Sharing Microsoft Outlook Calendar and Contacts
For many offices, the most frustrating experience related to Microsoft
Outlook is finding out that, unless you are using Microsoft Exchange Server,
there is no simple, built-in, reliable method for sharing contacts and
calendars. That's right, there's no "magic wand" you can wave to
enable people to easily share Outlook data without Exchange.
One reason that this goal of sharing is so elusive is that standalone users
store data in Personal Folders .pst files. However, two people cannot work from
the same Personal Folders .pst file at the same time, because these files are
not designed for shared access. The same problem occurs if two people try
to look at the same Personal Address Book. Of course, if two people share
the same computer at different times of the day, they can share data. A
relatively recent development is the advent of a few products that can bypass
the shared access limitations of PST files.
If you have Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000, Microsoft provides a feature called
Net Folders that transfers information among a group of people with special
e-mail messages; this feature is more stable in Outlook 2000, but still not 100%
reliable. However, this feature doesn't exist at all in Outlook 2002.
However there are third party vendors that have products that make it
work. Give us a call if you need more information.
Net Folders
The Net Folders feature was added in Outlook 98 to meet the need for some kind
of sharing in a non-Exchange Server environment. It replicates information via
special e-mail message and, therefore, requires that the people participating
the the sharing all be able to communication via e-mail. Unfortunately, Net
Folders is nowhere near 100% reliable. Users may experience data that doesn't
replicate, shares that stop working completely and other problems.
Net Folders is not supported at all in Outlook 2002. However, the 4Team for MS
Outlook tool listed below uses a mechanism similar to Net Folders -- email
messages containing data -- to transfer information between users.
Exchange Server
Microsoft designed Exchange Server specifically for sharing calendar, contact
and other information, as well as e-mail. One way for small organizations to
share information without installing Exchange Server in-house is to buy space on
a server shared with other companies. We offer exchange server hosting for as
little as $10 per month for each user. You need Internet access, of course, to get to the server.
We also offer browser-based access to your mail, as well as access from the
Outlook client.
Internet Free/Busy
For calendar sharing, Outlook 2002 and Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 in Internet
Mail Only mode allow you to publish the free/busy times from your calendar
to an Internet site so other people can know when you're available. For Outlook
2002, Microsoft provides a public Internet Free/Busy site accessible via a
Microsoft Passport, so you don't need to set up your own web server for
free/busy information. See:
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