suitability of Access for a project

[bite_tony]

I've been asked by my boss (of a window company) to create a system to monitor service calls (return visits to customers to fix any issues that arise as part of the customer's garuntee)
The boss wants to be able to see:
A) How many service calls are being made
B)How many repeat service calls are being made (and if it is a high number for that to then be flagged up)
C)What is the nature of these service calls (they can be split into four or five catergories)
D) which is the most common of these reasons

The company currently operates a pretty cumbersome spreadsheet, which consists of three columns, customer names, and reason for calls, and wether the problem has been addressed. It doesnt show when a customer has had to make repeat calls because a problem has not been fixed properly, and as a result it is difficult to monitor customer satisfaction and effectivity of service calls.

Now, I've had a little think about it, and I have a feeling this might work better as a database.
Would be it possible for me to create a database which flagged up a situation where a customer has called four times for a problem, or flags up that we are having a large number of customers complain that...'their window locks are broken'.. for example?
I'm fairly certain I can use Access to gauge which problems are cropping up the most.

Basically, I'm asking for your advice on wether it's pheasable as a database, or if i should stick to excel?

Thanks for your opinion on this in advance..

[alansidman]

I'm thinking that this is possible. It comes down to how much time do you have to dedicate to this project. There is a very steep curve to learning Access. It is not as intuitive as Excel. It is important to think out your design in advance so that it does not come back to bite you later on. You might start by reading this white paper on design. If you decide to go this route, I suggest you get a good book on Access and keep it close at hand.

Good luck.

http://www.deeptraining.com/litwin/d...aseDesign.aspx