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ISCOVER
The Tempo app is by far the best smart calendar app I've ever used. I was dubious when I first trialled it. I mean, seriously, it's a calendar app, how much better can it actually get?
Well, as it turns out, much better. Tempo aggregates people with reminders, times, locations and documents. It will get you to your meeting on time, and then, it will lay out everything you will need to make the meeting a success.
So, whether you're a broker, lender, aggregator, whatever – quite frankly, it doesn't really matter – anyone who spends a significant portion of their day in their car driving from meeting to meeting will benefit from Tempo. It's because everything you need for your meeting, such as the people, time, place or documents are already prepared for you.
Tempo configuration
Setting up the app is a pretty simple process. After entering my email account, Tempo warned me that it would take a few minutes to prepare my new calendar view. So I connected it to both my personal Gmail account and the Microsoft Exchange server at work and all up it took around four minutes before the app came to life with my new calendar view.
There are five main views to the app. The 'Agenda view' is my favourite as it shows me everything I have on for the day, but a little scrolling is usually required. Then there's the 'List view' which displays my future meetings over the coming days and weeks. I use this view during the evening to quickly look ahead and see what tomorrow is going to look like.
Then, there's the 'Day view' which provides a detailed hour-by-hour breakdown of your calendar.
Lastly, there's the 'Month view' which displays the meetings, conference calls and flights over a month. This is the view I tend to use the least, because for my taste, it's interesting but unimportant.
I really care about what's happening next in my day today. Then I care about what's happening tomorrow.
Taking the pain out of conference calls
We've all had to join those conference calls where firstly you have to remember the dial-in number, then there's a ridiculously long host or participant PIN with a couple of hash buttons thrown in there for good measure. In my job, I join many such calls every working day. So when I am out of the office, remembering the nuclear launch code sequence is near impossible.
Well hallelujah! Tempo has turned all that conference nonsense into a 'two-click' process. Tap once and Tempo dials the conference call number for me. Tap a second time and it will send the pin number (and hash key too) to correctly connect to the conference.
Don't worry if there are multiple pin numbers in your meeting invite. Tempo will ask you to select the one you wish to use.
Directions to the next meeting
If you're driving from one client meeting to the next, Tempo's location functions will get you to your next meeting on time. When I enter my meetings in my calendar, I am now in the habit of entering the full address so that Tempo can present me with a map and directions from my current location to the next meeting. By default it uses Apple maps but if you have the Google Maps app, it now defaults to using that one.
The 'Find Parking' button is very handy and guides me to the nearest paid parking station that's near my next meeting.
Getting to know meeting participants
The 'Insights beta' button is an interesting little feature. When I have met the person previously, the Insights function tells me when I last met them and when I'm next scheduled to meet them again.
It organises any documents or attachments they've previously sent to me, making it a breeze to find working documents for the meeting right on my phone.
When I am meeting a new client for the first time, that person's Facebook or LinkedIn profiles are just one tap away. So before a meeting I can look them up and glean that extra little gem of information that makes my meeting go more smoothly.
I cannot speak highly enough of this app. I did not think it was possible to reimagine the humble calendar app. I am happy to admit that Tempo has proved me wrong.
It's simple, easy, fast and a delight to use. Click here to download Tempo from iTunes.
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