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Starting this week, Google will use data from Google Maps to enrich a user’s existing contact data in Google Contacts.
When a user enters a business phone number in Google Contacts, the app will see if a match for that number exists in Google Maps.
If it does, data from Maps, such as the physical address of the business, its business hours, any available photo and a link to its Website, will be used to flesh out whatever other contact information for that business the user might have in Contacts.
Information that Google imports from Maps will not override or replace any contact data for a business that users enter manually, Google announced on its Apps Updates blog. The Maps integration is currently available only to users of Google Contacts on the desktop.
Google updated its Contacts app last year to make it easier for users to keep track of people they interact with. The application centralizes contact information from Gmail, circles and other Google apps, and gives users the ability to quickly weed out duplicate content and ensure that content data they have is updated and fresh.
For instance, Google Contacts is designed to blend a contact’s profile information with whatever information a user might have on that contact. So, any changes in job, address, phone number and other details that an individual makes to his or her Google profile are immediately made available to all their contacts.
Google Contacts also gives users the ability to see the most recent emails and meetings with people on their contact list.
Earlier this year, Google announced a new capability that makes it easier for Google Apps administrators to enable Google Contacts preview for enterprise users from the admin console. By enabling the Contacts preview feature, administrators can give all users in the enterprise the ability to view the updated Google Contacts app by default, according to Google.
Along with the new capability, Google announced a revamped “Find Duplicates” capability that, according to the company, makes it easier for enterprise users to erase or merge duplicate information for a contact from their address books.
Google has noted that while its updated Contacts preview introduces several new features, it also has some limitations. For instance, the new Google Contacts does not yet support editing of group email preferences or contact delegation, Google has said. Users who try to use these features will be informed that the features are not yet supported in the new Google Contacts and will be provided with a link that takes them back to the version of Google Contacts that existed before last year’s update.