How GALYNSKI works: from the source in Microsoft 365 to the contact folder on the phone

GALYNSKI distributes contacts from Microsoft 365 into employees’ mailboxes so that they arrive on the phone. This page describes the path of the data in five steps, names what GALYNSKI never does, and explains the terms that come up along the way: global address list, Entra ID, contact folder, admin consent, application permission.

The data flow in five steps

1. Connect. A Global Administrator grants GALYNSKI admin consent in the tenant once. From then on the app works with application permissions: it reads and writes in Microsoft 365 without anyone being signed in, and without any user passwords. Connecting takes a few minutes.
2. Read. GALYNSKI reads only the sources chosen in an address book: 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. Rooms, resources and system accounts are filtered out.
3. Address book. An address book is a name, one or more sources and recipients per source, all users or specific groups. Up to ten address books per organisation. Within one address book every person gets one card; if they are in two sources, the first one wins.
4. Write. In the window from 02:00 to 05:00 local time, GALYNSKI creates a separate contact folder per address book in every recipient’s mailbox and writes the contacts into it: new ones added, changed ones updated, deleted ones removed. If a source suddenly shrinks to a fraction, GALYNSKI stops the affected address book before a single contact is changed, and reports the reason. Every run is in the dashboard with counts and notes; the report arrives by email when something changed or an error occurred.
5. Device. 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.

The sources in detail: global address list, members of a group, shared mailbox, SharePoint list and external contacts; separate folders on the page Multiple address books.

What GALYNSKI never does

• Write into a source. Maintenance happens in Microsoft 365; distribution runs in one direction.
• Touch private contacts. GALYNSKI writes only into the folders it created itself.
• Ask for or store passwords. The connection runs on application permissions and admin consent.
• Require an extra app or an MDM profile on the device.
• Empty folders because a source is suddenly missing. The deletion safeguard stops the affected address book before a single contact is changed.

Glossary

Global address list (GAL)

The directory of all mail-enabled objects of a Microsoft 365 tenant: users, groups, rooms, mail contacts. According to Microsoft, the built-in GAL includes “every mail-enabled object in the organization” (Address lists in Exchange Online, retrieved on 16 October 2026). Outlook queries it live on every search and never stores it as contacts. That is why it does not reach the phone by itself.

Entra ID

The directory behind Microsoft 365, formerly Azure Active Directory: user accounts, groups, applications and their permissions. The users’ profile fields (name, job title, department, phone numbers, company, office, address, photo) and their group memberships come from there.

Contact folder

A folder in the mailbox where Outlook stores contacts. Outlook and the Outlook app show it automatically; the contacts reach the contacts app and caller ID through the Outlook app. GALYNSKI creates a separate contact folder per address book and writes only there.

Admin consent

The one-off consent of a Global Administrator that an application may work with certain permissions across the whole tenant. It applies to all users; nobody has to consent individually. When a new permission is added, say for a new source, the administrator reconnects Microsoft 365 once.

Application permission

A permission with which an application works without a signed-in user, for example during the nightly run. GALYNSKI uses only such permissions and therefore needs no passwords. In detail:

• Contacts.ReadWrite: read and write contacts in the mailboxes. GALYNSKI writes only into the folders it created itself.
• User.Read.All: read user profiles: name, email address, job title, department, phone numbers, company, office, address and the profile photo (can be switched off under “Colleagues’ photos”).
• GroupMember.Read.All: read the members of groups, including through nested groups.

Sites.Read.All

Read access to SharePoint. Technically the permission covers all sites of the tenant; GALYNSKI reads only the lists chosen in an address book and never writes to SharePoint. It is needed only when a SharePoint list serves as a source.

OrgContact.Read.All

Read access to the organisation contacts, that is the mail contacts from the Exchange admin centre. No write access; it is read only when an address book uses the “External contacts” source. If the permission is missing, the run stops at this source without removing anything.

Address book

In GALYNSKI a name, one or more sources and recipients per source. The name is the name of the contact folder in Outlook and in the Outlook app. Up to ten per organisation, say “Colleagues”, “Vendors” and “Customers”.

Deletion safeguard

If a source suddenly shrinks to a fraction, say because a group was emptied or a list was delivered incompletely, GALYNSKI stops the affected address book before a single contact is changed, and reports the reason. As soon as the source is complete again, it continues.

Nightly run

The daily reconciliation in the window from 02:00 to 05:00 local time; the time zone can be set per organisation. If you do not want to wait, start a manual run in the dashboard; at least five minutes lie between two manual runs.

Price

4.00 € per user per month, or 36 € per user per year on the annual plan. From 51 users 3.60 € or 33 €, from 251 users 3.20 € or 30 €, each plus VAT. Counted are the users who receive contacts; sources and address books cost nothing extra. All prices on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Do employees need an app or device management?

No extra app and no device management. Outlook shows the folder by itself; the Outlook app brings the contacts into the contacts app with “Sync Contacts” or “Save Contacts”.

Which permissions does GALYNSKI need in Microsoft 365?

Application permissions that a Global Administrator grants once via admin consent: reading user profiles, groups, SharePoint lists and external contacts, and writing contacts in the mailboxes; GALYNSKI writes only into its own folders. Which permissions those are in detail is in the glossary below. GALYNSKI never needs user passwords.

Where do the contacts live?

In the mailboxes of your tenant, in a separate folder per address book. GALYNSKI is hosted in the EU; the contracting party is SSIG-IT GmbH in Germany. What GALYNSKI processes and for how long is set out in the data protection documentation.

How long does the setup take?

Connecting takes a few minutes: grant admin consent, create the first address book, done. The first run then starts automatically; small teams are done within minutes, large organisations within several hours. The dashboard shows the progress.

What happens when the contract ends?

The contacts stay on the phones for another 14 days, then GALYNSKI removes the folder automatically. Employees’ personal contacts are not affected.