Hi everyone. I am new to this site and somewhat to Access. I want to make a database program for my growing company and thought I would try it out first before I pay someone else to do it. I worked with Access2 many moons ago and helped start a database for a company I worked for. But I know many things have changed since the Access2 days and want to ask a few questions first before I get started. Here goes:
1) My first concern is about security. I noticed that when you open access, the switchboard is still readily available to view and open stuff in design view. This to me seems to leave the software very vulnerable to employee screw-ups or even malicious activity. Can you set up the database so that the operator never sees or has the opportunity to change the program itself? And can the data also be preserved or kept from errant deletions by my staff?
2) Table scenario: I have a consulting business that works with clients that are in foreclosure. The information that I get is from the public records of the various states I work in. I am currently using Excel to manage my list, but I am seeing that it would be beneficial for me to go to access for many reasons but here is one of them. I use the lists I receive currently for a mail campaign. During the course of the foreclosure process, I send out different mailers with different messages to reflect the stage of the process the prospects are in. When a client calls in, I then complete a questionaire to gather additional information and then to determine a course of action. I want my reps to be able to retrieve the record from the list when the call comes in and then complete the questionaire via a FORM. My question is: should that information completed on the FORM go to the same table that the master list of prospects are or should it be a separately linked table? It seems to me that it should be the separate table but maybe someone can confirm. I should also point out that after a prospect becomes a client, I want to purge that record from the prospect list (SO THAT THEY DO NOT RECEIVE ANY GENERAL MAIL PIECES) and keep them in a new list. So please advise how this is best handled.
Thanks for the help