Case Studies

November 2008

<i>momen<b>tem™</b></i> screen

Article by Blackberry Cool - Click here for PDF version (260 KB).

The 'TEM' in momentem™ stands for “telecom expense management“, which sounds fairly abstract to those unfamiliar with the term. In the context of this extremely valuable business/prosumer application, what this means is the ability to measure the time and cost of practically everything you do on your BlackBerry by tagging it. That obviously sounds a little overwhelming, but momentem™ makes it fairly painless and extremely rewarding.

Last week, Redwood Technologies officially announced momentem™'s availability in the UK via Orange, but Redwood actually gave us a build to play with during the BlackBerry Developer Conference. I'm pretty behind in delivering this hands-on impressions post, but that's (mostly) because I wasn't ready for how momentem™ was going to change the way I use my BlackBerry. If you consider yourself a power BlackBerry user in any fashion, you have to read this hands on.

<i>momen<b>tem™</b></i> screen

As I said before, I first got my hands on momentem™ during the BlackBerry Developer Conference, which turned out to be a godsend. BBDC was located in Santa Clara, California, and BBCool HQ is located in Ottawa, Canada, making the ability to tag which (of many) long distance calls were for business purposes really helped when the BBCool Accountant came a knockin' after the show.

But that's really one small part of what momentem™ is about. momentem™ gives users the ability to tag not only calls, but also emails, expenses and activities in real-time, with a few clicks. Obviously, this is a highly valuable tool for the BlackBerry using self-employed, contract workers, or any other profession that requires the billing of time and effort. Now, business trips aside, I don't really fall into one of the above categories. However, once I realized that momentem™ provides me with the ability to see metrics on how I use my BlackBerry to communicate, the possibilities just opened up: how much I'm using my BlackBerry for work 'after hours' (don't ask), how much time and money I'm spending on personal calls, whether or not the amount of time I'm spending on emails to co-workers is getting the results I'm after (don't ask). And so on.

<i>momen<b>tem™</b></i> screen

While the basic cost and time saving benefits of momentem™ are fairly obvious, you don't have to be a lawyer to get something out of it. Here's a quick list of thoughts on the various momentem™ features:

  • With each phone call, email, event…etc. you tag, you can attach a note with added info or reminders that doesn't seem like much at the time, but really comes in handy after the fact.
  • You can also have momentem™ set to provide you with a reminder email immediately after the tagged event with the full tagged record and followup instructions.
  • You have the ability to turn off tagging calls or email, which can be really handy at times like BBDC, when you don't want to/have the time to tag the 1,000,000 emails flooding your inbox every second.
  • On that front, momentem™ provides you with a 'not now' option, so you can go back after the fact and tag important items. I really like that momentem™ reminds you when your 'not now' list is getting too full, as I have a tendency to procrastinate to the point of forgetfulness.
  • momentem™ also comes with an 'ignore list' so you can add contacts or email address that never need to be tagged (emails from mom, check).
  • You can view report data within the momentem™ application or have it generate an Excel report directly to you email address. Very handy.
  • Right now, momentem™ isn't fully integrated with the Address Book, so you have to click 'add contact' the first time you tag a person. However, momentem™ then auto-detects that person if they're in your Address Book, so it's not as painful as it sounds. RedWood is also working on full Address Book integration as well, so it won't be an issue for long. I'm really hoping they integrate momentem™ with the Calendar and BlackBerry Wallet (for expenses).
  • Right now momentem™ is only available through Orange UK. You can download the application via your Orange WAP deck or by pointing your BlackBerry Browser to www.momentem™.net/orange. I've also been informed that from now until November 30th, anyone that purchases a 90 day momentem™ subscription gets put in a draw for a BlackBerry Bold. You can learn more about the Bold draw here.

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