Announcing Business Contact Manager for Outlook Compatibility Update
A new update for Business Contact Manager for Outlook will be released in the coming weeks. With Microsoft Office 2013 being released for commercial users recently and being made available to consumers soon, we are releasing a compatibility pack for Business Contact Manager so that the two can work hand in hand.
Business Contact Manager for Outlook is optimized for Microsoft Outlook 2013, but will also work with Microsoft Outlook 2010. All of the languages supported by Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 will continue to be supported in the Compatibility Update.
If you purchased a previous version of a Microsoft Office suite or a standalone edition of Microsoft Office Outlook that included Business Contact Manager, you will be able to download Business Contact Manager for Outlook at no additional cost. You will also be able to download Business Contact Manager for Outlook if you purchased one of the following products.
- Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 or Microsoft Office Home and Business 2013
- Microsoft Office Professional
- Microsoft Outlook 2010 (stand-alone edition) or Microsoft Outlook 2013 (stand-alone edition)
A few important notes on the Compatibility Pack:
- If you already have a database in Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 your database will be copied and upgraded to work with Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2013, but the two databases will not be synchronized. Your 2010 database will be left in place and you can continue to use it with Outlook 2010.
- You will not be able to share databases between versions. If you are working in Outlook 2013, anyone else you’re sharing databases with will also need to have Outlook 2013 and the Compatibility Pack.
- If you try the new Business Contact Manager for Outlook and want to revert to using your earlier version, you may do so. The new Business Contact Manager Database tool for Outlook 2013 will be released shortly after the release of the compatibility pack. It can be used to create and manage databases which are compatible with Business Contact Manager in Outlook 2013.
Once the update is available, we will post an announcement to this blog, including download instructions and feature details.
Thank you,
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team
Comments
Anonymous
January 02, 2013
Will bcm Support Windows 8 or is the Regent Version of bcm2010 supported in win8?Anonymous
January 03, 2013
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January 07, 2013
@Klaus, both the current version of BCM for Outlook 2010 and the BCM 2013 compatibility update work with Windows 8. Thank you for the support @Michael!Anonymous
January 08, 2013
So, I need to buy a new computer. It appears it'll have Windows 8. I have Office 10 with BCM. You are saying they are compatible. I have 5 licenses for Outlook w/BCM. My main computer will have the database and share it with the new computer with W8. No problems right? gotto know, gotta buy, gotta run right to stay in biz. Thanks, DavidAnonymous
January 09, 2013
"I have Office 10 with BCM." Do you mean office 2010? If so, then I believe that should work just fine. The only thing to watch for (as per the blog post) is that if you have to have all Office 2010 or all Office 2013, you won't be able to share BCM databases from 2013 to 2010 (or vice versa). And yeah, it seems that BCM will work with both Office 2010 and Office 2013 on Window 8.Anonymous
January 12, 2013
What of Office Accounting that interfaced well with the BCM? I only got the basic Office Accounting 2009; any thoughts on a small business accounting upgrade that works with the BCM in Outlook 2010 and 2013?Anonymous
January 14, 2013
Is there any way to include Notes when exporting Business Contacts to a .csv?Anonymous
January 15, 2013
Waiting with anticipation to try out the new Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2013: hopefully editing forms and creating custom relationships will be a lot more reliable and cause less instability in this new version.Anonymous
January 17, 2013
Please reconfirm if Outlook 2010 can open the database of BCM 2013?Anonymous
January 17, 2013
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January 20, 2013
Can you tell us how the updated BCM will be made available to those of us who qualify? I've moved to Windows 8 / Office 2013 and want to make sure I receive notification so that I can install BCM and begin using it again.Anonymous
January 23, 2013
any news, when the Compatibility Update will take place ? Any roadmap on this ? Many thanks for a short feedback. UBRAnonymous
January 23, 2013
Abandon all hope, all who enter here...Anonymous
January 24, 2013
Was that "coming weeks" or "coming months" that it was going to be released?Anonymous
January 24, 2013
In the coming years, I think. Soon as we have Office 2015.Anonymous
January 27, 2013
Are there new features in BCM 2013 or is it only a "compatibility pack"???Anonymous
January 28, 2013
Also from my side I am excited to hear about BCM 2013. We have been using BCM for over 6 years every year now with up to 7 users and it suits our business' need well. What is really imporant to know about the new version is the following:
- Has there been a serious effort to fix the bugs in BCM? The frequent crashes are a cause of hige frustration in our team.
