Introduction
Plaxo is a wonderful web service that helps you create an online address book. The service also helps you keep your address book updated. In addition to letting you add contact information manually, the site connects with your mailing accounts to import contact information.
Letting you synchronize your address book with your connected accounts is how your address book is kept updated. Other features of the service such as exporting your contacts’ information, supporting smartphones, and offering premium packages make Plaxo one of the best address books apps.
Usage
You can create an account on Plaxo by signing up for a new one or connecting with your existing Facebook, Google, or Yahoo account.
With your account created and activated, you can start connecting other services, namely Gmail, Windows Live, and Yahoo.
The number of new contacts imported always shows up on your dashboard.
Next, you can head on to your address book by clicking the “Address Book” link at the top of the page. This is where you will find all your Plaxo contacts.
The left pane of the address book lets you manually add new contacts and create contact groups. The bottom center pane lists your contacts and lets you search for them by name or browse them alphabetically. The top center pane provides you with options to take a print out of all your contacts and export them to a file that can be used with other address book programs.
The top center pane also lets you search for duplicate contacts. If any duplicates are found, you are presented with the option to merge the contact information of duplicates into a single contact. You are, of course, shown the detailed contact information of each duplicate entry.
In addition to supporting computer users, Plaxo offers phone apps for various smartphones including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows mobile.
The phone app makes it easier and quicker to update your Plaxo address book each time there is a phone number change.
Pricing
While Plaxo’s free package itself offers an impressive array of features, the site offers premium services that are even more appealing.
Multiple premium packages are offered but their essential feature is to better help you keep an updated address book. This is done by keeping your address book clean and thorough, just like a personal assistant would. This feature, called “Plaxo Personal Assistant”, is a premium one. The other payment package “Plaxo Platinum Sync” offers a 2-way synchronization between Plaxo and other address book apps such as Outlook and Google Apps.
Conclusion
Plaxo is a valuable web service for anybody who has a lot of contacts. Phones can get lost, physical diaries can get damaged, but the online address book offered by Plaxo will securely save the information of your contacts. And the app’s integration with your phone and other mailing accounts give you even more reasons to give it a try. Plaxo
