"Everybody is interested in the small-business market right now," DeGroot said. "Oracle is interested in it, as is IBM. Microsoft is trying to scale up, while IBM is trying to scale down. Something like this (new Outlook) could translate into more seats of Office in the small-business market." A number of the features available in the new version of Outlook have been part of the software for some time, but only usable by companies that took the time and expense to create customised forms. Microsoft also has found new ways to better use some existing features that many customers may have found too cumbersome to use. One example is a feature called Journal, which is used to track meetings, emails and phone calls. Business Contact Manager uses Journal to track "business history." Consumers also have the ability to track activities associated with individuals or accounts and sort those activities by type. That's a key feature of any CRM software. The new Outlook lets people create accounts, add new contacts to that account, and follow its history. Consumers can track sales and account leads. Another option generates product lists. In addition to the typical contact records available in standard Outlook, users can create business contact records. These records, which build on the forms capabilities already available in Outlook, include an area for easily tracking activities or linking to other contacts or accounts, among other features. Like Act and GoldMine, Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager is capable of generating about 20 different reports, ranging from neglected contacts to lead referrals to past-due opportunities. Microsoft provides a variety of filters for sifting through contacts, leads and accounts to formulate sales strategies. The new Outlook also is tied to Microsoft bCentral Web's ListBuilder service. Businesses can organise and export contacts for targeted email advertising campaigns using the ListBuilder service. Jupiter's Gartenberg said this kind of product-service tie is not surprising. "Microsoft is always about creating (ties) with other products," he said. In related news, Avaya and Microsoft have signed an agreement that will see them provide an all-in-one customer relationship management (CRM) software suite for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). News.com's Alorie Gilbert and silicon.com's Tony Hallett contributed to this report.
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