Outlook Gets Social with LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace

@Michael: So, now it is almost four weeks. Can we still expect a response post with a FAQ, as promised above? Or was I right that we would get the usual Outlookblog reponse of "Thanks a lot for your feedback" and then will never hear again? In any case, it would be very helpful if you would not drag out these discussions over such long time periods.

@Keith: this is a outlook 2010 forum, so yes, I'm using 2010. It's the beta version, and as stated, yes I'm using BCM. It's 32 bit and using cached exchange mode and have no other products 'plugged in' to Outlook. I've also tried disabling all the other add-ins to no effect. I've even rebuilt my entire search but again, no joy. I've also unistalled and re-installed to no effect. I'm fully aware that it's a beta version and won't be fully functional, and have been doing my part by filling in the smileys and frowns so that MS can get as much feedback as possible. I'm aware that I'm taking part in a test and that it's a two way deal. However, the process has been a painful one, right from taking hours to make it install correctly and then problem upon problem since (I haven't even mentioned Outlook crashing whenever I receive any email from certain people). I'm asking for feedback because on any of the forums they say to send MS a frown, yet it never illicites any response. I've scoured the internet high and low for any kind of response to the issues I'm having yet am struggling to find a solution. And yes, on both this and the BCM blog they do occasionally respond to the questions, so I'm hoping they might for me! I'd really like BCM to be the solution to our small sales team's needs, and am hoping that finally by the 2010 version it will be, as all previous ones have had fundamental flaws. It looks great, I just hope that the final version will be able to do what it says on the tin! :) Anyway, with the further info I've supplied, does it help you to think of any solutions? Could it be a registry problem?

It is difficult to say (I'm not the developer :o)) I'm also assuming that you uninstalled the original Social Adapter that came with the Office 2010 beta, then installed the new one, then installed the Linkedin connector correct? I've seen quite a few posts stating that people, when they've had issues with this, have had to completely whipe Outlook... I hope that is not the case. I have this running in a Virtual PC with Office 2010 beta AND on my Work PC running Office 2007 without any major issues. One thing to note... Business Contact Manager is notorious for being the "bully on the playground" and not playing nicely with other "kids". (It doesn't play nicely with Microsoft Dynamics CRM either) Just a thought.

lol at BCM - I've found that to be true since its first inception... it deoesn't really get on well with anyone... I've always felt it a product that is nearly really good, but just not quite, and alwasy very poorly supported. It looks like the new one is pretty decent for a company such as ours that could do with a decent basic CRM but find the full MS CRM too large and too expensive. Great advice on the new social connector - it actually seems to be working now - thanks! :) Search Indexer is still disabled, but one step at a time... now to try yet another re-install of BCM...

@olliecaust You could look at CRM Online, it's a monthly subscription fee but no overhead (server..etc..) Could be a low cost alternative that provides MUCH better Customer management than BCM. You can try it for free for 30 days Here: crm.dynamics.com/.../Default.aspx I believe the prices start about $36 per month, per user and go up to about $59 per month per user depending on your needs. (still integrates with Outlook)

thanks Keith, but I've looked quite extensively into and demo'd CRM over the past 2 years and very nearly gone with it. Our problem is that our business model is essentially the hire of large vehicles (we rent large mobile LED screns for events), so the model is more akin to something like a crane hire company and we have an existing operations systems that handles this. If we went with CRM, it won't integrate properly with it and we'd end up having to forgo a key feature of CRM - its quote generation and all the reporting that goes with it... We've ended up deciding that it will be too cumbersome and expensive solution for what we will end up using it for, which will ultimately be contact management and lead tracking and a bit of marketing for only around 8-10 users. We rely very heavily on MS products though and I've not been all that impressed with ACT, Salesforce etc and their integration with Outlook, hence my hope that finally BCM will be the team we're looking for! Fingers crossed! thanks for your suggestions tho - much appreciated :)

@olliecaust, No problem! This is probably a conversation that doesn't belong on this blog .. :) One last question: Did you look into Scribe for the integration? (Not much it can't integrate into CRM...)

thanks - it's bed time here in the UK, but I'll check it out in the morning :)

I cannot install the 32bit Outlook Social Connector. I followed the instructions to remove the OSC that comes with the beta, rebooted, downloaded the Feb version of OSC, run it but get two error messages. The first is "installation of microsoft outlook social connector requires microsoft office outlook version 2003 or microsoft office outlook 2007" when i click ok to close the message, I next get the following error message "the installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. this may indicate a problem with this package. the error code is 2869". Is anyone else receiving this or got past this?

I love how people having issues with LinkedIn software are blaming MS. Also, if using Office 2010 ... it is BETA. If you are crashing do a complete uninstall and reinstall. That's the breaks with Beta software. Beta=not ship ready

I'm running win7 Ultimate x64/office 2010 beta/Visio 2010/Project 2010

I've had zero issues with OSC so far... I will try the myspace connector, although for my purposes I won't likely use is too much (mostly the LinkedIn connector). I have to say that while it is a beta and there are bumps, I give MS kudos so far for the whole Win7/Office 2010 experience. I'm hoping for a 64bit version soon. Now if they would just tweak the experience with virtual PC a bit so that it's not such a pain to have a linux install.....

@Robine, You are using the 32bit version of Office 2010beta?

After FINALLY getting the Feb Beta OSC to install, how come the OSC properties now have NO providers listed. Not even Sharepoint. I've installed the linkedin and myspace providers, and nothing at all shows up in the list of providers under VIEW:PEOPL PANE:ACOUNT SETTINGS. This OSC is kind of a disaster. Several days of reinstalling and having it corrupt outlook profiles only to find it finally working with no provider funcitonality at all. (in Office 2010 beta).

@Brian, You might want to read the entire post. #1. There are currently ONLY 2 "connector" providers available (both Beta's) Linkedin and MySpace.

#2. You are running Beta and Beta and Beta - "there will be bugs" (Office 2010 beta - OSC beta - Individual connectors beta)

#3. The Original Office 2010 beta social connector listed SharePoint in its list, but at the time of publication (of the BETA) no other connectors were ready to be tested. (neither was the SharePoint one)

#4. Linkedin and MySpace are ready for testing, but you won't see anything in the list until closer to release of the final versions...(my guess) - you have to download and install them individually. (They are listed with download links on this blog) Keep your eye on this blog, there are plenty of us "testers" that can give you heads up on some things, also point you in the right direction on others... PS. After installing the Connectors (Linkedin and MySpace) when you launch Outlook it should prompt you to configure the connectors. (REMEMBER: The individual connectors are created by Linkedin and MySpace - NOT MICROSOFT)

@Keith. Linkedin and Myspace connectors are installed as I sateted. They don't prompt for anything, don't show up in the list, and dont' do anything at all.