Sharing a Distribution List (Outlook)

[Gavona]

I can email a distribution list within my organisation. In sent Items the distribution list is properly attached etc. When I send it to another organisation though it arrives as an attachment to the email. The attachment is an empty email with a Subject equal to the name of the distribution list. Trying in the reverse direction I get the same results.

Neither help desk can tell me how to achieve my objective or even how to get a copy of all the email addresses from the distribution list into another file. Any ideas please?

Gavin

 

[58sniper]

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to do. You can send email to a distribution list within your org and it works, but trying it from outside your org doesn't?

Care to provide us with any information that we can use to help you with? Something like:
1. Is this a distribution list in your email client, or one on your organization's server
2. what email client are you using? and version?
3. what email server is your org using? and version?
4. what is the other organization using?

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[Gavona]

Thanks for trying to understand. Let me give some more info:

No problems using the distribution list. I want to share the list with some other people some of whom are within my organisation and some are in another organisation.
1. The distribution list is in my contacts folder
2. Both organisations concerned use outlook, A uses 2003 11.8118.8132 SP2. Pretty sure that B is on office 2003 also. I can get precise version if it helps.
3. exchange server in both cases I can try to find out more if it helps (is there a self help way to do this or do I have to ask the Help Desk - what specifically do you need to know?)
4.I create an email with an attached distribution list. I send it from Organisation A to addresses within organisation A and Organisation B. Only those in organisation A receive a useable distribution list.
5. Similarly in reverse: I create an email with an attached distribution list. I send it from Organisation B to addresses within organisation A and Organisation B. Only those in organisation B receive a useable distribution list.

I can work around the issue and in fact have done so (memory sticks, sending to all on the distribution list plus the folk in organisation B who create their own distribution list). But surely what I am trying to do should be easy and straight forward?

Gavin

 

[TFoss]

why not give the other organization the smtp address from the DL?

 

[Gavona]

Ok so if I have 50 addresses within the DL how do I get the smtp addresses in a nice list to share? Preferably retaining which are in the T box and which in the CC box.

Gavin

 

[58sniper]

What's in the To: box and the CC: box has nothing to do with a distribution list. A DL is a single entity. You don't usually share that with an outside entity that's not doing some trusting of your environment.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[Gavona]

I stand corrected. However having created a distribution list I do want to share it outside the organisation to which I belong. This cannot be uncommon - sharing details of club membership for example - but does seem to be difficult. If there is a smart way then I would like to know.

why not give the other organization the smtp address from the DL?

How do I extract those from my DL? (Outlook 2003)?
How do I best share them so that recipient can readily get them into a distribution list?

So far the best route seems to be to send an email to all members of the group plus the person who needs the DL. But that does not seem a good idea everytime there is a minor membership change. Sending details of changes doesn't work reliably either - we have had issues with different people having different recipients on their list so I wanted to make one person responsible for maintaining and sharing an up to date DL.


Gavin

 

[58sniper]

If you have a DL in your Contacts, there is no SMTP address to the list. If you have the DL in your GAL, then it does have an SMTP address, but allowing outsiders to send to it would be relaying - not a good idea.

You could export the info to a .csv file and send that to others.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP