Will Outlook or Outlook with BCM work for me?

My company is looking to switch from ACT 2005 Premium for Workgroups to
Outlook. I know very little about the program and am wondering if it will do
what I need, and if Outlook is enough or do I need Outlook & BCM?
I have a database of 2500 contacts, 27 remote users. We mainly need
calendar, contact, email and notes functions.
The current database is set up so that the contacts are maintained and
updated from a central location (by one person) - and any changes must copy
to each remote user's list. The remote users can only see certain contacts
based on their subscription list. They need to be able to attach notes and
documents to specific contacts.
Everyone needs to be able to schedule activities on their own calendar with
companies on their contact list. They also need to be able to view the
calendars of other staff in our organization and schedule with them.
I also need to use the program to distribute marketing materials to our staff.

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated!
Jill

MarketingJill:

I don't think BCM will handle your situation. You could almost get by with
Exchange only, except for needing to attach documents and maybe write notes.
Exchange handles the calendars and tasks just great. SharePoint might be
your answer for the documents.

You might also look at MS CRM Online that's being released next week. It
would easily handle your application.

HTH,
Lon

___________________________________________________________
Lon Orenstein
pinpointtools, llc
Lon@pinpointtools.com
Author of Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies
Author of the eBook: Moving from ACT! to Business Contact Manager
www.pinpointtools.com



"MarketingJill" <MarketingJill@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:78AAB407-47C9-4027-A363-F6165C32B49B@microsoft.com...
> My company is looking to switch from ACT 2005 Premium for Workgroups to
> Outlook. I know very little about the program and am wondering if it will
> do
> what I need, and if Outlook is enough or do I need Outlook & BCM?
> I have a database of 2500 contacts, 27 remote users. We mainly need
> calendar, contact, email and notes functions.
> The current database is set up so that the contacts are maintained and
> updated from a central location (by one person) - and any changes must
> copy
> to each remote user's list. The remote users can only see certain contacts
> based on their subscription list. They need to be able to attach notes and
> documents to specific contacts.
> Everyone needs to be able to schedule activities on their own calendar
> with
> companies on their contact list. They also need to be able to view the
> calendars of other staff in our organization and schedule with them.
> I also need to use the program to distribute marketing materials to our
> staff.
>
> Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated!
> Jill