Resource Management Tool
Discussion
Afternoon all,
I'm looking into replacing our paper diaries with a slightly less bronze age solution!
We have 17 field based staff that need to have a centralised diary/management system. We need to be able to have an "at a glance" view of what is going on and where they are.
In addition to this, we would like to have some project planning/management element to such a solution..
Integration/synchronisation with Outlook is also a key factor.
Does anyone have any ideas or recommendations for solutions?
Cheers in advance folks..
slinky
I'm looking into replacing our paper diaries with a slightly less bronze age solution!
We have 17 field based staff that need to have a centralised diary/management system. We need to be able to have an "at a glance" view of what is going on and where they are.
In addition to this, we would like to have some project planning/management element to such a solution..
Integration/synchronisation with Outlook is also a key factor.
Does anyone have any ideas or recommendations for solutions?
Cheers in advance folks..
slinky
Exchange Servver is like a bum holes, insofar as we all have one.
I'm sure there are lots of fancy things you can do with Exchange and Outlook, but speaking as a fairly basic user, if your personal calendar is stored on the server (i.e. not in a local personal file) then you can make it visible to other users. If other people have done this too, when you are preparing to send out a meeting invitation, you can pull up a chart in Outlook that shows you a timeline for each of the invitees so you can pick a time when they are all available.
Now that would seem to imply that all the calendar data modelling you need is included in Exchange Server out of the box. Whether Outlook gives you all the views on the data you need as standard, I don't know. But one of your developers could probably knock up some VBA stuff to pad out Outlook's user interace if needed.
I'm sure there are lots of fancy things you can do with Exchange and Outlook, but speaking as a fairly basic user, if your personal calendar is stored on the server (i.e. not in a local personal file) then you can make it visible to other users. If other people have done this too, when you are preparing to send out a meeting invitation, you can pull up a chart in Outlook that shows you a timeline for each of the invitees so you can pick a time when they are all available.
Now that would seem to imply that all the calendar data modelling you need is included in Exchange Server out of the box. Whether Outlook gives you all the views on the data you need as standard, I don't know. But one of your developers could probably knock up some VBA stuff to pad out Outlook's user interace if needed.
The built in stuff probably covers what you want but if it doesn't then something here probably will
www.slipstick.com/calendar/scheduleall.htm
something under the live calendar listings for Exchange.
If you do want to do your own then having a look at this from the site I posted above would be a good start. This uses event scripts to keep track of personal calendar entries and post them to a public folder calendar.
"Enterprise Calendar This is a complex sample application that shows how to synchronize data from users' folders to a central public folder automatically. It uses custom forms, Exchange Server script and a .dll created with Visual Basic. Many thanks to Tom Howe, who has demonstrated this application at many conferences."
>> Edited by malman on Thursday 13th April 18:36
www.slipstick.com/calendar/scheduleall.htm
something under the live calendar listings for Exchange.
If you do want to do your own then having a look at this from the site I posted above would be a good start. This uses event scripts to keep track of personal calendar entries and post them to a public folder calendar.
"Enterprise Calendar This is a complex sample application that shows how to synchronize data from users' folders to a central public folder automatically. It uses custom forms, Exchange Server script and a .dll created with Visual Basic. Many thanks to Tom Howe, who has demonstrated this application at many conferences."
>> Edited by malman on Thursday 13th April 18:36
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