. With a bigger screen, more cameras, a better battery life, and more, the Lumia 900 is sure to be a big hit.

HTC has put out a Windows Phone sequel of its own, as well. The Titan II may look similar to last year’s model, but it packs some exciting features of its own. Chief among them are 4G data and a 16-megapixel (yes, you read that right!) camera. Yet another Windows Phone device that is sure to do quite well!

The Eee Pad MeMO

While its name may sound a bit unassuming, the Eee Pad MeMO is a serious tablet. ASUS has worked a bit of magic on this one, you could say. It features a 7” screen, Android 4.0, and a quad-core processor (read: fast!) all for just $249. For those keeping score, that’s just $50 more than a Kindle Fire and the same prices as the Nook Tablet. If this tablet lives up to its specs, it will likely be quite difficult to keep on the shelves!

When you set up iCloud to sync with Outlook, the iCloud Control Panel creates a unique Outlook Folder, which it then uses to sync with iCloud. It will actually move items from your default Outlook Folder to this new iCloud Outlook Folder in order to facilitate the sync. This doesn’t really change how things look in Outlook, but it does change how things sync.

Many tools that sync CRM solutions such as Google and Salesforce are set to sync with only the default Outlook Folder, with no option to change this. Because iCloud is syncing with a different Outlook Folder, these two sync tools don’t work together. Fortunately, CompanionLink is different.

CompanionLink allows you to choose which Outlook Folder(s) you want to sync with. So if you want to sync Google with Outlook and iCloud, or Salesforce with Outlook and iCloud, it’s as easy as configuring CompanionLink to sync with the iCloud Outlook Folder. From there, any data synced from sources like Google or Salesforce will sync through iCloud to your iOS devices and any other PC or Mac that iCloud is configured on.

For details on configuring which Outlook Folder(s) to sync with in CompanionLink, see our Configuring Outlook support article.

2011 was a big year for CompanionLink. We added numerous new features to our mobile CRM app, DejaOffice, while surpassing 100,000 active installations globally. We rebuilt our website from the ground up to make it even easier to find the sync solution you need. We released CompanionLink 5 with new features and a refreshed interface. And we’ve released new software, as well – CompanionLink for Windows Live.

But 2011 wasn’t just a big year for us – it was a big year for mobile technology! All year long, we worked hard to support some of the best phones and tablets yet: from the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S to the DROID Bionic, DROID Razr, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy Nexus to name just a few!

While the past year has certainly kept us busy, we’re not taking a break anytime soon! In fact, 2012 is already shaping up to be our biggest year yet. What can you expect from us in the coming year? A completely revised look for DejaOffice, an entirely new cloud sync service, support for even more great phones and tablets (think the rumored DROID 4 and iPad 3), and CompanionLink 6! We can’t go into the details on these things just yet, so be sure to watch the blog for updates!

All of us at CompanionLink want to thank you for helping make 2011 a great year. As you head out this weekend to ring in 2012, we wish you a safe and happy New Year. See you in 2012!

It’s no secret that Android is an increasingly popular platform. In fact, over 700,000 new Android devices are activated daily! Many of these are from people who are switching to Android from Blackberry, iOS, or webOS. If you’re on of them, then this “Quick Start Guide” is for you. It is designed to give you a quick overview of the Android platform, and then point you in the right direction for learning more! So, what are you waiting for? Read on to get started… 

Intro to Android

Android is unique in that it can look surprisingly different depending on the brand of phone or tablet you have. This is because Google builds the basic operating system, and the various manufacturers are free to customize it as they see fit. They all run Android at their core, but HTC has Sense, Motorola has Blur (though they seem to be phasing that name out), and Samsung has Touchwiz, to name the main ones.

Despite various customizations, however, there are certain Android features that are consistent across brands. Nearly every Android phone has four main navigation buttons: Back, Menu, Home, and Search. Back brings you back one step in an app, or back a page in a browser. Menu brings up additional options for an app or your Android home screens.  Home takes you to the main home screen. And Search brings up the search bar, either within an app or globally.

Another basic Android feature is Widgets. Widgets are essentially “mini-apps” that provide at-a-glance details. Popular widgets include clocks, weather forecasts, speed dial contacts, calendars, and more. You can arrange widgets across multiple home screens on your Android device, designing a layout that fits your style.

Finally, every Android device has a notification bar at the top of the screen. Swipe down from the top and you’ll be presented with a list of all current notifications. A single tap will take you to an email, text message, calendar event, etc. This menu is accessible from any app and is the fastest way to see what you missed while you were away.

Must Have Apps

In today’s digital world, most smartphones are only as good as the apps you put on them. On Android, Google has built in the Android Market to facilitate this. There, you’ll find thousands of great apps that you can install on your phone or tablet – some free, some paid. Finding the best ones, however, can be a bit overwhelming.

To that end, Google has created convenient ways to search and browse the most popular apps. Additionally, there are countless blogs and sites dedicated to the latest and greatest Android apps.

To get you started, however, we’ve included a list of our “must-have” apps below. Click the links to check them out in the Android Market.

Dropbox (free) – A simple, yet powerful app for storing files in the cloud. Add a file from you computer, have it on your Android in an instant. And every account comes with 2GB of storage for free!

