Shared Contacts Groups vs. Categories

Question

We have Outlook 365 on Mac, PC, AND on the Web just to be extra complicated.

Due to the nature of our employees (EMS first responders) we have a pretty large turnover as folks go back to school, go work at other agencies, or move up in their licensing.

As administrators, we need an easy way to have a master email contact list for each group (EMTs, Paramedics, Dispatchers) for each location (Station 1, Station 2) as well as a master group for everyone.

Here's the challenge: as admins, we want to be able to update those lists as we get new employees, or as employees go to other agencies or stations without having the higher level administrators having to do anything. Currently, the majority of the staff only has personal emails, and not company email addresses.

Is there a simple way to set up contact lists that automatically update who is on the list for specific employees?

(Example: We hire John B. John B is an EMT and at Station 1. Admin A adds John B as a contact to the EMT group with categories of EMT and Station 1, and it automatically adds the new contact and updates the list for Admins B and C without extra steps.)

I feel like this should be able to be accomplished, I just can't figure out how to share the contacts in a way that auto updates as changes are made by other users. I know we can categorize contacts, but I can't figure out how to create:

• a universal contact list (with contacts that have non-company emails) for specific users (who all have company email addresses)
• A way to auto update those contacts, groups, and categories for all shared users when changes (adds, removals, or contact information changes) without extra steps for Admins B and C.

I've read several question responses on this topic but none of them really tell me how to do it in a way that doesn't require the specific user (Admin B and C) to manually update lists or perform other steps.

Help!

Answer 1

Hello Lindsay B.,

Thank you for choosing the Microsoft Community! We are happy to help you.

Based on your description I understand you want a way to set up contact lists that automatically update who is on the list for specific employees. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I have done some further tests and research to try achieving your goals. However, this feature is not available yet. Meanwhile I could suggest to post your query on Microsoft Power Automate Community - Power Platform Community to confirm if there maybe a way to automate your query or request using their set of services.

Given the situation we’d like to invite you to leave feedback to our related team where the engineers cherish your valuable ideas much Outlook · Community (microsoft.com). As you know many products’ services have been designed based on customers’ constructive ideas and comments.

Your kind understanding is highly appreciated. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Anesu | Microsoft Community Moderator