Yesterday BusyMac released BusyContacts. This is one I’ve been waiting for. In the same way that BusyCal improves upon the built-in Apple calendar, BusyContacts improves upon the Contacts application. There is so much to like about this application.

• Multiple view – You can display your data in multiple or single column list views.
• Tags – Group and filter contacts easily.
• BusyCal integration — BusyContacts integrates with BusyCal by linking contacts to events in your calendar.
• Email Integration – Click on a contact and see recent emails right in Busy Contacts. The same goes for messages and social media network posts.
• Syncing – It all syncs with the built-in Contacts app so you are not silo-ing your data

Learn more here.

I’m a fan of the team of Busy Mac and took this opportunity to talk with John Chaffee, one of the company founders.

Q. BusyMac is now known for BusyCal and BusyContacts, but you guys have been working on Mac calendar software for even longer than that. When did you first get started?

A. In the early 1990s Dave Riggle and I teamed up at the original Now Software to create Now Up-to-Date, which became the best selling calendar app on the Mac. That was over 20 years ago – when System 7 was shiny and new, and long before OS X or iCal existed.

In 2007, Dave and I returned to our roots and formed BusyMac to once again build the best calendar app for the Mac, BusyCal. 🙂

Q. Why BusyContacts now?

Nearly everyone is frustrated with the shortcomings of OS X Contacts. From our first demo of BusyCal, people have been begging us to build a contact manager app. Not only is BusyContacts a powerful replacement for OS X Contacts, it’s a great CRM solution when paired with BusyCal.

Q. What was the greatest challenge you faced in bringing BusyContacts to life?

A. Time was our biggest challenge. We are a small company and are careful not to spread ourselves too thin. It took us five years of building and refining BusyCal before we reached a point where we felt we could afford to invest in a second product. We have now spent 1.5 years building BusyContacts and are fortunate in that we were able to leverage much of the syncing technology in BusyCal.

That treasure trove of technology and experience saved us years of development time and has resulted in a very robust product. BusyContacts 1.0 actually exceeded our expectations.

Q. What feature are you personally most excited about with BusyContacts?

A. There’s a lot to like in BusyContacts – List View, Tags, Smart Filters, Social Network Integration, BusyCal Integration, Sharing – but I think the feature that users find most exciting is the Activity List. It provides a history of interactions with each of your contacts through rich integration with BusyCal, Mail, Messages, and social networks.

Thanks John.