- Has the search functionality been fixed again so that the complete "Notes" field is searchable again (not only the first couple of words) and that the user-defined fields are searchable again?
- Is the size of the DB still limited to 4GB?
Anonymous
January 28, 2013
With the GA release of Office 2013 today, would the BCM Team please give us an update on the status of BCM for Outlook?Anonymous
January 29, 2013
Looking at Microsoft Office website today I still don't know which Suites contain Business Contact Manager. Even if it isn't available at launch one needs to know which suite to buy.Anonymous
January 30, 2013
Update: www.microsoft.com/.../details.aspx www.microsoft.com/.../details.aspxAnonymous
January 30, 2013
I installed the "Full Installation for Upgrading from Business Contact Manager 2007" file onto my clean Windows 8 Office 2012 pro setup. The installation initially said "Dynamics CRM" on the installation spash screen, but this subsequently changed to "BCM for Outlook". The installation looks for .Net Framework 3.5 sp1 and installs this if not present, then installs SQL 2008 Express. Once installed it runs just like BCM 2010 did. I successfully imported data and customisations from another BCM 2010 installation. (I have not yet tried connecting to a shared database). It looks like a simple re-compile of BCM 2010 to work with Outlook 2013, all graphics and help etc still reference BCM 2010. There are no new features that I can see, and I must assume all the limitations of BCM 2010 are still there, (and the bugs). On the one hand, good news BCM 2010 can run with Office 2013. On the other, this looks like an opportunity missed, the minimum work has been done to get BCM to run in the new environment, and I expect BCM will now slip back into undeserved obscurity, at least as far as Microsoft are concerned.Anonymous
January 30, 2013
Oops, that's my obvious typo. I installed BCM onto my clean Windows 8 and Office 2013 pro setup. Looking a little deeper, the version number is now 4.1.9812 (BCM 2010 was 4.0.9812) so when restoring a backup this says the file will be "upgraded to the new version" which then restores correctly. It is probably this version number change which will prevent connecting to a shared BCM 2010 database.Anonymous
January 31, 2013
So what I'm reading here is that there will be no BCM 2013. I must uninstall Outlook 2013. Install Outlook 2010. Install BCM for 2010. Upgrade BCM for 2010, and then re-install Outlook 2013. REALLY! Come on Microsoft. Let us make our own decision as to what CRM we would like to use.Anonymous
February 04, 2013
The real installers for a New Outlook 2013 can only be gotten from Microsoft Office Technical Support Second Level. At least that is what I was told.Anonymous
February 06, 2013
No @DJ Hunt, I had a "clean" install of Outlook 2013 with no BCM included. I then downloaded the "Full Installation" BCM file, ran it, and had a clean installation of BCM with my outlook 2013. If you've got a new Office 2013 installation this is an easy way to go. The other scenario is that you have an Office 2010 installation with Outlook BCM, and then you do an in place upgrade to Office 2013, in that instance you just need to download the smaller update and run that, that will upgrade your BCM 2010 (which won't work with Outlook 2013) to BCM 2013, which does. I don't know what you mean by a "real installer for a New Outlook 2013" but the "Full Installation" package available here is a complete BCM 2013 system. You can download it, and apply it to Office 2013 to get BCM 2013 installed and working on it wihout having an earlier version of BCM. Stuart BurningsuitAnonymous
February 11, 2013
Hello I performed a clean install of Outlook 2013 (Office 2013) with no BCM included. Where can I find the BCM installation file? What is the recommended version of BCM for Oulook 2013 (BCm 2010 or BCM 2013 [does BCM 2013 even exist?])? Cheers MarianAnonymous
February 12, 2013
@Marian. Download the "Business Contact Manager for Microsoft Outlook 2013: Full Installation for Upgrading from Business Contact Manager 2007" from the Microsoft Download centre. Pick either the 64 or 32 bit depending on what level of Office 2013 you have installed. Run the downloaded installation file and Voila, you have BCM 2013 (Which is functionally the same as BCM2010, but works with Office 2013) Stuart BurningsuitAnonymous
