I was recently contracted to install a call pilot, is there much of a difference programming compared to a flash?

There is a lot of similarities and differences. With CP you can access and program via LAN connection to your laptop. Gives you a nice view of your programming. You can also select the interface default or select per user between a Norstar VM and a Call Pilot VM interface. You may also dial by name using first, last, or either. So to answer your question, Yes & No. You may do it all from a phone like a flash and you won't see much difference. But you can see a lot of differences getting into the LAN connection.