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Mick wrote: |
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> Ah, may have missed it in the original post that you want multi-client access. |
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> |
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Probably my fault... my post was mainly wild hand-waving hoping that |
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someone would guess what I meant. :) |
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>>> http://www.simplecustomer.com/ |
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>>> |
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>>> No idea if it's any good, though. |
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>>> |
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>> This is definitely looking as if it is heading in the right direction. |
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>> Features I hoped I would find, but seem to be missing are: |
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>> |
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>> * Tagging of contacts - something a bit like a taxonomy in Drupal.... |
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>> So, for example, I could tag Fred Bloggs as having UK residency; |
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>> Occupation: Plumber - etc. and so that I could, at a later date search |
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>> my contacts for a UK resident Plumber. (OK, it's a contrived example, |
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>> but, hopefully, it illustrates the idea.) |
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>> * Flexible search for contacts... perhaps by name, perhaps by email |
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>> address; perhaps just search notes. |
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>> * Good support for multiple communications technologies... including |
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>> non-US addresses; skype - etc. :) |
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>> * Good support for ageing data on a field-by-field basis... by this I |
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>> mean that it is relevant, for example, when addresses were established, |
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>> because people move home... |
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>> |
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>> Many thanks for the suggestions so far - they've, at the very least, |
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>> helped me refine my ideas about what I want... |
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>> |
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> Have you looked at egroupware/phpgroupware and even open-exchange products? |
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> As long as you are happy to run a server at home and store your |
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> social/professional networking contacts into either mysql or LDAP, one of |
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> these front ends should do what you want. |
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> |
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No, I hadn't looked that these. I've messed about with Outlook on a |
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corporate exchange server - and it definitely wasn't what I want... it's |
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got a working address book - and it integrates (sort-of) with email - |
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but falls far short of what I require as an aide memoir about people |
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I've met... many of whom will have been introduced in person - not |
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online, by phone or email. |
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|
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I think I'm going to dismiss open-exchange as pursuing the same |
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objectives as MS exchange (that's my current perception of it...) |
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leaving the other two systems - neither of which I'd discovered |
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previously. Both E-Groupware and PHPgroupware look like fantastic tools |
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- and E-Groupware looks especially slick. On the down-side, they both |
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seem to have relatively steep learning curves relative to my primary |
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objective... i.e. keeping notes about communications with infrequent |
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contracts... so, for example, if I were about to meet someone from Acme |
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Corp next week, and I remembered having met an Acme Corp director last |
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year (but had forgotten the date; where we met; and his name...) then |
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I'd want to be able to find this information from my contracts |
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management system. SimpleCustomer is heading in the right direction - |
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but I think its interface falls short of my requirements. |
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|
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I suspect I need to play with those groupware systems... perhaps read a |
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book about them - if one has been written. I'm very happy to run my own |
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server at home - in fact, I'd be worried about doing it any other way... |
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I wouldn't want to risk contributing to a massive centralised database |
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of personal information... :) |
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Thanks, and - of course - I'm still interested in anecdotal hints/tips |
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from anyone who has attempted something similar. |
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|
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Steve |
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