February 12, 2013
@Stuart Many thanks for the feedback! I have another question and I hope you can clarify this: is there any Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2013 Database Tool ? The idea is the following: we have Office 2013 installed with BCM (ver 4.00.12006.00) and we want to create a shared BCM database running on a server. After a few searches I could only find the Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 Database Tool download link. Is the 2013 version released? Will the 2010 version of BCM DB Toll create a database that can be accessed by Outlook 2013 users (downward compatible?) ? Cheers MarianAnonymous
February 13, 2013
@#Marian and others who've been asking about the DB Tool... Watch this blog as we will be announcing the availability of the Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2013 Database Tool soon. When it's released, we'll put up a blog post with a link to where to download it. Thank you, The Microsoft Dynamics CRM TeamAnonymous
February 17, 2013
@stuartb - I was able to follow your instructions and get BCM to work. Where did you find the version numbers change? When I look at the About BCM pane, the version is still 4.0.12006.00 A general question - The compatibility pack is just BCM 2010 for Office 2013, right? There is not going to be a brand new BCM 2013. Is my understanding correct?Anonymous
February 18, 2013
Any news on BCM 2013 database tool? I have Outlook 2013 on all machines and the shared database is in 2010 format on the 2010 database tool. My users are waiting for the release so they can reconnect to the shared database. Thanks you. If it is going to be a wile, can I import the 2010 database into one of the users 2013 local BCM then share it out through that user? Then migrate it back to the database tool when it come out?Anonymous
February 19, 2013
I downloaded Office 2013 trial as on update to my 2010 because I thought BCM was ready. That is what I was told on a MS chat. Why is BCM from 2007 to 2010 available? All the serious BCM users upgraded along time ago to 2010. I've since uninstalled all of Office 2013 and went back to 2010. MS made the same mistake when Office 2010 came out. BCM was available only because their was a cry for it. Again, most of the people upgrading are BCM users from what I can gather. It's like MS doesn't really understand it's customers. I'd gladly switch to Office 365 if there was CRM like BCM on that platform. THAT would be awesome so I could get away from this desktop software. Dynamics is just a bit too expensive of a leap.Anonymous
February 19, 2013
I downloaded Office 2013 trial as on update to my 2010 because I thought BCM was ready. That is what I was told on a MS chat. Why is BCM from 2007 to 2010 available? All the serious BCM users upgraded along time ago to 2010. I've since uninstalled all of Office 2013 and went back to 2010. MS made the same mistake when Office 2010 came out. BCM was available only because their was a cry for it. Again, most of the people upgrading are BCM users from what I can gather. It's like MS doesn't really understand it's customers. I'd gladly switch to Office 365 if there was CRM like BCM on that platform. THAT would be awesome so I could get away from this desktop software. Dynamics is just a bit too expensive of a leap.Anonymous
February 20, 2013
@Jaimie, The Database Tool for Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2013 will be released soon. Watch this blog for the announcement. In the meantime, regarding your question: "... can I import the 2010 database into one of the users 2013 local BCM then share it out through that user? Then migrate it back to the database tool when it come out?" here's the procedure that should work:
- On the Server, backup the 2010 database
- On the Outlook 2013 + BCM machine, Create a new (Empty) 2013 database.
- Restore the 2010 backup on top of the new 2013 database. (This will migrate the database.)
- Share the 2013 database out to users.
- Then, to move it back to the server, backup the new 2013 DB on the Outlook machine and then restore it on the Server using the DB tool.
