Mobile Device

One of my clients needs an on demand method of getting contacts from Act! to the iPhone’s (or Android) native address book.  He wants to make calls from his Apple CarPlay or iPhone and see caller ID.  Currently, it takes 6+ steps.

1. Sync 3rd party iPhone app to CRM database
2. Open iPhone app
3. Find the contact
4. Go through the sandwich menus to export as a vCard
5. Open iPhone file manager and search for vCard
6. Open vCard

The business owner doesn’t want to do this, so he drives the iPhone back to the main office and allows the admin to struggle with the same steps.  So, we are up to 8 steps plus windshield time.

So, I decided to make a button in WiredContact to export the current contact as a vCard.  Then, I created an e-mail template that pre-fills the owner’s email address and attaches the vCard right in the letter.  The video shows this about one minute, eleven seconds into the demo.

Now, it’s down to two steps for the admin:

1. Click “vCard”
2. Send E-Mail mail-merged template

For the owner, it’s down to checking email and opening the vCard attachment.  The owner doesn’t need to learn anything new, and has zero down time.

In this use case, the contact doesn’t need to go back and forth to the CRM.  It’s used for getting caller ID to work on the iPhone and making calls.

As a consultant, I used to cringe at this because I had to source third party apps or hire a coder.  With WiredContact, I got this done in a weekend without learning more than .html and WiredContact’s merge codes.  Also, it was about listening to our client’s requirement every step before jumping to a conclusion.