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Help Contact Display Reverting to FirstName LastName

L

lbillows

Lurker
I have a Droid Photon (MB855) that syncs with an Exchange 2003 server (fully patched & updated as of 1/3/12). My PC client is Outlook 2003 as well as OWA.

I have both the Droid & Outlook set to list Contacts as 'LastName, FirstName'.

On the Droid, it's perfect.

Outlook / OWA is another story. I've discovered that any time I get a text, call or email from a user in my Contacts list it changes the display in Outlook / OWA to 'FirstName LastName'. HOWEVER, if I open the Contact and check the 'File As' field it still says 'LastName, Firstname'.

Again, on the Droid it's listed as 'LastName, FirstName' - that never changes.

I've discussed this with other Droid users on different Exchange servers and they too, have the same problem. (*phew* it's not just me!) Their 'solution': In Outlook / OWA, open the Contact, in the 'First Name' field enter the person's 'LastName, FirstName'; leaving the 'Last Name' field blank.

While that is a functional work-around I won't go that route. Changing 500++ contacts is simply not feasible, nor should it be necessary. I can't imagine this hasn't been encountered before... but all the Googling in the world is coming up blank! I'm sure this is some tweak / setting on my darling Exchange server but what?! where!? (as I type this I'm now wondering if I should be posting this to an Exchange forum, not an Android forum....?)

Thanks for your help / time / advice!
 
Welcome to the forums!

I've moved you over here to the Motorola Photon 4G support area because 1) no one seemed to be answering in the Android Lounge (surprising) and 2) maybe the other Photon owners know some tricks that can help - even tho it does indeed sound like Exchange issue.

Not to make a big deal of it, Droid is a trademark used for Verizon phones, as well as popular slang for Android.

So gang, be friendly - no harsh comments needed about the Droid thing in here Sprint-Ville, OK? :) ;)
 
EarlyMon said:
Welcome to the forums!

I've moved you over here to the Motorola Photon 4G support area because 1) no one seemed to be answering in the Android Lounge (surprising) and 2) maybe the other Photon owners know some tricks that can help - even tho it does indeed sound like Exchange issue.

Not to make a big deal of it, Droid is a trademark used for Verizon phones, as well as popular slang for Android.

So gang, be friendly - no harsh comments needed about the Droid thing in here Sprint-Ville, OK? :) ;)
Click to expand...


No problem,EarlyMon. :)

The MO PHORUM is a pretty chill place.The phone itself is sweet,but,all those who preceded myself here have made this a cool & friendly place to hang out & share information.

If the opposite were true,all here would be ripping on me constantly. ;)
 
This is one of the strangest things I've heard happen before. Although, I'm not sure I'm gathering exactly what's happening, so let me see if I break this down correctly (and correct any part of it that's wrong):

1) MoPho is Sync'd w/ Outlook and OWA for Contacts, Emails, Calendar
2) Anytime you get a text message, call, email from the contacts in your Outlook or OWA, the display for your Outlook or OWA changes to First name first? In other words, you're looking at your PC Outlook Contacts, you get a text message from the contact that you're looking at on your PC, and your PC Outlook Contact changes to show the first name first?

If I am in fact understanding that correctly, I really don't think that's an issue with the phone at all. What I can do, is offer a possible solution that may or may not work for you, but at least it's an option:

Export all your contacts from your Outlook/OWA, Import as a CSV file into Gmail, Sync Contacts through Gmail and click off Outlook contacts sync. I really don't know if this will end up resolving your issue, but it's something worth trying if it resolves the flip-flop that's happening.

Of course, last piece of advice I could give is to make sure you back up your contacts for re-importing back into Outlook (if the google contacts doesn't solve the flip-flop issue).
 
EarlyMon -

You're a funny cat. I originally started the post in the Photon group but realized it wasn't a hardware issue, per se, so I went with the general lounge instead... Goes to show, always follow your instincts... *sigh*

As for the Droid slip, my apologies. I've been a VZW girl for a decade++ (including managing our corporate account) and just switched over my personal account to Sprint in August. Goes to show you can take the cell out of VZW but you can't take VZW out of the girl!


drexappeal -

You're not confused at all. You've got it perfectly straight.

While your GMail solution may very well work that's not a viable solution for me. I live and die by Outlook (and quite frankly, I'm simply NOT a fan of GMail, despite my second love being Google....).


After I posted yesterady, and got thinking about the Exchange aspect, I had one of my users (iPhone) mess with her Outlook contact list (which is in absolutely NO conceivable order whatsoever *shudder*) and will play with calling / texting / emailing her today - see if it resets her display / File As to FirstName first as well. If so, then my apologies on taking time in the wrong forum altogether and I promise when (not if, but when) I find a solution to this I'll post back so if others encounter the same they'll know how to tackle it.
 
lbillows said:
drexappeal -

You're not confused at all. You've got it perfectly straight.

While your GMail solution may very well work that's not a viable solution for me. I live and die by Outlook (and quite frankly, I'm simply NOT a fan of GMail, despite my second love being Google....).


After I posted yesterady, and got thinking about the Exchange aspect, I had one of my users (iPhone) mess with her Outlook contact list (which is in absolutely NO conceivable order whatsoever *shudder*) and will play with calling / texting / emailing her today - see if it resets her display / File As to FirstName first as well. If so, then my apologies on taking time in the wrong forum altogether and I promise when (not if, but when) I find a solution to this I'll post back so if others encounter the same they'll know how to tackle it.
Click to expand...

Completely understandable regarding Gmail solution and not being a fan of it. I know quite a few people that aren't a fan of Gmail, but like Google in general. If it does end up being an issue isolated with how the MoPho syncs up with Outlook, I'd be very interested to know what the actual cause is that's making Outlook change. It's the first time I've heard of this on any OS.

