New Treo 700w owner - Contact Mgmt question

[hymieuva]

Hello,

I recently bought a Treo 700W, and I like the device very much. So far, I have one major issue that I have tried researching, but have not yet solved optimally.

I have to use Goodlink through my company. I don't mind Goodlink, as it syncs all my calendar, email, and contacts without a hard-wired sync. The problem is that I also use a GMail account on the device using a POP3 setup. Currently, because I am not sync-ing with Outlook, I have no contacts to use in my Gmail access on the Treo.

I maintain one set of contacts on both my Outlook and in Gmail. I tried to set up a sync for Contacts only on my work PC, and it is not permitted (I think IT wants us to stick with Goodlink). I also tried emailing myself a .CSV version of my contacts, figuring I could just update that file periodically. But there doesn't seem to be a place to upload that file once I have sent it to the device.

I have seen there are some software programs to manage contacts outside of Gmail and Outlook. And I could also sync with outlook at home, and just load all my contacts into that Outlook profile as well. But with each of those two solutions I would hate to unecessarily add another contact database to manage if there is an easier way to do what I am trying to accomplish.

All I really care about is being able to access my contacts within the Gmail Messaging interface. I suppose ideally, they would also be available in the phone number entry field on the Today screen, but I think that would take care of itself.

Am I missing something? Have other people determined an optimal solution to this particular problem?

Thanks in advance!

James

[skoenig]

James,

It's actually a very common request that sadly doesn't have any easy solutions.

I started with gmails help
Import Contacts

Then this O'Reilly Google Hacks entry on creating your import file. You sound like this would be easy for you but I'm putting it here in case others need help.

At this point you should have an update contacts list on Gmail.

Moving forward you'll want to sync up not just contacts but calendar entries (maybe, if, like me you like most of the web apps Google do).

To do both an more check out The Holy Grail of Synchronization for a good overview of how to do this using Scheduleworld.

Kimmy and others helped another visitor in this Calendar Sync thread too.

Lastly to synch up two Outlook machines (such as home and work or your's and your partner's), in addition to Scheduleworlds SyncML client, I recommend Plaxo as it does a good job of eliminating duplicates, tracking contacts (who also have Plaxo accounts), notes,journal and calendar entries across all linked machines in the background. Use it carefulyl though, you can easily spam your entire address book with "update me" requests.

Hope this helps.

~ Steph