Contacts question for switching from BB to new Android phone

[srfoot]

I am going to switch from BB storm to Prime when it comes out. I have multiple contact groups set up in outlook (eg. Family, Business, Office, Stores, etc.). When I need to change a whole group I can export the data from my mssql database and replace one group completely in outlook without affecting the others. The data I import might be as follows:

First name
Last name
Address one
Address 2
City, State zip
Birthdate

Or when I add a new contact I can label what group it goes into. These groups can then sync right to my BB with the desktop software.

How can I accomplish the same thing with my new phone? Can I import individual contact groups and then modify them as needed? Do I Then sync those contact groups with my phone and then change them as wanted?

Any directions would be appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[PvilleComp]

Are you using Outlook with POP/IMAP or Exchange?

If you are using Exchange, your contacts will come over as you have them set up in Exchange. and they will update as you update them in Exchange. That does not mean that the native People/Contacts app will display them the way you want them to, but the data will be there. There are many Contact/Dialer apps in the market that will slice and dice your data any way you want it.

If you are not on Exchange, things get a little more difficult. Consider keeping your contacts synced with Gmail. In the long run this will be the simplest and easiest way to manage contacts.

Hope this helps.

 

[srfoot]

Thank you for this information.

 

[amyshaw]

Thank you for this information. It's very helpful!

I'm considering making the switch from a BB to an Android. I'm pretty settled on doing it but I am also worried about the migration. Today I use the BB Desktop Manager on my own (I don't have a work acct and thus don't sync with an Exchange Server) at home with Outlook to keep them in sync. It's buggy and painful and I want to move on.

I have a Gmail acct and I've already migrated my calendar data to Google Calendar. That looks ok. But I use "filters" in Outlook Contacts and on the BB. I'm heavily tied to filters in Contacts to keep track of "services", "friends near", "friends afar", "yellow pages", etc. Are you saying that I can migrate all of this data and it will be there but I will:

a.) be disappointed with the contacts app on the Android? I will need to purchase something else?

b.) be disappointed with the contacts in Gmail on my desktop? I will want to purchase something else? (I'm already evaluating the contacts in Gmail and I don't see a way to filter...)

c.) both a and b?

How do I go about migrating my contacts in Outlook or on the BB to the Android when I'm ready?

I'm finding in making this switch that there are a lot of things I'll have to buy from the marketplace: to do list, notes app, etc. because these just aren't comparable to Gmail's functionality. So, I'm a little hesitant to buy yet another app for my contacts, but maybe I have to. The key thing I want to stop doing is synchronizing with the BB Desktop Mgr. If I can cobble together these core apps and have them always in sync between my desktop and my Android, I guess I can live with the extra purchases. Do I seem like the right user for this Android/Google environment?

I really appreciate your time on this.

 

[PvilleComp]

Most of the apps in the market are free or at least have a free and premium version, so you can try it first. There are ton's of free dialer and contact apps.

I don't use filters myself, but when you load from outlook to Gmail the data will be there, it's just a function of finding the right contact app to sort it the way you want. Read the descriptions in the market, they will help you sift through the apps that will not do what you want. I had to find one for a client who switched and he went from cussing to saying, wow very quickly. (Unfortunately, I don't remember which one it was off the top of my head)

I resisted Gmail for contacts at first myself. HTC has a program called HTCSync that will sync outlook and your phone, but it got to be a real pain and when I started flashing ROM's, Gmail just made my life much easier to restore things.

Hope this helps.

 

[amyshaw]

It does. Thank you very much!