Sharing Outlook Business Contact Info

[Jim Robinson]

We are a small company with two people that need to share/access CRM
information. We use a POP3 account and do not have an exchange server. Can
we share the information between users without an Exchange Server?

 

[Lon Orenstein]

Jim:

Yes, you can share Business Contact Manager info but not tasks and
appointments. Exchange handles email, tasks, and appointments. BCM handles
CRM data -- contacts, accounts, opportunities, projects and project tasks.

HTH,
Lon

___________________________________________________________
Lon Orenstein
pinpointtools, llc
(e-mail address removed)
Author of Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies
Author of the eBook: Moving from ACT! to Business Contact Manager
www.pinpointtools.com

 

[jpd2112]

Lon, thanks for the answer, but Microsoft needs to rethink this. I also have
a small business with a few people in different countries. Would I need to
get exchange for us to share project tasks - that sounds a bit daunting since
I don't even have a server. why can't MS open up tasks sharing just like they
do in Outlook? Are there any work arounds? Perhaps another tool like
Accomplice (www.accomplice.com) would resolve this limitation. I'll have to
investigate.
Jim

 

[Lon Orenstein]

No, Project Tasks are inside BCM, not Exchange. So, that should work fine.

You might look again at hosted Exchange -- it's about $10 per month per
user. Well worth the price, IMHO...

HTH,
Lon

___________________________________________________________
Lon Orenstein
pinpointtools, llc
(e-mail address removed)
Author of Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies
Author of the eBook: Moving from ACT! to Business Contact Manager
www.pinpointtools.com

 

[Willy]

Lon,
I was trying to follow this thread and was not totally clear.

If one would have 2007 professional (BCM included) on 5 laptops with a
hosted exchange server, what would have to be done to share the BCM data
across the laptops/users for CRM (i.e. projects, opportunities, etc.)?

Or how do you create a centralized BCM data base for everyone to access and
sychronize to?

 

[Lon Orenstein]

Willy:

Yes, I wish Microsoft had done this differently but they didn't... sigh...

BCM synchronizes its own data through its own server. It doesn't need a
"real" server (running a server operating system), just a dedicated PC with
a VPN connection to the internet. If all you wanted to share was BCM data,
you wouldn't need an Exchange server - a BCM server would work just fine.

So, in your configuration, the Exchange server handles email, tasks and
appointments in Outlook. The BCM server would handle the BCM data. The
users would have to remember to synch BCM regularly.

HTH,
Lon

___________________________________________________________
Lon Orenstein
pinpointtools, llc
(e-mail address removed)
Author of Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies
Author of the eBook: Moving from ACT! to Business Contact Manager
www.pinpointtools.com

 

[Willy]

Lon,
Sorry for my naivity. To set up a server version of BCM, what additional
software do I need? I was not aware that there is a sever version.

 

[Lon Orenstein]

There's not a server version -- you can just load BCM on a PC and call it a
server -- if you have 2-5 users get 2GB of RAM, 4GB for more. Or, use a MS
Small Business Server.

HTH,
Lon

--
___________________________________________________________
Lon Orenstein
pinpointtools, llc
(e-mail address removed)
Author of Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies
Author of the eBook: Moving from ACT! to Business Contact Manager
www.pinpointtools.com