Quite honestly, if I was allowed to Sync my Outlook contacts OTA through our exchange before, I likely would still be doing that (instead of gmail or google contacts), but I hadn't gotten approval to do so until I got my MoPho. If I think of any other alternatives, I'll let you know.
 
I'm not ready to go screaming like a banshee at Bill Gates and his script-reading, overseas 'support' (and I use that term loosely) just yet.

Over the weekend something else clicked that isn't letting the Photon (Android, actually, since the other person I know with the same problem has a completely different model) off the hook just yet.

As stated previously, the Contact list on the phone is sorted and displayed by Lastname, Firstname.

However.

I have 6 people marked as Favorites. Interestingly enough, they are DISPLAYED by Lastname, Firstname yet they are SORTED by firstname. ?!?!!?

Example:

In the Contact list they are DISPLAYED and SORTED correctly (Lastname, Firstname):
-- Calrissian, Lando
-- Hutt, Jabba
-- Skywalker, Anakin

In the Favorites list they are DISPLAYED correctly (Lastname, Firstname) but SORTED by Firstname!!!!!
-- Skywalker, Anakin
-- Hutt, Jabba
-- Calrissian, Lando

So how 'bout THEM apples!!! Sorry for the oversight in not mentioning this earlier but for you kids playing along I thought this might be an interesting little twist for you to ponder.
 
you are right this is messed up. I am experiencing the same thing. Any contact that I access via my motorola droid bionic gets changed to first last although the contact appears the same when you stare at it in Outlook. When I wipe and retype the contact then it goes back into place by last name. WTF?! lol
 
rslobe - Question for you! Is your Outlook set up to an Exchange server? ISP email? What version of Outlook? I'm on Outlook 2003 fully patched... I'm going to email the other person I know of with the same problem. I wonder what version of Outlook he's on... Could it be some weird quirk b/w a particular version of Outlook?!
 
Ibillows,
Are you sure the contact is fileas is changing from simply getting a text or call from a contact? Or have you edited that contact in the native android contact app?

I have the similar issue. I know how to reproduce the problem, just not a fix or a work around.

When you edit a contact in the native Android contact application, it changes the "file as" name to First Name Last Name. This happens behind the scenes and I cannot find out how to prevent this.

Touchdown reads the Exchange servers "file as" name, just like OWA. If you log into your Outlook Web Access and view the "file as" in list view, the names of people you edited in the native contact app will also be listed as first name last.

Whats funny is that in Outlook, if you actually OPEN the contact the "file as" is listed correctly (i.e. Last name, First name), BUT if you go to list view and add the "File as" column you will see that the contact "file as" is really listed First Name Last Name. Not sure why they show differently.

To correct the contact, go into Outlook, change the "File as" to another selection (i.e. first name last name), save the contact, then change the "file as" back to Last Name, First Name and save again. (You can also do this in Outlook Web Access to correct the name formatting).

When the contact syncs again with Touchdown it will be displayed correctly. (also displayed correctly on Outlook Web Access).

If you edit the contact in Touchdown, there is NO problem, it saves fine. I only have the problem if I edit the contact in the native contact app.

I have done a LOT of searching on this topic. Seems like there were several posts about the issue in 2009, no one posted any fixes. So I assume people just live with the issue. Most people probably don't even know the problem exists, because the Native contact app and Outlook appear to list them correctly.

From my research, it appears the native contact app, sends the "Full Name" out to the server, which gets saved as the "File As" name. (BTW Full Name is typically formatted like First Name Last Name). But since Activesync has no options for field mapping. I don't think there is anything we can do.

I have tried many different scenarios. The issue has nothing to do with Outlook on your computer, because, i have tested making changes while Outlook was offline, and the issue still happens.

FYI, I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Outlook 2010, Exchange Server 2003, and I also use Touchdown.

Also, our IT guy has and HTC Incredible, he has the exact same issue.

Anyone have any insight they would like to share?

Jeff
 
I think I've got it. Or at least I'm *on* to the right path. And I will say this... shame on me for not recognizing this sooner.

Yes, I have my corporate email set up on my Photon. But I ALSO have 5 other email accounts (Gmail, Hotmail x2, Live x2) set up. Those accounts are set up via WLM on my personal laptop as well as my work desktop.

Has the lightbulb gone off yet? It's pretty blinding when it does.....

My !#$%*#%!* Contact \ View was set up as 'Show first name first'

It finally clicked when I sent someone, with whom I rarely converse, an email via WLM. HER Contact record within Outlook then switched over to the First Name Last Name display. No texting, no email via Outlook, no phone call. ONLY an email via WLM. That would be the first time the sledgehammer was taken to the side of my head.

I changed it to 'Show last name first' but ONLY on the PC. Not the laptop. Since it "didn't work" I dismissed it as not being the fix. Shame, SHAME on me for not making that a global change! Such a 101 oversight!!!

Fast forward a few weeks & I was adding someone to my WLM Contact list on my laptop & thought "Hey! Didn't I change the view to LNFN!?" That would be the 2nd sledgehammer.

NOW.............. what's interesting (and a possible wrinkle in my brilliance) is that the girl I emailed is NOT in my WLM contacts - so it's not a sync 'conflict' between the 2 contact lists. But it looks like it may be the 'view' setting ITSELF....?

Stay tuned. It may be another 5mos before I post again but rest assured I will not rest until I get this figured out!!!!!
 
That's hopefully it. Your question seriously has had me stumped for the longest, out of all the different dialogues I've seen. I can totally see how this might be the solution. Sometimes, it's the simplest answer that can be overlooked. My IT guys have done that several times with my bosses, who aren't that tech savvy, but I found the solution to be a more simple answer.
 
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