Anonymous
February 28, 2013
I have been using business contact manger from the start. I currently have 2010 with BCM. Now with laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones I would like to have my outlook with business contact manger on a server or use it with 365. I have called in to the sales dept and they can't give me a straight answer if I buy 365 will I be able to use the outlook business contact manger????? Con someone please tell me how I can have BCM from all my devices????????? Please anyone???????Anonymous
March 04, 2013
I have the BCM DB Tool installed on a server and created and shared a new database. The problem is that when trying to configure BCM (Outlook 2013) to connect to the shared database I always receive and error message that there is no installed DB on the server. BCM is not able to discover the shared DB installation: using server IP or serverIP + DB name + port. This is not a firewall/ port issue. What could be the cause ? Cheers MarianAnonymous
March 10, 2013
Hi, When is BCM available as a full download? Regards GlennAnonymous
March 24, 2013
When is BCM available as a full download? date ? regardAnonymous
March 30, 2013
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April 03, 2013
Yesterday I talked to someone at Microsoft in the Dynamic CRM dept. They passed me on to one of MS's "partners" to help with BCM and they said, yes, BCM 2013 is available. He also said MS is trying to steer people away from it. DOES THE "BCM TEAM" HAVE ANY UPDATE ON THE DOWNLOAD THEY SAY THAT WAS COMING????Anonymous
April 24, 2013
We have BCM installed on our network with 6 - 8 systems, but have a very difficult time contacting any support persons to answer questions when we have trouble such as extreme latency, lack of syncing between the email address and the client file, holding the email addresses, etc. Any suggestions who in MS has the information and skill sets and can help resolve these issues? Also, has anyone heard that there are fewer than 50 people within MS that have familiarity with BCM and can provide support? My IT guy has tried multiple blog sites, website, MS directly with not a great deal of success.Anonymous
June 20, 2013
We are having problems with synchronization part of bcm and outlook. We have 4 computers all connected to the same remote database. 3 out of the 4 computers are syncing to separate outlook folders on Microsoft exchange accounts. A change in bcm is reflected throughout on every computer, but when they try and sync to outlook 2013, they sometimes sync to only 1 or 2 of the folders, and the changes differ. some will synce 2 or 3 changes on one, and only one on another, and sometimes it doesn't sync at all. absolutely love the product and its perfect for what we want, but the syncing is crucial and this problem is very annoying. can't seem to find help anywhere.Anonymous
June 20, 2013
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July 08, 2013
No, thanks. Really better to use GlipMe as business contact manager solution...Anonymous
August 02, 2013
I may have missed it with all of the conversations happening, but I use the Office 365 Home Premium and from what I gather is that the BCM will not work with this... it only works with the desktop version of Outlook 2013. Can someone comment regarding if a fix will come for it?Anonymous
August 02, 2013
Re: Glipme.... it looks like only the contacts are shared amongst the team. You can't see emails that your team sends to the contact so everyone can see the history.Anonymous
August 02, 2013
From my understanding re: BCM and OFFICE 365 working together, this will never happen. If you want the full functionality like BCM you need to switch to Microsoft Dynamics or some other service.Anonymous
August 18, 2013
I have an Office 365 Subscription and installed Office 2013 on a Windows 8 PC. My previous version of BCM was from 2007. Can I install the full BCM 2013 download and then bring in my 2007 database or do I need to install the compatability pack instead of the 2013 version? Thanks!Anonymous
September 29, 2013
Re. CareyV Yes, but you have a dashboard related to contacts and companies, so you can share opinions and tracks to team, with attachments. It's more quick that to read an entire message history :)Anonymous
October 28, 2013
OK Guys, New single user computer build new office 2013 install. the BCM program will not install!!!! I get a screen to install a driver update program. Help I have been going around on this for a week. I need to get back to work.Anonymous
November 07, 2013
