On June 1, 2025, the SMS Connector launched its enhanced contact management feature.
Previously limited to contact matching, this upgrade now allows users to seamlessly save, edit, and delete Outlook Contact without ever leaving the app interface.
Note that due to end user restrictions on Microsoft, it is not possible to manage Azure AD Contacts (organization contacts) from the SMS Connector App. For this purpose, the Enterprise Admins must manage the contacts directly in Microsoft Azure AD portal.
(When unified app is fixed, show this instead.)
All SMS Connector functionalities discussed here are applicable to both SMS Connector App and the SMS tab in Unified Connector App.
Summary
The following are the functionalities supported with respect to the sources of Contacts.
Outlook Contacts | Azure AD Contacts (organization directory) |
|---|---|
Contact matching | Contact matching |
Adding contacts | - |
Editing contacts | - |
Deleting contacts | - |
Contact Sync Delays
Contact changes in Microsoft are not instantly reflected in the ConnecttoTeams apps. The delay stems from Microsoft's contact propagation mechanism.
Azure Active Directory Contacts : When admins of your Microsoft organization save, modify or delete organization contacts in Azure AD, those updates will take up to 4 hours before they get reflected in the SMS connector interface.
Outlook Contacts updates may take up to 10 minutes. This implies:
Even after you save a new contact from the SMS Connector interface, the saved phone number will appear unsaved or unknown for up to 10 minutes.
Even after you edited some fields in your Outlook Contact, those details will remain not modified within the SMS connector interface for up to 10 minutes.
Even after you deleted a contact from within SMS connector interface, that deleted contact may appear in the app interface for up to 10 minutes.
Unknown Phone Number
When a user views an unsaved number, the SMS Connector interface shows a contact icon.
When the contact icon is clicked, the contact pane is displayed.
From here, you can choose either "Add New Contact" or "Update Existing Contact" to manage the number.
You may also click X to close the contact pane.
Azure AD Contact (Organizational) Display
When a phone number is matched to an Azure AD Contact, the contact’s display name is shown at the top of the conversation pane. Clicking on the contact icon shows the details for the contact. There is no update or delete button since modifying organizational contacts is not allowed from the SMS Connector.
Outlook Contact (Personal)Display
When a phone number is matched to a known Outlook Contact, the contact’s display name is shown at the left recent list pane and at the top of the conversation pane. Clicking on the contact icon shows the details for the contact along with Edit or Delete buttons.
Adding/Saving a New Contact
When viewing an unsaved number, click the contact icon then the Add New Contact button.
A blank contact form appears with the mobile number already prefilled.
1 - All input boxes are editable. Fill out all fields relevant to this contact. First Name, Last Name and 1 phone number is required as a minimum.
2 - The SMS phone number from the conversation dialog is pre-filled in the Mobile phone number box.
3 - X to remove a phone number
4 - Click +Phone if you want to add more phone numbers to the contact. Click X (as in #3) to remove.
5 - Click Save button to finalize the saving of the contact
6 - Click Cancel or use X at the top right of the pane to discontinue saving the contact.
When done saving, a success message shows the contact is successfully saved.
Due to Microsoft propagation time, the new contact will not appear in our system for up to 10 minutes. Expect to have your saved contact appear unknown for some time.
Updating an Existing Contact
When viewing an unsaved number, click the contact icon then the Updating Existing Contact button. You will be shown a search form to search for your desired contact.
Enter a search string and click Search button. All possible matches will be shown.
Click on the box pertaining to the specific contact record you want to update. The details of the selected contact will be shown with Edit and Delete buttons.
Click on Edit to proceed add the new number to the selected contact.
Update the rest of the fields as desired. Click Update when done. A success message will be shown when completed.
As mentioned, there is expected Microsoft propagation time. Your changes will not appear in this SMS connector interface for some time.
Deleting a Contact
When viewing details of an existing contact, you are both presented an Edit button and a Delete button. The Delete button allows you to remove an Outlook Contact from within the SMS app interface.
Upon clicking Delete, a confirmation prompt will appear to ensure the action is intentional. Once the contact is successful deleted, a success message will be displayed.
As mentioned, there is expected Microsoft propagation time. The deleted contact may still appear in search results for a short period before the changes fully take effect
Suggested Further Reading
For more info about the full support of contact management across the ConnecttoTeams system, check Working with Contacts.
A good starting guide to start using the SMS Connector App is SMS and MMS (Texting): Intro to End User Experience.