I know the conventional answer is to use Microsoft Exchange but that is out of the question.
I am trying Softalk http://www.softalkltd.com/ but that appears to "throw" some of my other programs. I know that MDaemon would do the job but have not used it.
Does anyone else have any ideas/recommendations please?
Stuart Jones
Replies (10)
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Forget Outlook
forget Outlook.....use Aladesc
grouped everything, imap (with free thunderbird), group diaries, group scheduling, group and\or private emails, group and\or private contacts, planners, communities, bulletin boards, cases, server based, restore only one email from a backup, etc, etc, etc
5 user about £300
We use it ourselves extensively and re-sell it
Kind Regards
Daniel Clark
Ryba Macaulay Ltd
[email protected]
You pay your money and take your choice
I've tried Groove and found it to be pants compared with online solutions. Way too heavy and resource hungry and if you forget your login, you're pretty well snookered. It's also very heavily dependent on Microsoft.
MS Exchange is OK but it's a security nightmare - leaking seive and all that. But do you really want to pay Bill G's tax?
outlook
you can share a contact database without exchange server if i remember correctly, go to ms online outlook section and the details are there somewhere
http://shareo.4team.biz/
Funnily enough, I've just solved the same issue myself. I tested shareo with the 14 day free trial and paid the $34.95 per seat just this week. It uses email to update each user but it doesn't really bother you, happening pretty much in the background. It's flexible and cheap and updates happen as long as you are connected to email somehow. You can share calendars, contacts, journals and emails with specified users. Haven't found a problem yet!
One answer = open source CRM
Stuart,
My suggestion would be to implement a hosted, open source CRM system, where all of the team would have their Outlook company/contacts/tasks synchronised with the central database. We've just agreed a relationship with OpenCRM to do this (and integrate it with Twinfield, but we could just as easily do it "stand-alone"). It could be hosted for as little as £30 a month, and we'd need to discuss the set up and training required. Because it is open source and the software is "free" it could be expanded to as many users as you need. The hosting charge is based on the size of database, but my guess is that 175,000 contacts would last you a while! Give me a call/skype.
David Terrar
Mailto:[email protected]
web: http://www.d2c.org.uk and http://www.twinfield.com
blog: http://biztwozero.com
Exchange
Stuart
Exchange is included with Small Business Server, so you may already have the license for it (and just need to configure it).
Sorry if this is patronising - but I have come across a few places that didn't realise this!
Cheers
Another suggestion
Another option might be to use something like Groove Virtual Office to stay in sync -
http://www.groove.net/home/index.cfm. I came across a 3 person company recently who swears by it. May be worth investigation.
David Terrar
Mailto:[email protected]
web: http://www.d2c.org.uk and http://www.twinfield.com
blog: http://biztwozero.com
Thanks guys
Set up could be done for as little as £60. You could either take a DIY approach and use the basics with no training, or buy some consulting help to do more. The Outlook synchronisation is a free desktop app. Open Source doesn't mean free, but it can be low cost.
David Terrar
Mailto:[email protected]
web: http://www.d2c.org.uk and http://www.twinfield.com
blog: http://biztwozero.com
This is tough but...
It depends on what you're trying to achieve. Shared calendaring/email is usually an expensive thingy to achieve. If you think out the box, you could use alternatives coming from the Web 2.0 world, many of which are free or extremely low cost. Backpack maybe? Project oriented which is the way most engagements pan out but see for yourself.
I don't buy David's solution for the small practice though I can see where it would fit for larger firms. The reason? They tend to be overkill. Also watch for the training SNAFU - open source isn't 'free.'