Creating Mail Contacts

There are many times when an organization has the desire or need to communicate with users external to the Exchange Server organization but still have that user show up in the GAL. When this situation occurs, it is an ideal opportunity to utilize a mail contact.

Known as a custom recipient in some older versions of Exchange Server, this functionality has existed for some time, but the creation and management process has changed slightly from revision to revision.

To create a mail contact in the Exchange Management Console, perform the following steps:

1. Start the Exchange Management Console.
2. In the Console Tree, navigate to the Recipient Configuration \ Mail Contact node.
3. In the action pane, click New Mail Contact; this starts the New Mail Contact Wizard.
4. On the Introduction page, you can select whether you are creating a new contact or choosing to mail-enable a contact that exists in your organization but was previously not mail-enabled. For this instruction, select New Contact, and then click Next to continue.
5. On the Contact Information page, fill out the following fields:
   • Organizational Unit-Select the Specify the Organizational Unit check box if you want the contact to reside in a specific OU. The default location is in the Users container.
   • First Name, Initials, Last Name-Enter the appropriate information in these fields.
   • Name-This field will automatically be populated based on the information entered in the First name, Initials, and Last name fields. You can change this setting to match your company standards if needed.
   • Alias-Enter the desired alias for the contact.
   • External E-Mail Address-Click the Edit button to enter the SMTP address for your mail-enabled contact (example, remote.user@yahoo.com). Click OK to continue.
6. Click Next to continue.
7. Review the Configuration Summary and click New to accept the current configuration and create the mail contact.
8. On the Completion page, review the summary and ensure the item was created without error. Click Finish to continue.

Note: Mail contacts can also be created and edited in the Exchange Management Shell and in the new Exchange Control Panel interfaces.