Can Access do that?

[Hammond Knoll]

We are considering Access for our business.
Can we input sales contact data, then find a way for Access to calenderize
it (meaning show a list of contacts to go back to for follow up sales calls),
or export data to Outlook to use their calender features?

I know ACT 2000 would do this, but we don't want to commit to ACT if we can
use Access.

 

[Daniel Pineault]

Yes and No.

What I mean is, Yes access can do what you wish and more. No it does not do
it out of the box like ACT does.

As such, you can do a multitude of things and customize Access to suit your
every need so that your database fits like a glove to your business, but this
will require work. You will have an extensive learning curve, not only in
database development but also VBA programming. You need to have the time &
ability (not everyone can learn this type of thing easily).

If you choose to develop your own access database, this forum will always be
here to help you, so feel free to ask questions.
--
Hope this helps,

Daniel Pineault
http://www.cardaconsultants.com/
For Access Tips and Examples: http://www.devhut.net
Please rate this post using the vote buttons if it was helpful.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

I'll echo Daniel's comments:

Access is not a bookcase ('everyone' knows how to use word processing,
spreadsheets and bookcases ...) ... Access is a power tool you use to BUILD
bookscases.

I count 4 major learning curves you'll need to work through if you want to
build a successful application using Access:

* relational database design (this is first and foremost)
* Access' tricks and idiosynchrasies
* graphical user interface design (if it isn't easy, folks won't use it)
* application development (you wouldn't try to build a house without
learning how to 'stage' the project, right?)

Good luck! Keep coming back if you decide to pursue this route. Folks here
are happy to help...

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Access MVP

--
Disclaimer: This author may have received products and services mentioned
in this post. Mention and/or description of a product or service herein
does not constitute endorsement thereof.

Any code or pseudocode included in this post is offered "as is", with no
guarantee as to suitability.

You can thank the FTC of the USA for making this disclaimer
possible/necessary.

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

To add to what both Dan and Jeff have pointed out. Outlook has many more
features than ACT, and can with some programming and interoperability, do
much, much more than ACT. There are many of the things that you want already
programmed as demo files and templates. For instance, from Access, you can
start a number of Outlook features by using:

http://www.datastrat.com/Download/OutlookForms2K.zip

or send email with the following code:

http://www.datastrat.com/Code/OutlookEmail.txt

Using Access, you can output to or input from, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint,
MapPoint, SharePoint, and others.

The learning curve will be a bit steeper, but the end result is more than
worth it. If you need help, there's plenty of free help here, as well as
many professionals available for training and programming. Certainly orders
of magnitude more than there are for ACT.