OfficeFrustration - View Single Post

**Jim Robertson[_3_]** · March 21st, 2010, 05:33 PM posted to microsoft.public.outlook.contacts

On 3/21/10 9:52 AM, in article
, "Diane Poremsky [MVP]"
wrote:

I would not recommend BCM for this - I don't think I would even suggest
Outlook for it. I'd use Access or Infopath against SQL. Sharepoint is an
option too.

I'm looking at this as a VERY temporary solution (months to less than two
years) for a small LAN consisting of a an SBS 2008 server, 4 docs who work
with laptops on and off the domain, and 5 office staff with workstations
permanently on the domain. We're on a limited budget, and my idea was to use
the tools we now have (MS Office Outlook for some staffers, Outlook Web
Access for others) to get patient and referring physician information into a
contact form that would be usable now but capable of being migrated to a
commercial electronic health record once we purchased one.

Adding a second server box and upgrading our SBS license to premium and
buying BCM licenses for our office staff just to make our lives a little bit
easier now and migration easier later (especially since after the migration
we'd have no use for BCM) probably doesn't make sense.

I know nothing about InfoPath. I've peeked at its product page, which
suggest it can be used to design forms that can be opened in Outlook. I also
haven't begun exploring SharePoint yet (I'm a Mac guy doing this in my spare
time).

Is InfoPath a tool that I could use to modify the basic Outlook contacts
template so that users on our SBS domain using the full Outlook client or
OWA could open a contact form for patients that would contain the additional
data elements (referring physician, Social Security Number, and yes/no
status fields for which a checkbox would be the interface element (active
patient, deceased, dialysis, and transplant would be examples)? Or would we
need the SQL server?

Sorry to ask such basic questions. I'm taking baby steps here :-)

Jim Robertson