Mobile Ministry Magazine

One of the biggest challenges in this day and age is simply keeping in touch. The internet has truly made the world smaller; here I am at MMM, in fellowship with people I readily refer to as brothers, who I pray for daily, but have not even met physically yet. Such is the 21st century.

How do we manage all the latent data? To be effective ministers-on-the-go, to do His work, we have to find a way to produce material fast - and that usually starts with keeping effective contact information. Then, you have to be able to coordinate a hectic schedule that usually involves those contacts.

There are plenty of applications that can handle this on a computer or laptop. But how about if you go through your day with mainly a PDA or smartphone based on Palm OS?

If you need more functionality than the built-in Palm OS PIMs provide, you may want to try Agendus for Palm by iambic.


Agendus promised to be the ultimate personal assistant. You know, the office help without the stereotypical long breaks and eavesdropping. I decided to see if it could stand up to that promise.

The first plus was that if you're concerned with the footprint, you can rest your fears somewhat. Agendus runs great off SD cards.

Agendus asserted itself handily from the initial start-up, pulling in my schedules and tasks from my built-in software. There was no lapses, and everything came out right.
I found out the same applied to my contacts and memos.

After marvelling at that for a second, I took the time to study the interface. Now, if you've read my reviews before, you'll know I am big on appearance. Why be ordinary? Why be just black or white when you can be colorful?
Agendus satisfied that craving as well. Its Preferences tab allows you to truly customize your program, making it an extension of you. The "Vivid Agenda" function allows one to even have fixed icons for specific sets. The colors available, coupled with the icons, took up a lot of my time.
You can also pull pictures from your media files and use them as backgrounds, or just play with stock colors.

The opening section was a "Today" screen of sorts, showing my current appointments and ones coming up soon. I put the program through the paces, and appreciated the way it set up my appointments for me. For irregularly reoccurring but same-type meetings and tasks, I was able to create a template for easy and efficient recall.

Of particular interest was the "Free Time Finder" function. Simply put, I was blown away. This function was superb in the advanced mode, allowing those of us with busy schedules to find precious time to fit in important things. It allowed me to search in time increments of as little as 5 minutes, and it allowed me to exclude blocks of reserved time. I could pick a day, or the entire week to search.

For someone like me, who coaches, works, volunteers, ministers and has a family, this feature is a must-have.

Agendus allows one to schedule almost anything under the sun. Meetings, calls, tasks, and even trips. You can write create memos directly from Agendus. After picking the calendar view you want, it is easy to see just where you should be and what you should be doing at any given time.

Let me add here that this program is perfect for upgrading to a Treo. So much of it's functionality is tied in to quickly retrieving or sending data wirelessly. The ability to link a meeting to a contact is enhanced by being able to call directly from your device. The Power Search tool is able to use internet sites. In the Trip planning area, you can check weather as well. You can click and get directions to a contact address by using Mapquest (or simply use Mapoplis on a card). Another great function is the voice recorder which is accessible from the memo function (not tested).

Another feature I fell in love with was the Sketch function. Need to add a quick note to a previously written memo? Need to hand draw some directions quickly? Rather just jot down a number instead of keying it in? You got it; the sketch utility was created for you. So, say, you have a meeting scheduled, and need to add some info to it on your device quicly. Open the meeting, tap on sketch, and do what you gotta do.
The sketch function actually became a game of sorts for me, with it's ability to make perfect circles and other geometrical shapes.

Simply put, time (and bandwith restrictions) won't permit me to completely touch what this program can do.

I also took another iambic title, EasyNotes for a spin. It is a customizable note application with a very unique twist. it allows you to record your thoughts to memory card, be it a doodle, written by stylus, keyed and even voice. Yep... you read right. You can record "voice" notes. Alas! I can finally rehearse for American Idol in private...

Versions of Agendus are also available for Windows desktop and Symbian OS.

A week spent using only Agendus as my datebook left me well inpressed and satisfied. If you are like me, busy to the point you have to sometimes schedule devotion time, this software would be a blessing.

Annie (who is an absolute angel) and the rest of the iambic crew get top scores in customer service from this writer, for patient and quick answers. If you have any questions, you can reach them at the the iambic site .

YIC, with regards,
Tre Lawrence