I'm having problems with converting from a BCM 2007 database to BCM 2013. (Currently on hold with Microsoft Support... but they don't seem to have any answers for me.) It's a brand new machine with Win7 and Office Professional 2013. I copied the backup of my 2007 database over to the new machine and did a restore and conversion. However, some of the fields aren't mapped correctly. For instance, on the individual business contact page the work phone number shows up as home number on the drop-down menus, and can't be changed back - BUT it shows correctly as "work" on the business card layout on the right side of the screen. Much more of a problem is the fact that when I click into history and try to open historical emails, Outlook crashes entirely. It doesn't crash on all emails, but about 95% are unavailable. And this is the case not just for old emails prior to the conversion from 2007 - it's also true for new emails added since the conversion. Help. I have years of important history here that I need access to.Anonymous
November 17, 2013
Too true happens to me too Please post a fix MicrosoftAnonymous
November 25, 2013
For those wrestling with the issue I listed in my previous note here, an update: I was able to recreate the database using an IMPORT (instead of restore) of my old data, and although there were a bunch of error messages, I CAN NOW ACCESS MY DATA without crashing! Next I'm going to try exporting and then importing my current data, since the old data is about five months out of date - it would be nice if I could recover the missing messages that have been stored, but which I can't access due to Outlook crashing when I try.Anonymous
November 25, 2013
Okay, not quite so happy as I thought. A lot - a LOT - of the messages are blank. So I can access them, but there's nothing there. Gah.Anonymous
November 25, 2013
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February 11, 2014
Is anyone having trouble with the installation of BCM in Windows 8.1/Outlook 2013 environment? I have I upgraded to the latest software and hardware, meaning I am now on Windows 8.1 with Outlook 2013 on a fast computer. I want to start to use BCM and have not used it in the past. My understanding is that I need to install the full version of BCM as described above. The link above lets me download the following executable: BCM2010-BCMSetup-x64-en-US.exe. However when I attempt to install I get stuck in an endless loop in which I run the installation executable and get to the end where it then tells me it needs to reboot to complete the install. I do that and it brings up the installation wizard again which says: "Welcome to Business Contact Manager for Outlook Please choose your preferred type of installation below: Install Now or Customize"! I have followed this loop through a couple of times now and it never seems to get installed. What am I missing? Do I have the wrong executable for a full install (and not an upgrade)? MichaelAnonymous
February 11, 2014
I'd suggest not even using BCM. Use another CRM otherwise you'll find you will do all this work to get up and running and comfortable with BCM and you'll end up moving to something else anyway. I used to be a long time user of BCM but no longer.Anonymous
February 18, 2014
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February 18, 2014
Agree with Patrick, would be happy to pay $$$ for BCM. Our company would gladly pay $2000 to $3000 per year per user, as it's the perfect fit for our business - as we have tested many other CRM systems that just don't compete. We throughly tested Microsoft Dynamics CRM and we will never use the product !!! - It is far too complicated for what we need !!! and is too difficult to setup - also very slow !!! … Microsoft are you still listening to these blogs , i wonder ???Anonymous
April 29, 2014
Will Microsoft ever fix the Phone # Pull down problem in BCM 2013? It was reported in the fall.Anonymous
December 24, 2014
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February 02, 2015
I bought MS Office Professional 2010 and have been trying to download BCM for this version but all I can get is the upgrade file and therefore does not install on my computer. The new site only provides me with the upgrade file no matter how I type the standalone installation file for Office Professional 2010. If I try downloading the standalone BCM installation file, the installation process doesn't start neither. Tried different places on the web to no avail. Could anybody please point me in the right direction? Thanks in advancedAnonymous
February 05, 2015
Hi guys, 2 years ago in this forum it mentions Business Contact Manager BCM will NOT work with Office365. A multi user client currently has MS Office2007 and uses Outlook, Shared Mailboxes and Business Contact Manager. A MS sales guys tells me BCM does now work with Office365 O365 under the Business Premium plan and BCM "is available for download".. Can anyone confirm this and also advise on how to migrate the data?Anonymous
February 05, 2015
PS the link to download BCM seems to be www.microsoft.com/.../details.aspxAnonymous
February 10, 2015
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