[vbittersweet]

I've searched the forums for similar threads and, while I've found many about contacts on the Z10, most have been related to GMail not Exchange work accounts. If I've missed something and this should be included in another thread, please let me know.

Overall, the Z10 interface is fast, fresh, interesting and a great move in a new direction. I'm a departmental mobile phone support representative at my organization so I do not have access to our BES 10 server but, in activating/supporting a co-worker's Z10, I noticed that contacts sync is different from legacy devices. I'm writing to let people know about the contacts idiosyncracies I've found and to ask if anyone has any suggestions on ways to better manage.

The good:
BES 10 still allows you to sync shared address books via ActiveSync. Victory! With ActiveSync, neither iOS, Android, nor Windows Phone devices that I've worked with offer this feature and it is a big sticking point for some of our users who need to access shared contacts on a regular basis. Score one for BB!

The bad:
BES 10 syncs multiple address books but puts them all in one big bucket on the device and I can't find a way to tell where each contact is saved. I do not yet have a Z10 of my own (don't ask... regional carrier testing process is sloooooooow) so this could just be because of my limited knowledge. Can anyone tell me if there's a way to figure out which address book each contact is connected to?

The ugly:
BES 10 syncs every address book that appears in Exchange contacts and my BES administrator is telling me that there is no way to filter this down to specific books. This would be mildly frustrating but manageable if it wasn't for the fact that Suggested Contacts and Frequent Contacts are also included in the sync. These are garbage lists that fill up with duplications and/or email addresses that you may never again use. I did figure out how to turn off the population of Suggested Contacts within Outlook Options but it certainly would be easier if you could just choose which address book(s) sync with the device like you can with legacy BBs or, at a minimum, show the names of all of the books and give me a chance to show/hide them from view like iOS. Is there anything I'm missing here? Some other way to make work contacts sync easier?

Thanks in advance for your time and input!

[vbittersweet]

Wow, no replies? Perhaps there are no better ways to manage Exchange contacts on BB10 until an upgrade is released to deal with these items... Or, maybe my virtual breath stinks... Hmmmmm... :-)

[willray80]

I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this.

My office is using BES7, but for a number of reasons will not be able to upgrade to BES10. We evaluated the Z10 with Active Sync for Exchange and it works great with the exception of Contacts/Suggested Contacts. As the OP said, the Suggested Contacts folder is a garbage bin of contacts that is useful in a desktop mail client, but if left unfiltered on a phone, it makes browsing the contacts impossible. My office is waiting for the Q10 to be available from US carriers and wants to finally ditch the OS7 devices for BB10. I'm asking them to hold on for a minute to see if we can get this resolved with an update.

The one and only thing holding us back is that contact folders can not be selectively enabled/disabled. Turning off Suggested Contacts in Outlook/Exchange is not an option.

I'm really hoping that 10.1 will have the option to turn off Suggested Contacts the same way that the iPhone let's you do this.

If anyone has any update on this feature, please post with your experiences. Thank you!

[Omnitech]

I think there are a variety of issues people have with the contacts handling on BB10 in general, I can't say if this is directly related to this issue specifically with Exchange and Exchange ActiveSync, but I suspect there may be some overlap.

Seems to me that they have a little work ahead of them polishing the contacts handling. How it handles contact linking, field data type restrictions, field ordering/enumeration, and then just plain 'old bugs. (ie: one of my peeves is unlike older Blackberries, a phone number or email/web address in the notes field is not recognized as such (and thus clickable etc), BUT ONLY IN VIEW MODE. If you go into edit mode, poof: now you can click on those things. I see that as a bug.

[willray80]

Does anyone know if suggested contacts can be turned off with the 10.2 update?

[vbittersweet]

I have received little to no input on this thread and can't find much help on BlackBerry's Web site either. On 10.1, there is still no resolution. You can shut down the creation of Suggested Contacts via the Outlook contact options but you cannot do anything to filter contacts via the BB10 devices or via the BES10 server account settings.

Posted via CB10

[Omnitech]

I have received little to no input on this thread and can't find much help on BlackBerry's Web site either. On 10.1, there is still no resolution. You can shut down the creation of Suggested Contacts via the Outlook contact options but you cannot do anything to filter contacts via the BB10 devices or via the BES10 server account settings.

What about the following options present on the ancient 10.0.9.x release on my Verizon Z10:

Contacts/Settings/Show Account in Contact List

• BBM Contacts
• BBM Video
• SIM Card Contacts

[Find More Contact Details]

Use cloud services of Research in Motion Limited and its subsidiary companies ("RIM") to find more information about your contacts using third party sources or information that is publicly available from the internet.
(Fine print: "When the above box is clicked, information about your contacts such as phone numbers, email addresses, and BlackBerry device PIN may be sent to RIM's cloud services to search for additional data that is sourced outside of RIM, in order to enhance the information available to you for the contacts you save. You maymanually delete such information saved in your Contacts apps at any time, or change this setting in the future so that such information is not obtained from that time forward.")

One of the first things I did when I got my Z10 is turn all of the above off.

[vbittersweet]

Those options you mention allow you to shut down contacts for specific accounts (personal email, work email, Facebook, etc.) but, when you are connected to BES for work, your only option is to view all work contacts or not to view them. You cannot define specific address books from Exchange that you want to see. The BB10 devices automatically display every contact from every address book including your Suggested Contacts under one big bucket called "Work."

Posted via CB10

[Norg]

Those options you mention allow you to shut down contacts for specific accounts (personal email, work email, Facebook, etc.) but, when you are connected to BES for work, your only option is to view all work contacts or not to view them. You cannot define specific address books from Exchange that you want to see. The BB10 devices automatically display every contact from every address book including your Suggested Contacts under one big bucket called "Work."
Posted via CB10

Vbittersweet; Although not exactly matching your need, mine are somewhat related.... in my opinion the folks at BlackBerry still have considerable work cut out for them in order for effective contact handling in OS10. Everything from contact linking, field data restrictions, field cross-referencing as well as correcting some existing field sync bugs, especially those with MS Outlook need to be addressed. This is all the more compounded especially if they expect current primarily business users to gradually migrate over to OS 10.

[Norg]

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