Outlook: Multiple Users Single Account?

Is there a way to set up MS Outlook (XP) so that multiple users can access a single account from their separate computers while retaining all of the files on a primary computer?

Basically, I'm the occasional IT department for a very small company and this is something like a feature request. There are two people with networked laptops, and one main desktop that is set up to retain all the email from this one account.

They want to use their laptops to read and send email from this account, and they want it to be just like they were reading and sending it from the desktop computer. Complete with archiving and deleting.

I am open to any suggestion that solves the problem, including those that don't involve Outlook. Here are some ideas I've had, but I have serious doubts about each of them.
• Setting the folder where the Outlook database lives as Shared, then pointing each laptop's Outlook installation to this same file. I have no idea if this will work. Ideally, they want to be able to use the email account at the same time, and I'm not sure this will allow that.
• Using Thunderbird. I don't know if it will help, but I think it would be cool to move them to more open-source applications.
• Setting up Remote Desktop or VNC, so they just log on through the LAN and use the desktop like they were sitting in front of it. This one is probably stretching it. Also, can anyone else use the computer while someone else is remotely logged in?

That's all the ideas I have. I imagine this is somewhat of a common enough problem so that someone has already solved this problem. That's what I keep telling them anyway.