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abandurian's avatar
abandurian
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Feb 01, 2023

There is one problem. Apple (unlike Google) prohibits the extension to poll external servers during the identification. This is exactly why all the existing solutions MUST download the ENTIRE GAL locally (into a secure address book partition, not accessible by user normally) to provide identification. Google allows server lookups during ID, so you have more chances of seeing this on Android first 🙂

SchiefVanCleef's avatar
SchiefVanCleef
Brass Contributor
Feb 01, 2023
Thank you for your comment. You are right. In this case, Outlook would also have to provide the GAL in a partition to which normal users do not have access. Don't see this as a showstopper. It is even desired that Outlook in the best case cyclically retrieves the GAL data and provides it locally (hidden) for call identification. In addition to his personal Exchange contacts, the user still has the possibility to use the GAL (visibly) via the search or Microsoft Graph quickly and easily.
  • markdevr's avatar
    markdevr
    Copper Contributor
    Jul 07, 2025

    Hello, did anything ever come of this? Wondering if you ever spoke with Microsoft about this.

    • SchiefVanCleef's avatar
      SchiefVanCleef
      Brass Contributor
      Jul 08, 2025

      Hi markdevr,

       

      My initial hope was that Microsoft would address this topic quickly, enabling all of us to implement proper data separation and privacy controls—or at the very least provide a significant comfort feature for end users. As we now know, unfortunately, that still hasn’t happened.

       

      I also tried reaching out to several Microsoft PMs to raise awareness and request consideration for the roadmap—but unfortunately, without success. The corresponding Outlook feature request has meanwhile been removed (like many others), for reasons unknown to me. The link is dead and caught in a “permanent loop.”

       

      My current hope lies in Roadmap ID 493753: “Outlook: Contact Improvements on Outlook Mobile”, which was added to the roadmap on May 23, 2025. Microsoft describes it as follows:

       

      “On Outlook mobile we are improving the ‘Contacts’ experience by showing additional profile information for your contacts, where applicable. Secondly, this improvement hides identical duplicated contacts.”

       

      My hope is that the “additional profile information” will come from the GAL, and that this could be the first small step toward the long-requested feature—and a further step toward implementation for iOS-based organizations and users out there.

       

      Fingers crossed! ;-)

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