Sync Regular Contacts w/ Business Contacts in 2007

[UriSchneider]

Has the following issue been updated and now possible in 2007 Outlook
w/ BCM? (see old post below)

It is a critical flaw in the functionality! To be able to sync into
Pocket PC caller ID contacts and have an ability to sync business and
regular contacts within outlook, instead of editting each
independently.

Uri

I would like a contact to be shared between Business Contact Manager and my
regular "Contacts" folder in Outlook. I'm running Office 2003 Pro. There
are
a number of reasons for this:

 

[mrtimpeterson via OfficeKB.com]

Uri,

This marvelously limited feature remains in Outlook BCM 2007. The MS
designed synch solutions to WM devices are very lame with limited features
also. It seems as if there is a mediocre bureacratic competition among the
original Office Outlook design team, the BCM team, the Office Accounting team,
and the WM team. From an end user's perspective, no one seems to be talking
to each other or coordinating much. Releases just seem to happen as cobbled
together ideas with poorly thought out implementation.

This is of course, all just my own observer speculation. I prefer this MS
bureacracy theory over the alternative possibility that these bone headed
release features are actually planned or presumed by MS to be thought out
ahead of time!

-THP

Has the following issue been updated and now possible in 2007 Outlook
w/ BCM? (see old post below)

It is a critical flaw in the functionality! To be able to sync into
Pocket PC caller ID contacts and have an ability to sync business and
regular contacts within outlook, instead of editting each
independently.

Uri

I would like a contact to be shared between Business Contact Manager and my
regular "Contacts" folder in Outlook. I'm running Office 2003 Pro. There
are
a number of reasons for this:

* Have contact synchronize with my Palm Treo 600
* Have contact appear when searching by category
* Have contacts in one place sorted by category for mailings

Is this possible? When I drag the contact into business contact manager
from

[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]

copy
the contact into business contacts, so that there are now 2 copies.

 

[Luther]

Uri,

This marvelously limited feature remains in Outlook BCM 2007. The MS
designed synch solutions to WM devices are very lame with limited features
also. It seems as if there is a mediocre bureacratic competition among the
original Office Outlook design team, the BCM team, the Office Accounting team,
and the WM team. From an end user's perspective, no one seems to be talking
to each other or coordinating much. Releases just seem to happen as cobbled
together ideas with poorly thought out implementation.

This is of course, all just my own observer speculation. I prefer this MS
bureacracy theory over the alternative possibility that these bone headed
release features are actually planned or presumed by MS to be thought out
ahead of time!

-THP

Has the following issue been updated and now possible in 2007 Outlook
w/ BCM? (see old post below)

It is a critical flaw in the functionality! To be able to sync into
Pocket PC caller ID contacts and have an ability to sync business and
regular contacts within outlook, instead of editting each
independently.

Uri

I would like a contact to be shared between Business Contact Manager and my
regular "Contacts" folder in Outlook. I'm running Office 2003 Pro. There
are
a number of reasons for this:
* Have contact synchronize with my Palm Treo 600
* Have contact appear when searching by category
* Have contacts in one place sorted by category for mailings
Is this possible? When I drag the contact into business contact manager
from

[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]

copy
the contact into business contacts, so that there are now 2 copies.

Having dealt with similar issues in the past, I would add the
ActiveSync team to the list.

It's apparent to me with Outlook/BCM 2007 that those two groups must
be talking to each other. To smooth over many of the UI annoyances
with BCM and Outlook 2003, the Outlook group must have responded to
BCM requests; e.g., BCM can now customize Outlook right click menus.
It's also apparent that the BCM and accounting groups must have also
been talking to each other in order to be as integrated as they are in
the latest versions.

It seems to me that the core problem with syncing BCM to devices is
that when ActiveSync was written to work with Outlook, the code was
specifically tied to Outlook's default Contact folder, instead of
doing the right thing and asking the user which of the MAPI stores on
the PC they want to sync their device's contact list to.

 

[mrtimpeterson via OfficeKB.com]

Good thoughts Luther. I would love to have the choice in a set-up wizard
dialogue to choose which of the MAPI stores I would like to use.

I have a question. What is it about the design for synching multi contact
folders that is resisted by WM Synch Center (formerly called ActiveSync)? If
3rd party developers such as Chapura or Intellisync can add this type of
conduit in, why not MS?

-THP

Uri,

[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]

- Show quoted text -

Having dealt with similar issues in the past, I would add the
ActiveSync team to the list.

It's apparent to me with Outlook/BCM 2007 that those two groups must
be talking to each other. To smooth over many of the UI annoyances
with BCM and Outlook 2003, the Outlook group must have responded to
BCM requests; e.g., BCM can now customize Outlook right click menus.
It's also apparent that the BCM and accounting groups must have also
been talking to each other in order to be as integrated as they are in
the latest versions.

It seems to me that the core problem with syncing BCM to devices is
that when ActiveSync was written to work with Outlook, the code was
specifically tied to Outlook's default Contact folder, instead of
doing the right thing and asking the user which of the MAPI stores on
the PC they want to sync their device's contact list to.

