We're trying to find a reliable way to back up the contacts that employees create on their Android phones. I've heard that the Outlook app can sync Outlook contacts with the phone's Contacts app, but it seems like it doesn't sync local Contacts back to Outlook. Are we missing something here? Is there a third-party application that can help with this? Unfortunately, we can't make it mandatory for staff to use the Outlook app, which means we potentially lose important contacts when employees leave. This seems to be a growing concern among our executives.
4 Answers
Are these fully managed devices? If so, you might have more control over how contacts are saved. Also, what kind of Samsung devices are being used? Samsung’s native contacts app does sync with email servers.
You actually can enforce using the Outlook app by letting everyone know that any contacts not saved there could be lost if their device is damaged or stolen. That's what worked for us when we transitioned to using OneDrive for backups before O365. It might sound harsh, but it's a way to protect business interests.
But firing someone over how they save their contacts is extreme. It puts everyone at a disadvantage when salespeople leave and take their local contacts with them. It’s really frustrating!
Totally feel you! We’ve had that talk and it usually goes well. Just makes it clear what they stand to lose.
User training is key here. Are these employees using a work-managed Google account? If so, their contacts might back up to the company's Google account, but I’m not sure how that would work with mobile device management.
Honestly, it's a tough situation. The execs blame IT when things go wrong, but they don't understand that we can't force everyone to use Outlook. Have you thought about using a managed app that contains everything, like Airwatch? That could be an option.
True, but it's still up to the user where they save them. We need a way to restrict this so they can only use our approved method, either through disabling the native app or using a dedicated app to handle backups.