We’ve used the term “Global Address List” a few times when talking about contacts lists. The Global Address List is a list set up by your system administrator. It includes all users on the network. This is basically a pre-defined contacts list so you don’t have to add everyone in your company to your contacts list.

 

You can see the Global Address List by opening your address book and selecting that contact source from the drop-down menu, like this:

 

 

You can see the contacts from the global address list displayed in the main white screen. You can also see that the Add to Contacts button () is lit up, so we can select one or more entries from the Global Address List and add them to your personal contacts folder.

 

 

We can also access the Global Address List from within a new mail message. Just open a new mail message, and click the To, CC, or BCC button. You can see from the figure on the right that using the Global Address List is exactly the same as using your contacts folder. Just select the contacts or distribution lists you want to send your mail message to, click which fields you want to put them in (To, CC, or BCC) and click OK.

 

The great thing about a global address list is that it ensures consistency. The system administrator can set up distribution lists for groups, teams, or projects to make sure everyone gets e-mail sent to that group. They can also keep the lists updated when staffing or team assignments change.