# Contacts Overview

The Contacts feature keeps a directory of external parties (people and businesses outside your own organization) on the phone system, known as the PBX (Private Branch Exchange). Once a contact is stored, users can look it up and dial it from any endpoint where their extension is registered, including IP phones (Internet Protocol desk phones) and the Cloud Voice App.

## Contact types

Cloud Voice sorts contacts into two categories.

### Personal contacts

Personal contacts belong to a single extension user. Each user builds and maintains their own list, the direct customers they deal with, for example, inside the Cloud Voice App.

:::note
A user's personal contacts are private. No one else, including administrators, can see another user's personal contacts.
:::

Users create personal contacts from the Cloud Voice App on mobile, desktop, or the web.

### Company contacts

Company contacts are shared. You and any authorized extension users maintain a common list of the organization's customers, resellers, partners, and similar parties, and that list is available from both the PBX web portal and the Cloud Voice App.

There are several ways to populate company contacts:

- Add them by hand in the web portal, one entry at a time.
- Import them in bulk from a CSV (comma-separated values) file.
- Synchronize them automatically from a connected third-party system, such as a database, CRM (customer relationship management) tool, or helpdesk.
- Let authorized users add them directly from the Cloud Voice App.

:::tip
For more than a handful of contacts, importing a CSV file is far faster and less error-prone than adding entries one at a time.
:::

## Phonebooks

A phonebook is a value-added capability layered on top of company contacts. It lets you sort company contacts into organized groups and control who can reach each group, so different teams see only the contacts that are relevant to them.

### Phonebook types

- **PBX-native company phonebook**: Holds company contacts that were added through the PBX web portal or the Cloud Voice App. You create these phonebooks yourself to group contacts however suits your organization.
- **Third-party company phonebook**: Holds company contacts pulled in from an integrated external system. When you schedule a synchronization, every contact that comes across is placed into a single phonebook tagged with a unique identifier.

:::caution
A third-party phonebook and its synced contacts cannot be edited or deleted while the integration stays connected. Disconnecting the integration is the only way to change or remove it, so plan your integrations before you rely on them.
:::

### Phonebook visibility

Out of the box, phonebooks are hidden from extension users, so they cannot dial the external contacts inside them from an IP phone or the Cloud Voice App.

To open access, grant permissions per phonebook:

- **View permission** lets specific users see the phonebook and place calls to its contacts.
- **Management permission** lets users help maintain the phonebook alongside you.

:::note
If a user reports that they cannot find or call a shared contact, check the phonebook's permissions first. No user has access until you grant it.
:::

For the full procedure, see [Set up Contact Visibility](/pbx/administrator-guide/set-up-contact-visibility/).

## Restrictions

Review these limits before you start using Contacts.

### Capacity limits

How many contacts and phonebooks your system supports scales with the number of extensions it has (N). Find your extension count in the correct column, then read down for each maximum.

| Limit | N ≤ 50 | 50 < N ≤ 200 | N > 200 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal contacts (per extension) | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Company contacts (total) | 50,000 | 200,000 | 500,000 |
| Company phonebooks | 100 | 200 | 500 |

:::caution
These are hard ceilings. The personal-contact limit is per extension, while the company-contact and phonebook limits are totals for the whole system. Adding an extension can raise the system-wide tier, but the per-extension personal limit stays at 3,000.
:::

### Where company contacts can be managed

Anyone with full administrator access to your phone system's management portal, plus any extension user assigned the Administrator role or a phonebook permission, can view and manage company contacts from the PBX web portal, the Cloud Voice App, and IP phones. What you can actually do depends on the endpoint.

| Operation | PBX web portal | App (Web) | App (Mobile) | App (Desktop) | IP phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View company contacts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Add company contacts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Edit company contacts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Delete company contacts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Import company contacts | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Export company contacts | Yes | No | No | No | No |

:::note
Import and export are available only from the PBX web portal. IP phones are view-and-dial only, and the desktop app currently offers no company-contact management, so use the web portal for any bulk work.
:::