While demonstrating a million-dollar project, Diana faced an unexpected technical question from an impatient client. Unable to access her company’s Microsoft 365 Global Address List (GAL) offline, she promised an answer in the morning, fearing she had lost the sale.
Remote workers, from sales representatives to teleworkers, often face outdated or inaccessible corporate contact information. This lack of communication can lead to lost sales, wasted time, and frustrated employees. Organizations must ensure easy access to their Global Address List to avoid these consequences.
The impact of outdated contact information
Whether it’s an email address, a phone number, or a physical address, contact information serves as the primary conduit for connecting stakeholders, from employees to customers. But what happens when this information becomes outdated? The repercussions can be more serious than you might think.
Communication failures due to missing or incorrect contact information
Modern businesses rely heavily on effective communication. Whether for project collaboration, handling customer complaints, or day-to-day operations, outdated contact information can pose significant challenges. A bounced email or an unanswered call can lead to missed deadlines, misunderstandings between teams, or even lost opportunities.
Imagine, for example, that critical information intended for a stakeholder doesn’t reach them on time because their contacts are outdated. This could not only bring a project to a standstill but also increase costs due to delays and miscommunication.
Potential consequences for employee productivity and customer relations.
Outdated contact information not only hinders communication but can also negatively impact overall productivity. Employees may waste valuable time trying to reach a colleague or partner. This unnecessary expenditure of time and effort could have been better spent on more productive activities, thus affecting an organization’s overall performance.
Furthermore, from a customer relations perspective, nothing frustrates a customer or potential customer more than being unable to contact a company representative when needed. These incidents, while seemingly minor, can have a cumulative effect, eroding trust in a brand over time. In a world where customer experience is paramount, companies cannot afford such missteps.
Security problems arising from unauthorized access to outdated data in the Global Address List.
Security in the digital age isn’t just about protecting against external cyber threats. Sometimes, the risks come from within. When an organization fails to update its Global Address List (GAL), it becomes vulnerable to potential security vulnerabilities. Outdated contact information, especially that related to former employees or collaborators, can be exploited by malicious actors. This unauthorized access to company communications or data poses a threat not only to the company’s integrity but also to its stakeholders.
For example, a former employee with access to a company’s Global Address List could misuse this information, intentionally or unintentionally, leading to data breaches, insider leaks, or even financial losses.
Why Global Address List synchronization solutions don’t work with smartphones.
Not having up-to-date access to the Global Address List is often a major inconvenience for end users, and many IT teams are either unaware of this or don’t take it seriously. Some IT professionals have stepped in, fighting (and losing) the battle to keep their company’s smartphone users synchronized with the Global Address List. They’ve tried all sorts of solutions, such as manually opening each person’s contacts folder and adding, deleting, and updating contacts from the Global Address List, or dragging and dropping contact folders into Outlook as updates occur.
These solutions fall short for several reasons:
- Manual updates are very time-consuming for IT staff; manually updating the Global Address List for each user’s contacts can result in a loss of dozens of hours per month and prevent them from focusing on larger projects.
- Customization is tedious – Manually configuring exception lists and special groups within a Global Push Address List is a laborious process, especially when it needs to be reviewed with every update.
- Human error is inevitable – From transposed digits, duplicate contacts, accidental deletions and forgotten keystrokes, humans are often the weakest link in the manual update process.
Transforming Global Address List synchronization for smartphones
So, what can eliminate the cost and business risk of manually syncing the Global Address List for smartphone users?
Automation.
The ability to activate automatic synchronization of the Global Address List with smartphones provides key productivity advantages:
- Address listings are available and updated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Offline or remote users never experience that moment of panic when they realize they can’t access the information they need, when they need it.
- Manual insertions, data or user edits, and post-processing of errors are eliminated.
- Computing resources are freed up that can be reassigned to more important initiatives.
Automated synchronization of the Global Address List offers a fast return on investment.
The global mobility team at the consulting firm Oliver Wyman Group needed a way to provide better support for its Global Address List to smartphone users. Employees were expressing frustration at not being able to easily distinguish unsolicited calls from those of important colleagues.
Now, with CiraSync—a secure, cloud-based solution that is easy to set up and scale—the Oliver Wyman Group’s IT team has streamlined employee productivity and saved the company about $100,000 annually in IT labor costs.
Solutions for synchronizing the Global Address List with Smartphones.
Until recently, IT organizations were forced to develop in-house solutions for synchronizing the Global Address List on smartphones, and the results were often disappointing or simply inadequate. But today, several solution providers have created dedicated solutions to automate Global Address List synchronization for smartphones.
Here is a list of some of the offers currently available on the market:
- Add2Exchange (Performed Better) – Synchronized the Global Address List, public folders, and mailboxes, scaling up to 100 users. The solution is cloud-compatible, but not SaaS-compatible. The company offers 8/5 technical support.
- Epicenter (connected software): synchronizes the Global Address List and can be scaled to hundreds of users. The downside of this solution is that it’s only a desktop application and doesn’t support SaaS. It offers email support within one business day.
- CiraSync (Cira Apps Ltd) – Syncs your global address book, calendars, and public folders multiple times a day. It can sync an unlimited number of contacts and calendars and scales quickly to thousands of smartphones. A secure, Azure-based SaaS solution. Offers 24/5 technical support; typically responds within one hour.
If you’d like to see more case studies, visit our Case Studies resource page to see how customers are using the CiraSync solution to boost employee productivity. You can also read testimonials from satisfied customers on G2 Crowd and Capterra.
