BCM (Beta), OL & SBA Integration

[Bob A.]

I'm not sure which ng to post this to but here goes. I have read here that
BCM is vastly improved in the beta and I would like to use it to replace
ACT. BCM V2 integrated better than V1 to OL & SBA but still had a long way
to go.

I have 3 questions that I hope someone can help with:

1. Where can I read more about the BCM Beta before I download it?
2. For people that have already downloaded BCM Beta, do all the functions
work or are there still problems?
3. How has the integration between BCM, OL & SBA been improved in the Beta?

Thanks a lot.

 

[Leonid S. Knyshov]

I'm not sure which ng to post this to but here goes. I have read here that
BCM is vastly improved in the beta and I would like to use it to replace
ACT. BCM V2 integrated better than V1 to OL & SBA but still had a long way
to go.

I have 3 questions that I hope someone can help with:

1. Where can I read more about the BCM Beta before I download it?
2. For people that have already downloaded BCM Beta, do all the functions
work or are there still problems?
3. How has the integration between BCM, OL & SBA been improved in the
Beta?

Be advised that BCM Beta may break some integration with SBA 2006 and some
other 3rd party applications. Outlook 2007 will change the CLSID, and
applications that rely on that CLSID to identify whether Outlook is
installed will simply assume Outlook is not installed. I can't quite
remember what's broken for me in SBA 2006. I think it's something minor, but
not a showstopper. BCM won't submit billable time for last month, for
example, but it will for the last week. That kind of annoyances. Manual
submit time entry on specific billable items works fine.

There is a SBA2007 beta that is designed to function with BCM V3. There are
some specific improvements there, but you are better off checking for them
in the SBA group.

 

[Bob A.]

Thanks for your reply, Leonid. I did go ahead and download & install Office
7 Beta and I like it a lot! So far everything works fine. BCM Seems vastly
improved. I can't find the SBA 2007 Beta and no one answers in that ng.

 

[Leonid S. Knyshov]

Thanks for your reply, Leonid. I did go ahead and download & install
Office 7 Beta and I like it a lot! So far everything works fine. BCM Seems
vastly improved. I can't find the SBA 2007 Beta and no one answers in that
ng.

OK, I'll add that group to my list of supported groups ;-)

SBA 2007 Beta is an invitation-only site. Please apply from here:
https://connect.microsoft.com/availableprograms.aspx

 

[Bob A.]

Whoops! I think I received an invitation but didn't want the responsibility
of the required reporting to MS.

 

[Luther]

There's at least one major difference in the BCM-SBA integration with
the 2007 versions of both.

Previously BCM integrated with SBA, through the SBA SDK like any other
client app, and SBA didn't know BCM was integrated.

In the 2007, that method of integration still works, run a similar
wizard from BCM to integrate, but there's a new mechanism for
integrating, this time running a wizard in SBA. With this new
mechanism, the apps aren't merely integrated, but SBA moves its entire
database into the BCM database, and uses the existing BCM tables to
store similar data. What that means is that if you change an Account's
phone number, you are changing it for both BCM and SBA. Also BCM and
SBA users are the same, as they are both users of the same Sql Server
database. Adding or deleting a user in one does the same for the other.

 

[Bob A.]

A very important addition.

 

[peaston]

BCM both in Outlook 2003 and in Outlook 2007 (beta) is flakey.
Whenever I attempt to link a business contact to an account

Outlook 2007 is very unstable, especially with the BCM add-in
activated. I can not link any records together in BCM with out the
program hanging. Outlook 2007 itself crashed frequently. I did
everything recommended: uninstalled prior version of Office 2003,
installed and reinstalled Office 2007 BETA. Deactivated all add-ons.
Nothing helps.

Word, Excel, Powerpoint...all other 2007 beta applications work well.
Outlook 2007, however, is useless.

Outlook 2003 BCM also does not work well. I also can not link records
together in Outlook 2003 BCM wihout hanging the program.

I like the linked records, but using categories and a good desktop
indexer, such as X1 or MNS Desktop Search, I can do with out BCM. I'm
going back to Office 2003 until the BETA stabalizes and am unlikely to
use BCM in the future.