i got a new job <<< thinly veiled technical questio

30 Jul 2004

hey, i got a new job today! woo hoo! :bounce: but please no congrats or owt!
i'll be working from home, in a marketing kinda capacity, and need :-
a working pc! lol

a broadband connection.
a phone line for business calls
a database of contacts with company details, contact history, and some sort of appointment / call back scheduling.
questions . . . . .
BT broadband needs a USB connector as far as i can tell . . . . until i get a new PC, i need to rebuild a PII with bits from the PIII mentioned elsewhere! :lol: it won't have a USB connector! can i get broadband using an ethernet NIC card, or a serial cable, or a PCI card??? dunno

BT customer service / sales people don't answer their inbound enquiries!!!!
rather than spend countless hours trying to persuade MS Access to do what i think i'm asking it . . . . . any suggestions for a simple diary / contact management thingie able to schedule and maintain notes of about a 100 activities per day???
sorry! redface

:lol:
neil x x x x

30 Jul 2004

Not sure about BT, but I'm on NTL and you can definitely connect the PC to broadband modem using NIC and some CAT5. They recommend USB though, maybe cause it's much easier to setup?
No idea on the contact database, sorry.

30 Jul 2004

hi neil you can get a pci card that has usb connectors so use that my friend dont go to pc world they rip you off get it from any normal computer shop in the high street, oh you might want to try too they have good deals on stuff as well I hope I have helped you out a bit m8

30 Jul 2004

BT broadband needs a USB connector as far as i can tell . . . . until i get a new PC, i need to rebuild a PII with bits from the PIII mentioned elsewhere! it won't have a USB connector! can i get broadband using an ethernet NIC card, or a serial cable, or a PCI card??? BT customer service / sales people don't answer their inbound enquiries!!!!

If I remember correctly the BT modem is only usb. You could always by a usb pci card which would solve that problem.

a database of contacts with company details, contact history, and some sort of appointment / call back scheduling.

You need to be careful here. You need to make sure you aren't calling people that have put their names on the tps list (telephone preferential service?). This basically means they have opted out receiving cold calling from marketing companies. If you ring them and they complain about you I believe you could be liable to receive a possible fine. This service was mainly enforced with residential numbers. However, I believe it has now been extended to businesses to. Either way it's soemthing you need to check on.

They recommend USB though, maybe cause it's much easier to setup?

Strange. Considering you get far better quality through ethernet connection than usb.

30 Jul 2004

Neil - you could get a router (eg voyager 20o0 wireless like mine) that has an ethernet connection
Alex x

30 Jul 2004

guys, thanks for your impossibly speedy replies! lol

it's my understanding win 98 isn't fully USB enabled, so don't know if that's a problem for a PCI USB thingie???
thanks for all the tips, checking them as i type! ;-)
ta!
neil x x x x x

30 Jul 2004

it's my understanding win 98 isn't fully USB enabled, so don't know if that's a problem for a PCI USB thingie???

if it's SE you should be just about ok

30 Jul 2004

Quote by neilinleeds
rather than spend countless hours trying to persuade MS Access to do what i think i'm asking it . . . . . any suggestions for a simple diary / contact management thingie able to schedule and maintain notes of about a 100 activities per day???
neil x x x x

If you have got Access then I'm assuming it came with Office. This suite of progarams has one called Outlook, which allows scheduling such as you want.
If not then there are freebie programs available for download on the internet. I would think doing a search on google should find them

30 Jul 2004

Careful Neil, if you order an ADSL Router, then that is what you will get, this will not connect to the Internet and you will need something else as well, what you need is an ADSL/Broadband modem with RJ45. The cheapest that I have found is a D-Link DSL-300T from here it's listed at +VAT (you'll be getting the VAT back, right?), but I negotiated then down to , carriage is , I negotiated them down to Â£0 on my first order (but there was other stuff on my order). Then I ordered it from elsewhere in the end as my entire order came out cheaper.
Alternatively, as already stated you could get a PCi USB card for about Â£15 if you only want to serve 1 computer. If you want more than 1 pc served you'll need the above plus a switch/hub/router (Hub/switch is the cheapest option from about Â£15 for a 4 port switch (will connect 3 PC's plus the ADSL connection)
Contact Management database? In Access click File New, then you can use the Contact Management db template. Or you could use Outlook.
Act is ok, but cheap.
GoldMine is the best that I have used in a networked environment. Hope this all helps.
M