 

[Luther]

Good thoughts Luther. I would love to have the choice in a set-up wizard
dialogue to choose which of the MAPI stores I would like to use.

I have a question. What is it about the design for synching multi contact
folders that is resisted by WM Synch Center (formerly called ActiveSync)? If
3rd party developers such as Chapura or Intellisync can add this type of
conduit in, why not MS?

-THP

[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]

- Show quoted text -

Having dealt with similar issues in the past, I would add the
ActiveSync team to the list.

It's apparent to me with Outlook/BCM 2007 that those two groups must
be talking to each other. To smooth over many of the UI annoyances
with BCM and Outlook 2003, the Outlook group must have responded to
BCM requests; e.g., BCM can now customize Outlook right click menus.
It's also apparent that the BCM and accounting groups must have also
been talking to each other in order to be as integrated as they are in
the latest versions.

It seems to me that the core problem with syncing BCM to devices is
that when ActiveSync was written to work with Outlook, the code was
specifically tied to Outlook's default Contact folder, instead of
doing the right thing and asking the user which of the MAPI stores on
the PC they want to sync their device's contact list to.

I can only speculate as to why the Windows sync software wasn't
written in a more general fashion, but I suspect that because it is
"free", it isn't a profit center for Microsoft, so they extend it
minimal resources. They probably figure that 90% of users only sync
their default Outlook Contacts, so supporting those 90% was the low
road. That makes sense to a certain extent because making the software
more general (letting the user choose what store to sync) will also
make it more confusing to the naive user who's not aware that there
may be more than one list of Contacts. So they're have to design it so
that it is still easy for the 90% yet support the other 10%. The costs
of designing something like that, and then testing the new variations,
can make the cost of building the software multiply. Plus it creates
an aftermarket of specialist that cater to that other 10%.

On the other, the problem for Microsoft is, that with Windows and
Office, that other 10% can amount to millions of annoyed users. Plus
groups like BCM end up having to write their sync components, and
keeping them up to date with Windows Mobile releases. So it makes
sense to me that the sync software should handle the general case.

I think Microsoft has simply fallen down with device sync, and
arguably sync in general. The device sync software with Vista RTM was
just plain broken in most cases but the simplest--single user with
single desktop with single device mobile device. That appears to have
improved with the latest update--it works as well as recent Xp
ActiveSyncs.

WinFS was supposed to become the contact store for Microsoft, with all
software that used contacts using the WinFS store, but that got
dropped from Vista, and I don't know what the plan is today. Hailstorm
was another attempt at a unified schema for contact, and also was
dropped. There's definately a mess with MSCRM, Exchange, Window
Mobile, Hotmail, Accounting, BCM Live, and so one, all having
different schemas for something as basic as a contact, and only ad hoc
components for synchronizing differerent collections of contacts.

 

[mrtimpeterson via OfficeKB.com]

Your thoughts about the "dropping" of both the WinFS and Hailstorm
initiatives reinforces my Redmond inner-bureacracy rivalry theory. Too many
various teams are off alone in their islands away and apart from from each
other. Thus, the nonseamless "mess."

-THP

Good thoughts Luther. I would love to have the choice in a set-up wizard
dialogue to choose which of the MAPI stores I would like to use.

[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]

- Show quoted text -

I can only speculate as to why the Windows sync software wasn't
written in a more general fashion, but I suspect that because it is
"free", it isn't a profit center for Microsoft, so they extend it
minimal resources. They probably figure that 90% of users only sync
their default Outlook Contacts, so supporting those 90% was the low
road. That makes sense to a certain extent because making the software
more general (letting the user choose what store to sync) will also
make it more confusing to the naive user who's not aware that there
may be more than one list of Contacts. So they're have to design it so
that it is still easy for the 90% yet support the other 10%. The costs
of designing something like that, and then testing the new variations,
can make the cost of building the software multiply. Plus it creates
an aftermarket of specialist that cater to that other 10%.

On the other, the problem for Microsoft is, that with Windows and
Office, that other 10% can amount to millions of annoyed users. Plus
groups like BCM end up having to write their sync components, and
keeping them up to date with Windows Mobile releases. So it makes
sense to me that the sync software should handle the general case.

I think Microsoft has simply fallen down with device sync, and
arguably sync in general. The device sync software with Vista RTM was
just plain broken in most cases but the simplest--single user with
single desktop with single device mobile device. That appears to have
improved with the latest update--it works as well as recent Xp
ActiveSyncs.

WinFS was supposed to become the contact store for Microsoft, with all
software that used contacts using the WinFS store, but that got
dropped from Vista, and I don't know what the plan is today. Hailstorm
was another attempt at a unified schema for contact, and also was
dropped. There's definately a mess with MSCRM, Exchange, Window
Mobile, Hotmail, Accounting, BCM Live, and so one, all having
different schemas for something as basic as a contact, and only ad hoc
components for synchronizing differerent collections of contacts.