Training for Business Contact Manager

[Guest]

I recently upgraded to Office 2003 to get the Business Contact Manager
program for my business. I cannot believe there is no training manual
avialable specifically for BCM or a course that we can take or certified
microsoft trainers to hire to bring in to our company. Any suggestions - I am
extrememly frustrated.

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http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-165ed962eaa6&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.bcm

 

[BillR [MVP]]

Some online training is available. Try
http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/assistance/CH012071481033.aspx

 

[boe]

The training stuff for BCM is fluff - I can't believe they don't have a
simple online video or flash demo to really show what it can do. Between
lack of info, integration and communication - this product will never grow.

 

[Tim P via OfficeKB.com]

Dib,

My suggestion is that you are best off to experiment by trial and error on
your own and also to keep checking in to this newsgroup because that is what
I have had to do. My own experience based conclusions about BCM is that it
is a quickly cobbled together after thought with little to no real world user
input to its design. This app shows promise to evolve but there does not
appear to be much interest in making BCM too robust because the thinking is
probably that it would then deter or delay users from adopting the more fully
featured CRM. I hope that I am wrong about this because there is a HUGE
amount of users that BCM "could" really make a positive difference for.

-THP

The training stuff for BCM is fluff - I can't believe they don't have a
simple online video or flash demo to really show what it can do. Between
lack of info, integration and communication - this product will never grow.

Some online training is available. Try
http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/assistance/CH012071481033.aspx

[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]

 

[boe]

I agree - I've posted many issues - just in hopes of getting the ball
rolling. This product has a huge amount of potential for smaller shops that
don't need full on CRM solutions. All they really need is activites and
call tracking so they wouldn't be interested in pouring out a big wad of
cash for any CRM solution. I have three shops that all use some ACT
Goldmine or home grown app that would benefit immensely if they would just
integrate it with Exchange for OWA, ActiveSync and elimination of duplicate
contact folders since so many functions depend on the regular outlook
contact folder.

I think if someone put the standard version of BCM on Bill Gate's PC for a
week he'd have all of those issues resolved by his development team with in
1 month max. Probably a week would be all he would tolerate but you need to
give them time for bug fixes and roll out.

Dib,

My suggestion is that you are best off to experiment by trial and error on
your own and also to keep checking in to this newsgroup because that is
what
I have had to do. My own experience based conclusions about BCM is that
it
is a quickly cobbled together after thought with little to no real world
user
input to its design. This app shows promise to evolve but there does not
appear to be much interest in making BCM too robust because the thinking
is
probably that it would then deter or delay users from adopting the more
fully
featured CRM. I hope that I am wrong about this because there is a HUGE
amount of users that BCM "could" really make a positive difference for.

-THP

The training stuff for BCM is fluff - I can't believe they don't have a
simple online video or flash demo to really show what it can do. Between
lack of info, integration and communication - this product will never
grow.

Some online training is available. Try
http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/assistance/CH012071481033.aspx

[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-165ed962eaa6&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.bcm

 

[boe]

I think interest in this product is extremely limited since MS has done
nothing to promote it, document it, or improve it. Of the computer savy
(not techies) people I spoke to who have used several contact management
products such as goldmine and saleslogix - none of them had even heard of MS
BCM!

Dib,

My suggestion is that you are best off to experiment by trial and error on
your own and also to keep checking in to this newsgroup because that is
what
I have had to do. My own experience based conclusions about BCM is that
it
is a quickly cobbled together after thought with little to no real world
user
input to its design. This app shows promise to evolve but there does not
appear to be much interest in making BCM too robust because the thinking
is
probably that it would then deter or delay users from adopting the more
fully
featured CRM. I hope that I am wrong about this because there is a HUGE
amount of users that BCM "could" really make a positive difference for.

-THP

The training stuff for BCM is fluff - I can't believe they don't have a
simple online video or flash demo to really show what it can do. Between
lack of info, integration and communication - this product will never
grow.

Some online training is available. Try
http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/assistance/CH012071481033.aspx

[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-165ed962eaa6&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.bcm

 

[Tim P via OfficeKB.com]

boe,

Here are some alternatives to consider until BCM becomes more fully developed
to be versatile enough for "real-world" users needs. Check out
www.avidian.com and www.teamscope.com

-THP

I think interest in this product is extremely limited since MS has done
nothing to promote it, document it, or improve it. Of the computer savy
(not techies) people I spoke to who have used several contact management
products such as goldmine and saleslogix - none of them had even heard of MS
BCM!

Dib,

[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]

 

[boe]

thanks -

Avidian might be able to do what we need - our needs are pretty simple.
Teamscopes prices are rediculous - might as well buy a full CRM server app
if you have more than 4 people using their product.

boe,

Here are some alternatives to consider until BCM becomes more fully
developed
to be versatile enough for "real-world" users needs. Check out
www.avidian.com and www.teamscope.com

-THP

I think interest in this product is extremely limited since MS has done
nothing to promote it, document it, or improve it. Of the computer savy
(not techies) people I spoke to who have used several contact management
products such as goldmine and saleslogix - none of them had even heard of
MS
BCM!

Dib,

[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-165ed962eaa6&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.bcm