Having Problems with Outlook 2003 Contact List

  • Thread starter Thread starter M. B.
  • Start date Start date
M

M. B.

I am running Outlook 2003, and am having a strange issue when Adding or
Editing my "Contact" List. The problem is that I am not sure how to
re-create this, as it happens randomly, but here is exactly what happens.

I got an email from (e-mail address removed). I read the email, and then
right clicked and chose to "Add to Outlook Contacts". When that was
done, I would fill-in the rest of the necessary information for this contact
(work phone, work fax, address, etc...) and then hit "Save and Exit". I
then go to my "Contact" and double click on John Smith. When the new box
pops up, if I click on the little Open Book (located to the direct right of
the "E-mail address", I get a "Select Name" box.
Now, in that box, it has my complete Contact list. For some (unknown)
reason, SOME of the names there are displayed TWICE. If I right click on
any of the "double names", and choose Properties, I am shown the same EXACT
contact information (meaning, for BOTH John Smith's, the information shown
is identical).

Now, if I exit out of this part, and go to my "Contacts" main menu and
scroll down to "Smith", I only see ONE ENTRY! I have tried doing search
for John and for Smith, and I am only shown ONE ENTRY for this person.

Why is this happening? Also, I noticed that on some of these "double
entries" (while in the Select Name Box), while the "Name" is identical, the
"Display Name" has the name and some additional field information (for
example John Smith (Business Fax) and the "Email Type" is shown as FAX
(rather than SMTP).

I hope all of this makes some sense to someone. I am just confused that
when I try to send email to people, I am asked which of the "John Smith" I
want to choose. It shows me TWO, but there is really only one.

Thanks!
 
Normal behavior. The standard behavior for the Outlook Address book has
always been to display all electronic addresses (both fax and e-mail). That
behavior cannot be changed. The only way to prevent the display of fax
numbers is to store them in a different field or to disguise them (e.g.,
precede them with an alpha character) so that Outlook won't recognize them
as phone numbers.
There are also a number of utilities available that can do this for you
automatically. Some are listed here:
http://www.slipstick.com/contacts/nofax.htm
 
Thanks for making sense of this!

I thought I was going crazy....


Russ Valentine said:
Normal behavior. The standard behavior for the Outlook Address book has
always been to display all electronic addresses (both fax and e-mail). That
behavior cannot be changed. The only way to prevent the display of fax
numbers is to store them in a different field or to disguise them (e.g.,
precede them with an alpha character) so that Outlook won't recognize them
as phone numbers.
There are also a number of utilities available that can do this for you
automatically. Some are listed here:
http://www.slipstick.com/contacts/nofax.htm



--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
M. B. said:
I am running Outlook 2003, and am having a strange issue when Adding or
Editing my "Contact" List. The problem is that I am not sure how to
re-create this, as it happens randomly, but here is exactly what happens.

I got an email from (e-mail address removed). I read the email, and then
right clicked and chose to "Add to Outlook Contacts". When that was
done, I would fill-in the rest of the necessary information for this contact
(work phone, work fax, address, etc...) and then hit "Save and Exit". I
then go to my "Contact" and double click on John Smith. When the new box
pops up, if I click on the little Open Book (located to the direct right of
the "E-mail address", I get a "Select Name" box.
Now, in that box, it has my complete Contact list. For some (unknown)
reason, SOME of the names there are displayed TWICE. If I right click on
any of the "double names", and choose Properties, I am shown the same EXACT
contact information (meaning, for BOTH John Smith's, the information shown
is identical).

Now, if I exit out of this part, and go to my "Contacts" main menu and
scroll down to "Smith", I only see ONE ENTRY! I have tried doing search
for John and for Smith, and I am only shown ONE ENTRY for this person.

Why is this happening? Also, I noticed that on some of these "double
entries" (while in the Select Name Box), while the "Name" is identical, the
"Display Name" has the name and some additional field information (for
example John Smith (Business Fax) and the "Email Type" is shown as FAX
(rather than SMTP).

I hope all of this makes some sense to someone. I am just confused that
when I try to send email to people, I am asked which of the "John Smith" I
want to choose. It shows me TWO, but there is really only one.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top