Separate address books for colleagues, vendors and customers
At first it was only the colleagues. Then the supplier list was added, then the sales team’s customers, then the on-call team. All in one contact folder on the work phone, because there was only one. This post shows when one folder stops being enough, what separate address books look like and what to do when a person is in two of them.
When does one folder for everything stop being enough?
As long as the folder holds only your own company, nothing stands out. With the second and third source that changes:
- A search for “Miller” returns the colleague from accounting, the electrician and a customer, without saying who is who.
- The sales team’s customers are on every work phone, in the warehouse and in production too, where nobody calls them. If you want customer data to go only where it is needed, you have no way to do that.
- The twelve names of the on-call team are buried among 800 colleagues. Whoever has to call at night searches.
- Nobody can tell which source a contact came from. If a number is out of date, nobody knows where it would have to be corrected.
Separate folders solve this. Created and copied by hand they are a snapshot of one day: new entries are missing, departed ones stay. Distributed centrally they stay current.
What is an address book in GALYNSKI?
An address book is a name plus one or more sources. The name is the name of the contact folder in Outlook and in the Outlook app. Sources are the global address list, the members of a group, the contact folder of a shared mailbox, a SharePoint list or the external contacts from the Exchange admin centre, each with its own recipients. Up to ten address books per organisation. What that means in detail is on the page Multiple address books.
Who needs what? A table before you start
Before you create address books, a list pays off: which groups of contacts exist, where are they maintained, who has to call them? An example from a company with a field service:
| Address book | Where the contacts are maintained | Who receives them |
|---|---|---|
| Colleagues | Global address list in Microsoft 365 | Everyone |
| Vendors | SharePoint list of facility management | Everyone |
| Customers | Contact folder of the shared mailbox sales@company.com | “Sales” group and management |
| On-call | “On-call” group in Entra ID | “Production” group |
It is rarely more than four. What is usually missing at the start is the address book for contacts from outside: vendors, emergency services, property management.
Three address books in one afternoon
- Colleagues. The default address book already exists once GALYNSKI is running: source global address list, recipients everyone. New sources go there unless you pick another one.
- Vendors. New address book, name “Vendors”, source the SharePoint list, recipients all users. Which column supplies name, company, phone or email, you define when creating it.
- Customers. New address book, source the contact folder of the shared mailbox, recipients the “Sales” group. Anyone not in the group does not receive these contacts.
- Check the next morning. The nightly run has created the folders. Look in the Outlook app on a phone: do three folders with the chosen names appear? Does the name appear when a supplier calls? Does the search in the contacts find the customer?
The folder appears by itself in Outlook on the computer and in the Outlook app. The contacts reach the contacts app and caller ID through the Outlook app: on Android with “Sync Contacts”, on the iPhone with “Save Contacts”. No extra app, no MDM profile. More in the guide Company contacts on Android.
What happens when someone is in two address books?
The electrician is in the vendor list and, because he also buys, in the customer contacts. He then has two cards on the phone, one per address book. GALYNSKI shows the number of such overlaps per address book.
Two cards are fine if both folders are meant to be complete on their own. If they get in the way, switch on the setting “Leave out contacts that are already in another address book” in the “Customers” address book. The electrician then appears only under “Vendors”.
Renaming, removing, rearranging
- Renaming happens in place. “Suppliers” becomes “Vendors” without the folder being deleted and recreated.
- Removing an address book: GALYNSKI takes the folder off all phones and logs this per mailbox. The name stays reserved until that is complete.
- The recipients of a source can be changed. A small group first, then everyone, as with any distribution.
What you should know beforehand
- One direction. Maintenance happens in the source. If someone changes a distributed contact on the phone, the next run overwrites the change.
- Deletion safeguard per address book. If a large part of a source suddenly disappears, GALYNSKI stops the affected address book before a single contact is changed, and reports the reason.
- Private contacts stay untouched. GALYNSKI writes only into the folders it created itself.
- Price. 4 € per user per month, less on the annual plan; counted are the people who receive contacts, not the address books. All prices are on the pricing page, the processing in the DPA.
Frequently asked questions
How many address books can I create?
Up to ten per organisation. Each has its own name, one or more sources and its own recipients per source.
Do employees have to set up anything on the phone for each address book?
No, not per address book. The Outlook app takes all contact folders of the mailbox along, so every new address book too.
Does every person receive every address book?
No. Each source of an address book has its own recipients, all users or specific groups. So the customer list stays with sales while the vendors go to everyone.
What happens to the folder GALYNSKI has created so far?
It becomes the default address book, with its name, its sources and its recipients. Nothing changes on the phones.
What happens when I remove an address book?
GALYNSKI removes the folder from all phones and logs this per mailbox. Until that is complete, the name stays reserved. Private contacts stay untouched.
Do multiple address books cost extra?
No. The price stays 4 € per user per month, less on the annual plan. Counted are the people who receive contacts, not the address books.