How to share Business Contact Manager data between homeworkers

[Peter]

What is the best way to share a Business Contact Manager 2007 database
between two homeworkers with Office 2007 on Windows XP SP2 both using a
desktop and a laptop with (or without) an officelive essentials account?

 

[yehia]

Hi Peter,

My suggestion would be to share the database on the desktop and
configure the laptop to utilise the desktop database.

That way you can utilise the offline functionality on the laptop when
you are disconnected from your home network.

When you reconnect to your home network, the laptop databse will
synchronise with the desktop database and all your changes will be
updated.

Cheers,

 

[Peter]

Thank- you for replying but what I really wanted to know was how to share the
database between the two distant homeworkers using Business Contact Manager
2007 with Office 2007 on Windows XP SP2 with (or without) an officelive
essentials account?

 

[Lon Orenstein]

Peter:

Make one of the PC's the "server" and put the master BCM database on it.
You'll need to setup that PC to allow a VPN connection in.

Have the other person create a VPN connection to the master PC "server".
That now makes the server seem like another hard drive to the remote.

When the remote logs in to the VPN they'll launch BCM. From the main menu,
go to Business Contact Manager, Database Tools, Create or Select a Database.
In the Computer Name field, enter the name of the server PC and click
Connect. BCM will find the master database on that PC. Click Next and BCM
will ask if you want to configure an "offline" database. Answer Yes, and
BCM will make a copy of the master on the remote's hard drive (this may take
a long while depending on the number of contacts and speed of the
connection -- faster is better! Having adult beverages nearby can
help... ).

Now, the remote will see a new button on their BCM menu bar that is either
"Online" or "Offline". They can work disconnected and 1-100 times per day
click the Online button to synch up with the master database. Depending on
bandwidth and PC power, they could stay connected all day and work "live" on
the master database instead of being disconnected.

This is the same procedure that you would use for someone (like an outside
salesperson or business owner) who wanted to take their BCM db with them on
a laptop. When they got to a hotel at night, they could synch up with the
master once they're connected to the internet.

HTH,
Lon

_________________________________________________
Lon Orenstein
pinpointtools
(e-mail address removed)
www.pinpointtools.com

 

[James Carrington]

Lon:

I found your post very helpful, this is exactly what i need to be able to
do. Me and my friend have a reasonably small database of contacts for our
joint business/hobby.

I live in the USA now and he still lives in the UK. We're both in the
process of upgrading to Office 2007 Small Business Edition (should be here
anyday now!).

As i understand from your post, the only thing i have to figure out is how
to setup a VPN. Do you know of any free / or cheap VPN's that we could try? i
have no previsou experience with them and wouldnt know where to start.

After purchasing Office 2007 that's about our budget spent for now so am
looking for a cheap solution, robust enough for 2 part-time users.

any advice much appreciated.

thanks in advance
James Carrington.

 

[yehia]

Sorry there James, i read it as two homeusers rather then two
homenetworks.

Lon has provided great advice. A VPN is the way to go particularly to
make use of the offline database functionality.

We utilise a hardware VPN solution which in most cases is recommended
but for someone on a budget have a look at the following:

http://www.hamachi.cc/

i have not tested it personally, but have heard good things from other
people.

Cheers,