Distribution lists won't update changed fax entries

Running Outlook 2003 on Exchange Server 2003. We've set up several
distribution lists in a public contacts folder. Some of these lists have fax
receipents only (i.e. contacts with only a fax machine and no email address).
Others are email receipents only. Email lists update fine when there are
changes, and we click on the Update Now button.

The fax entries however, don't look right and won't update. I see two
fields in my distribution list's properties: Name and Email. The Email
field has the entries formatted as so: contact name@fax number. If I
change one of the distribution list member's fax number and then click on
update now in the distribution list I get a dialog box telling me one or more
of the members is missing and what do I want to do with the orphan entries.
No matter what option I choose nothing happens. The Email field on the
changed receipiant doesn't change and update to reflect the new business fax
number. The only way to get the list to update is to remove the member and
then readd them.

I can forsee two solutions to this, neither of which I'm quite sure how to
do. Either do away with the Email field and not include it on the fax lists
and instead have a Business Fax field show (since these receipents only have
a fax and no email entry) that will actually update when changes are made.
Or I need to know how to get this "Email" field to reflect the changes in the
Fax number. This is a visual error only. The faxs still send fine even if
the "Email" display field isn't correct, but it makes it hard to know whether
my fax entries are up to date when I need to go in and change some.

You're doing one better than most. For most of us, neither the Email
addresses nor the fax numbers will update with the "Update Now" button.
DL's are so dysfunctional most users go out of their way to avoid using
them.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Josh" wrote in message
...
Running Outlook 2003 on Exchange Server 2003. We've set up several
distribution lists in a public contacts folder. Some of these lists have
fax
receipents only (i.e. contacts with only a fax machine and no email
address).
Others are email receipents only. Email lists update fine when there are
changes, and we click on the Update Now button.

The fax entries however, don't look right and won't update. I see two
fields in my distribution list's properties: Name and Email. The Email
field has the entries formatted as so: contact name@fax number. If I
change one of the distribution list member's fax number and then click on
update now in the distribution list I get a dialog box telling me one or
more
of the members is missing and what do I want to do with the orphan
entries.
No matter what option I choose nothing happens. The Email field on the
changed receipiant doesn't change and update to reflect the new business
fax
number. The only way to get the list to update is to remove the member
and
then readd them.

I can forsee two solutions to this, neither of which I'm quite sure how to
do. Either do away with the Email field and not include it on the fax
lists
and instead have a Business Fax field show (since these receipents only
have
a fax and no email entry) that will actually update when changes are made.
Or I need to know how to get this "Email" field to reflect the changes in
the
Fax number. This is a visual error only. The faxs still send fine even
if
the "Email" display field isn't correct, but it makes it hard to know
whether
my fax entries are up to date when I need to go in and change some.

Why does this reply not give me much hope? So does this mean Microsoft is
aware of the problem and is working on a patch?

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You're doing one better than most. For most of us, neither the Email
addresses nor the fax numbers will update with the "Update Now" button.
DL's are so dysfunctional most users go out of their way to avoid using
them.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I can't speak for Microsoft. All I can tell you is that the deficiencies in
DL's have been pointed out repeatedly and none of them ever gets fixed.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Josh" wrote in message
...
Why does this reply not give me much hope? So does this mean Microsoft is
aware of the problem and is working on a patch?

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You're doing one better than most. For most of us, neither the Email
addresses nor the fax numbers will update with the "Update Now" button.
DL's are so dysfunctional most users go out of their way to avoid using
them.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]