Sharing contacts in outlook without exchange?

[ddrueding]

3 users. All they need to do is share a contact list (all have it open at the same time) in Outlook. It seems a really stupid reason to install an exchange server.

Please tell me there is an easy way to do this.

 

[Chewy509]

IIRC, you need either Exchange or the latest SharePoint (w/Outlook 2007) for that.

Alternatively you can use AD, and publish a contact list there, and have each client use that as an alternate address book. (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=238007)

But as you can see, all solutions need a server and with 3 clients I can assume that's not the case?

You could always sell them SBS, and get central file services, centralised backup service, email, SharePoint, etc...

 

[timwhit]

You can share contacts with Google Apps. I bet the free version would work just fine for 3 users. You never need to worry about upgrading or licensing either, unless they add 97 more users.

 

[ddrueding]

I actually have them on Google Apps for mail, connected via IMAP into Outlook. It it supported connecting contacts and calendars into Outlook as well, that would solve all my problems; but I haven't seen that functionality yet.

 

[ddrueding]

IIRC, you need either Exchange or the latest SharePoint (w/Outlook 2007) for that.

Alternatively you can use AD, and publish a contact list there, and have each client use that as an alternate address book. (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=238007)

But as you can see, all solutions need a server and with 3 clients I can assume that's not the case?

You could always sell them SBS, and get central file services, centralised backup service, email, SharePoint, etc...

When I took over this client, it was a single user. The local PC company had taken her to the cleaners with a Dell PowerEdge running SBS2k3R2 and every service running, a top-of-the-line Dimension for herself (including 2 hard drives that weren't even configured!) and a PIX 501 firewall. All of it configured into such a rats-nest that a nuke-n-pave seemed the best way out. Over the last few weeks they have grown to 3 users (likely the max) while I have been simplifying the system. The PIX went back to the store, replaced with a WRT54G. The file store was moved to the workstations spare drives in RAID-1. Mail has been handed off to Google Apps. The only thing left is shared contacts, with shared calendar being a plus as well.

Using Outlook contacts as a client database has become a very important capability for them; they have a couple hundred contacts with a complex or group memberships and notes, with most of the fields (phones, faxes, addresses, etc) filled in.

I can't help but think that there is a better way to manage those customers, and if I can offer a better solution, it would be a good thing.

 

[timwhit]

I actually have them on Google Apps for mail, connected via IMAP into Outlook. It it supported connecting contacts and calendars into Outlook as well, that would solve all my problems; but I haven't seen that functionality yet.

http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=47926

 

[timwhit]

Now that I read that closer it doesn't look like you can share personal contacts.

You could always setup a simple LDAP server.

This looks interesting.

 

[timwhit]

Or try Outlook Connector for MDaemon.

Full version is $120 for up to 6 users. It looks to do everything that you want.

 

[ddrueding]

Or try Outlook Connector for MDaemon.

Full version is $120 for up to 6 users. It looks to do everything that you want.

Looking at the pricing, it requires MDaemon as well.

6 User MDaemon - $130
6 User Outlook Connector - $120

Not bad compared to Exchange, but they have exchange already. I was hoping to get them off a server completely. I'm even using Jungle Disk for their backups.

 

[ddrueding]

Now that I read that closer it doesn't look like you can share personal contacts.

You could always setup a simple LDAP server.

This looks interesting.

Like all things I've seen for LDAP, it goes something like this:

LDAP is easy!
Configure a big load of it manually like this
...and if you want any data in it, you can add it manually as well...somehow

It also doesn't look like it allows updating at all; only adding entries in text mode and having them appear in Outlook. If that is all I wanted, I could just import/export them.

 

[Chewy509]

Using Outlook contacts as a client database has become a very important capability for them; they have a couple hundred contacts with a complex or group memberships and notes, with most of the fields (phones, faxes, addresses, etc) filled in.

I can't help but think that there is a better way to manage those customers, and if I can offer a better solution, it would be a good thing.

Wouldn't a CRM system like ACT! be more appropriate than Outlook for handling those customers? (I'm only thinking of ACT! as it's really aimed at the SMB market, instead of something like Microsoft CRM).

Last time I used ACT! was about 5yrs ago (when it was still owned by Symantec), but it offered full Word, Excel, Outlook integration, and you could include other details about the customer as well, including call history, etc...

But then again they already own SBS and the server to go with it, and it does seem like an overkill for them, but if you need shared contacts and they don't want to look at CRM software, then the SBS w/Exchange would be the low cost solution (abielt a complicated one)...

PS. www.act.com

 

[baksteentje]

Hi! I've been reading here for some time, but never posted anything.

I am an employee of a small office (now 16 people), and besides my actual job, I am also acting as the IT-guy of the company.

For sharing contacts (and calendars) in Outlook, we've been using WorkgroupShare (http://www.softalkltd.com/products/workgroupshare/)) for some years now.
It is quite easy to manage, and any workstation can be used for the server part of the software.
I think the price is reasonable, and a 1 month trial is available form their website.

 

[ddrueding]

Welcome beksteentje! Good to have some fresh blood around here.

I will be sure to take a look at that in the morning, thanks for the tip.

 

[ddrueding]

Thanks Chewy, I would love to get them ACT!, but she had a bad experience with it in a past life, so I can't make the sell.

WorkgroupShare looks very promising. I may just roll that out.