

Ask HN: What's the most widely used contact management solution? - nside

Hello,<p>My application needs an address book to operate and I need to build some import tools. I'd like to target the most popular tool for storing contacts info for small businesses, at least in the first release.
Should I just target Outlook CSV? 
What about LDAP and Active Directory ?
Thanks!
======
drm237
Depending on your requirements, outsourcing the first version might be the
best option. Check out <http://www.plaxo.com/api/widget>

------
buro9
Outlook works for businesses that have implemented AD and require an internal
address book, accessible by all.

MS Access databases or Excel spreadsheets for small businesses that tend not
to have AD set up.

Go for CSV to start with.

------
cdr
When I centralized my contact database about a year ago, I pretty much had no
viable choice besides Outlook. Most applications have an "export to Outlook"
feature and it's at least pretty decent at contact management.

------
phombaiah
Import from CSV, most contact management tools have an "export to CSV" option.

~~~
dmix
I second that, plus importing with CSV is incredibly easy for most
applications.

Just make sure you have matching fields, for example a first, middle and last
name instead of just first/last so it plays well with Outlook.

