Microsoft Small Business Applications

In his book Jim Boyce reviewed Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2003 which, when it released in October 2003, did not have multiuser capabilities.

We later released an Update to Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2003 in June 2005 which introduced multiuser capabilities, i.e. sharing BCM data with other users while on-line.

We are currently in Beta of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007 where we have enhanced the multiuser capabilities even more, allowing users to go off-line with their data and work with their data while off line.  When the user returns to the office, the changes get synchronized back to the Business Contact Manager database.

SriniM - Small Business Applications Team

Yes, users will be able to create user-defined fields, edit drop down boxes, and to a limited extent modify the design of the forms

SriniM - Small Business Applications Team

Reporting is completely new in BCM this time around, and the things you are asking about in your post concerning reporting are now possible.

Thank you very much for your interest in Business Contact Manager.  I highly recommend that you sign up for the upcoming Beta, and try out all of the new and improved features of Business Contact Manager.



BretD - BCM Team

I actually have to questions.

Does BCM store all common contacts on a "server" so that in the event that some users disconnect from the LAN, the remaining users still have access to all of the common contacts?

I am glad to hear that BCM 2007 will allow for offline access to data. Is it possible to connect a PC to the LAN (for use with BCM) through an internet connection without using a VPN?

Does BCM have a field for Opting Out of email and can emails sent out contain a Opt-Out link that will automatically change the value stored in the Opt-Out field withn BCM?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Answering a few posts from above:

"Does BCM store all common contacts on a "server" so that in the event that some users disconnect from the LAN, the remaining users still have access to all of the common contacts? "

"what about running the BCM database on a server as opposed to a desktop machine.  idealy on our SBS 2003 machine.  will that be supported and straight forward?"

BCM stores its data in a different data store than Outlook does, utilizing MS SQL technologies.  In the currently shipping version, as long as the user hosting the data does not disconnect from the LAN, any other user that does disconnect will not effect the others.

In the upcoming version, now in Beta testing, we have included the ability for the user to go off line and do some work while off line, and then have his changes synchronized back to the main database when back on-line.

Also in the upcoming version, we will now support the placement of the database on a different machine -- including an Small Business Server one.

"I am glad to hear that BCM 2007 will allow for offline access to data. Is it possible to connect a PC to the LAN (for use with BCM) through an internet connection without using a VPN?"

Accessing data on your local machine from the internet, any data -- not just BCM data -- without a VPN or other secure conduit is highly ill-advised.  This leaves your computer open to the possibility of attacks and viruses from the internet.

The location of the download is the same as the one for the Office 2007 Beta 2.  It is not part of the download of the Office System, so you will have to specifically download that as well.  The link to it is on the same page where you select to download Office and all of the other apps.  BCM is the 3rd on the list.

BretD - BCM Team

Where can I find technical information on how BCM 2003 shares information between users?

Bryanknox asked:

"Where can I find technical information on how BCM 2003 shares information between users?" 

BCM utilizes the Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine (MSDE) for its data store, and sharing between users is accomplished by sharing access to the database with these users.  This means granting users access to this database, so their BCM (on the same PC or on a different PC on their network) points to and uses this common shared database.  This is accomplished within BCM itself, through the menus.

For addl info, a great resource is the BCM newsgroup at :

http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.outlook.bcm&lang=en&cr=US

BretD - BCM Team

Could somebody please comment on what the BCM offers for developers wishing to use the model as a base for a richer application.

Does OL BCM 2007 still use MSDE or does it now use SQL 2005 Express? Doesn't MSDE have a 5 connection limit for a shared database?

Could BCM 2003/2007 run on a Windows 2003 Terminal server and serve up to 10 users locally on the same server? Would that access need to be via the built in BCM sharing setup or could they all just connect to say a local DSN for DB access?

Thx in advance.
~A.

Okay, I now know that BCM v.2, which works with Outlook 2003 and BCM v.3, which works with Outlook 2007, both support having BCM in the same profile with your Exchange mailbox, so my above question is answered.

I really really love BCM.  Someone at my organization wrote an access database to do the same things BCM does, but having those functions integrated with Outlook is terrific.

I am absolutely convinced that BCM will have to be integrated with Exchange, so if that's not in the works yet, Microsoft may as well include it in their plans.  I know that when more people start using BCM when 2007 comes out, they will *all* ask for this.

Thanks!
Sarah

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