ActiveX Add-in for Outlook - Choose template to reply with

Hello,

I'm on a hunt. I work for a company that has approximately 36 or so canned statements that they use to reply to the most common questions. Right now they copy / paste.

I am wanting to build an Add-in that will intergrate with Outlook in the form of a dropdown menubar where they can select the appropriate template (form) to reply with.

The only real stipulations would be that these templates each must fire the Reply event and include the original email in the reply. Of course the correct addresses and subject must be included as well. I read a bit about form designer in Outlook and it looks like thats limited to 1 custom form.

Can someone point me in the right direction to get this started? Im working with XP, Outlook 03, and VB6. I've never done an Add-in before.

AND what is the difference between COM and ACTIVEX?