Sharing Contacts between SharePoint and Outlook 2007

I have a client who was wondering if she scans business cards using some software and adds the customers to the Contacts in Microsoft Outlook 2007, would it be possible to see them in SharePoint? The answer is yes. The integration of SharePoint with Outlook 2007 is very useful and luckily sharing information between the two is pretty easy.

Let’s say you have created a Contacts list in SharePoint (Lists, Create, Contacts). Go to the Contacts list and from the Actions menu select Connect to Outlook. You will see a prompt “Connect this SharePoint Contacts List to Outlook?”. Answer Yes. It will connect you to Outlook and synchronize the contacts. If you have any SharePoint contacts they will show up in your contacts in Outlook, if you have Outlook contacts they will show up in SharePoint. Just refresh the screen to see your contacts. It may take a few minutes, depending on the number of contacts, so be patient. If you do not select Connect to Outlook you will not see the contact synchronization between SharePoint and Outlook.