How to SYNC Microsoft GAL (Global Address List) on Android and iOS mobile devices? Is there a m365 Mobile contacts app?

Question

We use Office 365 in the organization and add employee contact information to the Exchange. All contact information of these employees can then be found in the GAL. Microsoft would doubtless tell me to open my Address Book > select the Global Address List > select all contacts by press shift key and use arrow key to select all or click the first entry and hold the left mouse button to select all > once all contacts selected > right- click and select Add to Contacts. But that isn't the answer to the question ... if a new employee is added after my 100+ staff have added the GAL to there Outlook?

We regularly have lots of changes due to the number of temporary staff in the GAL and need them to dynamically and entirely automomously appear for all mobile users. Simply saying that every person is going to have to select all and add to contacts isn't good enough and completely ignors the problem is causes by having 100's of leavers in every persons's contacts because the advised method add's; but never clears down. Ergo is there a way to SYNC the GAL for mobile users? Is there a mobile app that would allow users to have easy access to the current GAL so they aren't reliant on manual copies of it?

Answer 1

This whole thing is unusable !

With the new outlook app for windows it's not even possible to select more than one contact.

There needs to be a solution to have all company contacts on your mobile device so calls are properly displayed and users can make calls from their mobile !!!

Answer 2

For what's it's worth I use a product called CiraSync to sync the GAL to all users contacts every night, so it stays up to date as we add and remove employees. It's expensive but it does the job. It also has a feature to sync a calendar to all users, so I use it to set the out-of-office holidays or other company specific reminders and sync it to all users calendars.

It is odd that this feature is missing even though it should be easy to implement in M365. People have been asking for this for years.

Answer 3

One of my colleagues just asked me about this very exact feature today and mentioned how it should be a necessity and how it would be painful to manually copy and paste the GAL to his contacts every time we made any adjustment to an employee's details in AD/Entra. I do know for a fact that in a past Exchange environment configuration that we used to have, our end users did in fact have the ability to view the entire Global address list directly from the default Apple Contacts app on their iPhones without having to search at first. Ever since some things changed, this has not been the case for a very long time and many users have expressed their dislike for not having this feature available anymore as it is seen as a vital work tool.Where is Microsoft on providing any new updates on this?

Answer 4

Hello DB O365,

Thank you for reaching out!

I understand that you have a query on syncing the GAL to the outlook mobile app. It is not possible to sync the entire GAL to your mobile device, but you can search for contacts in the GAL using the Outlook app for iOS and Android by typing their name in the “To” field when composing an email. There is no dedicated M365 Mobile contacts app that would allow users to have easy access to the current GAL. I do understand your need for this, and we will surely raise your concerns with our product team.

In the meantime, I did find similar post in the feedback forum Global adress list syncronization with phone contacts · Community (microsoft.com). You can upvote or add a comment to push for this if it is in line with your requirement. Otherwise, you can as well raise a new entry in the forum on link Outlook · Community (microsoft.com).  Many features of our current products are designed and upgraded based on customers’ feedback.

Thank you for your kind understanding.

Best Regards,

Ashraf.

Thanks for looking here - however "you can search for contacts in the GAL using the Outlook app for iOS and Android by typing their name in the “To” field when composing an email" - You can't any more; the directory search has been modified in the mobile app's, such that it only finds the e-mail addresses of people you have previously contected from the GAL in the desktop app... so only works where you've previously sent or recieved a message to that person eg where the information is already in your outlook contacts by other means / cached there. There are 3 names in my GAL that start with the letters CM - I can find all 3 on my desk PC (Outlook app or Webmail) and only find the 1 of them I have previously contacted in the mobile app.

I will do the up vote on the project - as that might eventually put this business critical look up back in to the mobile e-mail where it's needed.

Regards

Dave

Answer 5

Hello DB O365,

Thank you for reaching out!

I understand that you have a query on syncing the GAL to the outlook mobile app. It is not possible to sync the entire GAL to your mobile device, but you can search for contacts in the GAL using the Outlook app for iOS and Android by typing their name in the “To” field when composing an email. There is no dedicated M365 Mobile contacts app that would allow users to have easy access to the current GAL. I do understand your need for this, and we will surely raise your concerns with our product team.

In the meantime, I did find similar post in the feedback forum Global adress list syncronization with phone contacts · Community (microsoft.com). You can upvote or add a comment to push for this if it is in line with your requirement. Otherwise, you can as well raise a new entry in the forum on link Outlook · Community (microsoft.com).  Many features of our current products are designed and upgraded based on customers’ feedback.

Thank you for your kind understanding.

Best Regards,

Ashraf.