Could this be a bug or is it just me??

  • Thread starter Thread starter lady cc
  • Start date Start date
L

lady cc

My company just installed Outlook 2003. I need to send personalize
emails by merging first names from Word. I am using contacts store
within Business Contacts, however, there are several missing fields i
the step to check off the contacts to email, including "first name" an
"last name". It includes "company name" "display name" and some othe
miscellaneous fields, but not the ones I need. The odd thing is, thes
fields do appear if I pick the source to be regular "contacts"
however, I need the features offered within "business contacts" i
order to perform my needed tasks.

Is this a problem with the program? If so, could you provide th
correct phone numbers to call to rectify this?

Thank yo
 
What are the exact steps you're following to perform the merge?
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Outlook and Exchange solutions at http://www.slipstick.com
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming: Jumpstart
for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
All of my email contacts are stored in "business contacts" within
Outlook 2003. Here's the steps I take to merge names into personalized
emails:

1. Open Word and the document to email people

2. Select "mail merge" from the tools window. The merge wizard appears
on the side of the document.

3. Complete steps one and two of mail merge wizard and select the data
source to be "Outlook" items.

4. Select "edit recipients" and then pull up "Business Contacts". Here
the list of all the names I have stored within that folder come up and
the list of available fields to choose from appear.

** This is where the problem is. There is no option for "first" name
and "last" names. So, when I later go back to insert these fields
within the document, the document appears as "Dear ," instead of "Dear
Mary Smith", etc.

** I am also having trouble opening up my Business Contacts from
Outlook. Sometimes when I click into the folder, I get a message that
says "Error, array out of bounds" and the contact comes up appearing
like a personal Contact. Is it possible that the Business Contact
folder was never properly installed into my computer with the rest of
Outlook 2003? Is there a minimum RAM requirement that a PC must have to
properly install and support Outlook 2003/XP?

Thank you for your assistance,
cc
 
Try starting the merge from Outlook (Tools | Mail Merge in the Business Contacts folder), rather than Word. You'll get a more complete fields list.

As for the "array index out of bounds" error, try deleting the forms cache -- Tools | Options | Other | Advanced Options | Custom Forms | Manage Forms | Clear Cache. If that doesn't work, you may want initiate a support incident with Microsoft at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;incidentsubmit.You will need a .Net Passport, but there should be no charge for filing the request.

Let us know if that solves the problem. Also, are you using any tool to synchronize BCM data with a PDA? What about anti-virus software that hooks into Outlook?

More BCM answers at http://www.slipstick.com/bcm/bcmfaq.aspx
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Outlook and Exchange solutions at http://www.slipstick.com
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming: Jumpstart
for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
Dear Sue,

I opened up an email and tried to mail merge from within the email,
however I get the same problem with a lack of the needed merge fields
within the Select Contacts step. Would you have any other suggestion to
offer?

Thank you
 
I don't understand what you did. You can't start a merge from an email message. You can start one from the Contacts folder.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Outlook and Exchange solutions at http://www.slipstick.com
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming: Jumpstart
for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
OK. I tried doing that but I still have the same problem. No matte
where I start the merge from, I still don't have the first and las
name fields within the Business Contacts of the Mail Merge Recipient
in step 3 of 6.

Do you have any other suggestions
 
Back
Top