Business Contact Manager

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dan Shellist
  • Start date Start date
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Dan Shellist

I just installed the BCM program. In order to take
advantage of the various features, must I move all of my
old Outlook "Contacts" into the new Business Contacts
folder? If so, must I do this manually, one at a time, or
can I import them. I looked over the import/export
feature and it does not seem to apply to my old outlook
contacts. I also don't understand the relationship
between "Accounts" and "Business Contacts". As I recall,
in ACT, you simply had various contacts from the same
company as separate "contacts" with the same Company
name. What's different here? I hope I've been clear
enough to get some help. Thanks.
 
Only move those items from "Contacts" that you want to put into BCM's
Business Contacts. You can do this by one at a time or multiple. Just
select and drag from Contacts to BCM's Business Contact folder (drag and
drop).

Accounts are where you can collect multiple Business Contacts into one
group called "account".

I don't know Act!, so can't comment on how it relates.

Hope this is useful to you. Let us know.

rms
 
Any contacts that you want to use with the BCM features need to be in the
BCM Business Contacts folder. You can select all that you want to copy and
Ctrl+drag them in one operation.

You don't have to use accounts if you don't want to, but it provides a way
to "roll up" all activities related to a particular company into one view.
 
BUSINESS CONTACT MANAGER AND CONTACTS STORAGE LOCATION

All

This is related to my previous enquiry ("Outlook 2003
Business Contact Manager" on 1/3/2004) that I have since
only partially resolved; I did a "Select All" for the
contacts and copy/pasted to BCM Business Contacts. I
could not get import/export to move across email
addresses (possibly bug when using SBS 2003 and BCM with
kb831747 patch?)

My current unresolved issue/gripe is; as I understand in
my scenario there are now 4 to 6 places to keep contacts:
* 1:Public Folders in Exchange; default contacts as
installed by MS SBS 2003
* 2:SharePoint Contacts (AS WELL AS editable/viewable in
default SBS SharePoint Intranet) as installed by SBS 2003
Windows SharePoint Services
* 3:Local pst Contacts
* 4:Shared pst Contacts
* 5:BCM Business Contacts

How does one:
a) centralise contacts to ensure that there are not
multiple versions of different contact lists floating
round a reasonably small business office (5 users)
b) keep it easy and simple for a user to know which
contacts receptacle to use
c) (WORLDS GREATEST WISH) allow users to use BCM on each
computer (at least from a static copy) of the master
shared contacts list?

I am aware that BCM is designed NOT to be shared
(KB831322), but would expect a simple/easy way to use BCM
within an office environment of shared contacts. As I
understand this should be a reasonably common requirement
for any business, yet Microsoft seem to be making what
could be a simple task FAR too complicated.

Should we look at SBS with MS SQL and store contacts
there a la Microsoft Business Solutions CRM? Seems to me
a bit ridiculous for a small business of 5 users that has
purchased all of Microsoft's "Small Business" software!

Please advise.

Thank you.

PS if this should be posted to a Windows Server 2003, SBS
2003, Exchange or SharePoint newsgroup please advise, I
am not sure which MS "technology" would best resolve this
query/issue/gripe...

Regards
Marty Hauville
 
This is not a new issue. Outlook has supported multiple contacts storage
locations in all its versions. If it didn't, people would have griped about
that instead. (There is no such thing as "shared .pst contacts," BTW, unless
you're using a third-party tool.)

BCM is not designed to play any contact-sharing role whatsoever. It is
strictly a single-user application.

For shared business contacts accessible from within Outlook, with
opportunity tracking and other business-related features, there are several
dozen tools to choose from, including Microsoft CRM. See
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/contact_management.htm

You can, of course, send your feedback to (e-mail address removed).
 
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