Is it possible to get rid of Outlook and use only Salesforce for emailing/scheduling/contacts? Is there an app or a plug-in that I would need to simulate an email interface?

We already have marketing automation and mass email tools, but I am interested in finding out if its possible to solely use Salesforce for any and all emailing.  Does Salesforce have this capability?

If not, what other routes exist outside of using Outlook or Entourage? I am looking for something in the 'cloud' so that all of our information isn't stored on desktops.

I would like to set up an email notification to alert me when a contact's account name has changed.  I've tried using the 'ischanged' and 'isnew' functions, but I get a syntax error saying that I cannot use those functions for this type of formula.  

I need to update certain information if a contact has left their current company, and I think the only way to tell is if the Account Name has been changed for that contact.  

How can I set this up without getting a formula error?

This is the formula I wrote to try to map a custom Contact field to a custom object field, but it doesn't seem to be connecting and populating the custom object field with the information in the contact field.  Is something missing?

IF(ISNULL(Contact_Met_del_del__r.Campaign_Connected_To__r.Name), Contact_Met_del_del__r.Campaign_Connected_To__r.Name ,Contact_Met2__r.Campaign_Connected_To__r.Name)

This is the formula I wrote to try to map a custom Contact field to a custom object field, but it doesn't seem to be connecting and populating the custom object field with the information in the contact field.  Is something missing?

IF(ISNULL(Contact_Met_del_del__r.Campaign_Connected_To__r.Name), Contact_Met_del_del__r.Campaign_Connected_To__r.Name ,Contact_Met2__r.Campaign_Connected_To__r.Name)