Microsoft Office Outlook With Business Contact Manager Helps Small-Business
Owners Effectively Manage Their Business and Customer Relationships
In response to customer demand, Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact
Manager is now sold as a stand-alone offering and integrates with Microsoft
Office Accounting 2008.
REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Every small business
needs a way to share and track its customers and prospects, but finding the
right software tools can be confounding. Therefore, in response to popular
demand, Microsoft Corp. is now offering Microsoft Outlook 2007 with Business
Contact Manager, a contact management application that extends the features of
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, as a stand-alone product. The stand-alone
version offers customers an easy-to-use and affordable solution and can be
purchased in retail outlets or at http://office.microsoft.com.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
"Small-business owners need effective solutions for managing their
customer base," said Takeshi Numoto, general manager of Microsoft Office 2007
at Microsoft. "Currently, many small and home-based businesses keep their
contacts in several different places -- some in Rolodexes, some in
spreadsheets. We understand the importance of good customer management and are
providing simple and affordable solutions to help small businesses centralize
their customer information so that keeping track of customers is more
effective and less time-consuming."
Microsoft Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager provides all the
functionality of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, making it easy for small
businesses to track sales and marketing activities in one place, including
organizing contact, prospect and customer information; managing sales leads
and business opportunities throughout the sales cycle; creating, personalizing
and tracking direct marketing campaigns in-house; and centralizing project
information and task management.
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager has gained
substantial momentum since its release, with nearly 2 million registered users
in just 12 months since the introduction of the 2007 version, and is now
offered in 28 languages. In response to customer feedback, the product will be
offered as a stand-alone product at $149.95 estimated retail price (ERP)* at
retail and online. The product is also offered in Microsoft Office Small
Business 2007 for $449.95 ERP, Microsoft Office Professional 2007 for $499 ERP
and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 for $679.95 ERP.
Also, when used with Microsoft Office Accounting 2008, Outlook 2007 with
Business Contact Manager offers small businesses additional benefits, such as
the ability to view customer financial history and to bill for time and create
invoices directly from Outlook. Outlook with Business Contact Manager and
Office Accounting share the same customer database, so any changes to customer
information in one application are automatically reflected in the other,
eliminating the need for complex synchronization or updating customer data in
two applications.
Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2008 has also been released in
retail for $199.95 ERP (U.S). In addition to the Office Accounting
Professional product, the expanded Office Accounting lineup now includes the
following:
-- Office Accounting Standard edition is targeted to smaller businesses
that need more functionality than the free Express edition but less
than the Professional version and are looking for an entry-level
accounting package for an affordable price. Standard includes all the
features of Express, plus budgeting tools and 10 additional reports.
Users of the Standard version also have the option of upgrading to
Office Accounting Professional for $99.95 ERP.
-- Microsoft Office Accounting Professional Plus makes it easier for users
to take advantage of popular add-on services that Office Accounting
offers, such as payroll and eBay integration. It will appeal in
particular to businesses with employees and businesses that currently
sell or want to sell online.
-- Microsoft also offers the free Microsoft Office Accounting Express for
startups and home-based businesses in English (http://www.ideawins.com)
and Spanish (http://www.ideawins.com/espanol) in the U.S. In addition,
the U.K. version is available for download from
http://www.msofficeaccounting.co.uk.
"Office Accounting combined with Outlook 2007 with Business Contact
Manager gives us full functionality," said Eric Kasper, president of Mister
Watch Online. "By using Office Accounting with Office 2007 with Business
Contact Manager, we're eliminating seven of the 12 hours we spend each week
doing administrative tasks, allowing employees to redirect that time to
selling. I use the two to store customer orders and financial histories in a
single database and save all e-mail messages, phone logs and reminders in one
place."
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their
full potential.
* Estimated retail price. Reseller prices may vary.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
pr.mspx./ /CONTACT: Rapid Response Team of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide,
+1-503-443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com, for Microsoft Corp.