30 Jul 2004

Yes it does Mark! and a hardwired firewall facility.
You can have up to 10 wireless connected PCs on it.
I was logged in from the garden earlier!
Alex x

30 Jul 2004

I have about 6 spare USB Ports on my computer. You can borrow one or two of them if you want Neil !! dunno

:dunno: :dunno: lol

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

30 Jul 2004

Some good advice on here, just don't do what a friend did recently and spend a bomb on a super long USB cable to connect up his modem to his PC upstairs... he blew Â£50 + rolleyes

Network lead the same length nearer Â£3, hehe... If your PC not up to it without USB, and win98 / no software. Maybe you should consider a new one, I just spec'd one for a friend playing on ebuyer, the base unit was really basic but for business should be ok.
The unit was made by elonex and included works (which is basic but would get you started microsoft office type thing) and xp home. Â£280 inc vat, delivery, and 1 years on-site. (No monitor) Noting that a 98 to xp upgrade coming on Â£100 it starts to make sense as an option.
Depends on budget but you may want to consider, it turns up next week so I can tell how good it was.

30 Jul 2004

Quote by neilinleeds
guys, thanks for your impossibly speedy replies!
it's my understanding win 98 isn't fully USB enabled, so don't know if that's a problem for a PCI USB thingie???
thanks for all the tips, checking them as i type! ;-)
ta!
neil x x x x x

Fitted one into my dads old computer running W98 and then upadated windows. Seemed to work ok, he's never complained about it (amazingly enough). If I remember though the plug and play feature was more like plug and PRAY with win98. sad

We've got a network router/adsl modem at work. Built-in firwall and all that. IIRC that was about Â£40 a couple of years ago. Have a shop round, you're bound to find something nice and cheap somewhere

30 Jul 2004

Win98 sr2 or Se had support for usb. as suggested elsewhere, a cheap pci USB card can be fitted easily.
regards your database, if you don't want to use the contact mgt in office (outlook) i can knock you up an access database with everything you need on it(just let me know what you need in it), just email me and i'll knock you something up relatively easily....
should be small enough to email to you pretty rapidly. I do these commercially, mostly SQL with a VB front end but always build in Access first to get a feel for the database.
Of course, no charge to my SH friends smile

as it'd probably take up a whole hour of my life and it's something i enjoy doing, it'd be my pleasure.
Paul and Susie (Paul)

31 Jul 2004

paulnsusie, that's a very very generous offer indeed, and thanks for that! i shall see how the Access contact management wizard performs, and not put upon your good graces though! i can manage a diary in outlook, but scheduling 100 call backs get's a bit unwieldy, so i may be in touch!
Goldmine or SalesLogix would be great, but you seen what they charge even for a single user license!!! ((( sales logix, 15 users, installation and support . . . . about 30-40 grand will do nicely ta! lol

)))
the PII / PIII don't look like much of a way forward, given the bit's i need to buy to get 'em running, so i'm looking at renting a notebook for now, maybe with wifi, then i can telemarket from me garden, and get a tan at the same time!
seriously thanks for all the help! i could spend ages on the net researching, and not get advice this good! and cheers mark for not only letting me abuse your forum, but pm'ing me in the process with more suggestions!
oh . . and if you got any vans, and want a telematics / tracking / satnav solution . . . . . bolt

:lol: ;-)
cheers again
neil x x x x x

31 Jul 2004

oooo Paul (of PaulnSusie)
Now I know where to come with my VBA queries!!!!!!
(just kidding)

1 Aug 2004

Alex...
happy to help in any way i can!!!!
Paul and Susie (Paul) x