Evernote (free) – Evernote is a universal note taking app. Keep notes from your Android, your computer, and even your browser all synced up. It’s fast, free, and easy to use.

DejaOffice (free) – Transform your Android into a powerful business device! DejaOffice adds business class contacts, calendars, tasks, and memos to Android phones and tablets. Purchase the optional sync component on your computer and you can sync with Outlook, ACT!, Salesforce, and more.

ReadItLater (free/$4.99) – Don’t have time to read that interesting article right now? Save it to ReadItLater, then enjoy reading it on your phone when you have a little downtime. Never miss a great article again.

Kik Messenger (free) – One of the best ways to chat with friends, family, and peers without using text messages. Kik Messenger is similar to BlackBerry Messenger, and it’s available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and even BlackBerry. So skip the text message plan – use Kik!

Next Steps

We’ve only touched the beginning of what Android has to offer. There’s a wealth of information out there and much more to discover. The above information should be enough to get you up to speed on what Android is all about. For those who want to keep learning, we recommend the great resources below:

Android.com – Google’s own website for the Android OS
Android Central – A great source for Android news, reviews, & more (be sure to check out their “Android 101” series)
Phandroid – Another great source for Android new & reviews
Droid Life – One more of our favorite Android blogs
The Android Dictionary – A glossary of Android terms from Android Central
The Android Forums – The place to go with your Android questions
Getting Started with Android – A seriously thorough guide to getting started with Android (it’s a bit older, but still quite relevant)
Understanding Android Contacts – This infographic helps clarify just how Android’s contact system works

That’s all for now. We hope you enjoy your new Android phone! And if you found this post helpful, let us know in the comments below.

Take a look at the release notes below for all the details, then head over to the downloads page to get the update!

Release Notes for CompanionLink build 5012:

* Fixed an issue where DejaOffice USB sync could fail to start on the PC following an earlier interrupted synchronization.
* Improved error handling for DejaOffice USB sync.
* Removed beta status for sync with Windows Live.
* Added autosync for all Windows Live configurations.
* Fixed issue where recurring events on the PC with a recurrence interval greater than one year could interrupt synchronization with Windows Live.
* Fixed issue where a malformed email address could interrupt sync with Windows Live.
* Fixed issue where sync with Windows Live could generate an “invalid synchronization key” error.
* Added field mapping tab for Salesforce configurations.
* Added option to sync all Salesforce contacts, instead of just the contacts that you own (contacts that you own is still the default setting).
* Fix for issue where deleted recurring events in Salesforce could sync over to the handheld as duplicates in some cases.
* Fixed issue where autosync could fail to start for a second CompanionLink profile if the first profile was configured for WiFi sync and failed to connect for some reason.
* Fixed issue where recurring exceptions in Palm Desktop sometimes synced to the wrong date in DejaOffice for some eastern hemisphere time zones.
* Fixed conflict policy issues when syncing with Palm Desktop.
* Minor UI fixes.
* Fixed issue where ACT! category field would sometimes revert to “ID/Status” after being changed to “Company”.
* Improved duplicate checking for sync with native Google tasks.
* Improved method for handling the case where a user switches between DJOA WiFi and DJOA USB sync.

Using CompanionLink for Outlook, you are able to sync tasks, contacts, and calendars between Outlook and Windows Phone devices (running 7.5 and above) via Windows Live (formerly Hotmail). Getting started is easy – just download CompanionLink 5 for Outlook if you haven’t already. Then, simply follow the steps below:

1. Open CompanionLink Setup on your computer.
2. Select Windows Phone 7 as your device from the first drop down menu.
3. Select Windows Live as your sync method.
4. Review the pop up message, click next, then enter the account information for the Windows Live account you use on your phone. Click finish.
5. Select Outlook as the database you wish to sync with. Configure the data and direction(s) you wish to sync. Click finish.
6. Configure advanced sync options as desired. This is an optional step, but you may be interested in some of the advanced settings we offer.
7. Click sync!

CompanionLink will sync your data to Windows Live, which then syncs wirelessly with your phone. It really is that easy. If you have any questions or comments for us, leave them in the comments below!

1. Download DejaOffice for free from the Amazon Appstore.
2. Install CompanionLink for Google on your computer. This works with DejaOffice to sync Kindle with Google.
3. In CompanionLink configuration, select Android as your device.
4. Select Direct USB as your sync method.
5. Select Google as your database from the final drop-down list.
6. Follow the setup wizard in DejaOffice and you’ll be syncing in no time.

Note: Due to the way USB currently connects to the Kindle Fire, you’ll need to follow a specific pattern to begin the sync:

1. Connect the USB cord to your Kindle Fire
2. Unmount the SD card via the Notification Tray on the Kindle Fire
3. Open DejaOffice
4. Tap Sync

That’s it! So, whether you are the proud owner of a Kindle Fire today or are hoping to get one soon, rest assured that we’ve got you covered when it comes to syncing your data!

CompanionLink for Google comes with a free 14-day trial. When you’re ready to buy, use the affinity code SYNCKINDLE and you’ll pay just $39.95. If you already own CompanionLink 5 for Google, just make sure you have the latest version by checking our updates page.