Re: flexfax: Client Software - Outlook Contacts

["Keith G. Murphy" <keithmur@mindspring.com>]

Andy Zbikowski wrote:
> 
> Is anyone aware of any client software that can use MS Outlook's
> contacts? Everyone here is happy that the network fax is working, but
> not so happy about having to have yet another phonebook to manage.
> (Somedays you just can't win.) I'd be praised as a demi-god if I can
> find something on the client end to allow my users to fax from their
> desktop machine (just like printing to a printer) and use their Outlook
> contacts to get the names and phone numbers of the intended recipient.
> 
> And if you elevate me to demi-god status in the office, I'll put you a
> diety status in my book.
> 
> Did any of that make sence?
> 
Andy, I am working on something that does this very thing.  I'm not
hugely far along, however.

What I had planned to do was a Respond replacement in Delphi that uses
OLE to get the Outlook contacts.  You might want to search the list to
find out what Respond is and does, and the recent thread that Bernd
Proissl started about his proposed Java client kind of familiarizes you
with what all the options are.

I'm about to revisit the idea of using redmon, so that my client would
interact with the print driver and the hylafax protocol.

Whatever I do, it will not initially be as general as WHFC and Respond. 
I.e., not multi-language, no ODBC, just OLE/Outlook and English.  I just
need to get it done and fit our needs, to start with...

The Outlook/Contacts part is the easiest, really.  I'm seriously
thinking about some export capability to a common contacts database
(that's where I'd want to use ODBC, in our case to a PostgreSQL
database, most likely).  That way, you have a poor man's Exchange
Server!