Exchange Server 2007: Create Mail-Enabled Contacts and Mail-Enabled Users

Problem : First off, what is the difference between a mail contact and a mail-enabled user? Second, how do we create them? Finally, how are they used in our organization?

Solution : You might have a person who requires an email address in your company and you create a mail contact, which is an AD object with full information about the person, although the person is not able to access internal resources.

A mail-enabled user account is similar, but as a user account, these persons can log on to the network and can access resources if given permission.

Both a contact and a mail-enabled user can be shown in the Global Address List (GAL), both have external email addresses, and both involve users that do not usually work within company walls.

Create a New Mail Contact

To create a new mail contact, perform the following steps:

1.	Open the EMC.
2.	From the Navigation Tree, select the Recipient Configuration work center.
3.	Select Mail Contact.
4.	From the Actions pane, select New Mail Contact.
5.	The New Mail Contact Wizard opens and begins with the Introduction screen that asks if you want to create a New Contact or work from an Existing Contact. Choose New Contact and click Next.
6.	In Figure 1, note that some items are familiar, whereas others appear to be missing. Supply the following information: Organization Unit— By default, this is the Users container, but you can place the contact wherever you like in AD. First Fame, Initials, Last Name— All self-explanatory to provide some details about the contact. Alias— The alias automatically fills in as you enter the other information about the person. You can alter this, however, to provide whatever you like for the alias. External E-mail Address— If the address is a simple SMTP address, click Edit and provide the email address for the external client. However, if the person has an X.400, GroupWise, or Lotus Notes address, you can select the arrow next to Edit and choose Custom Address and supply the email address and the type. Figure 1. Creating a new contact mailbox.
7.	After the Contact Information has been filled in, click Next.
8.	On the New Mail Contact screen, review the Configuration Summary, and if it’s satisfactory, click New.
9.	When complete, you are taken to the Completion screen and shown a green Completed sign. Click Finish.

Notice that the user is created in AD. If you open Active Directory Users and Computers, you find that the user exists but is listed as Type: Contact. There is no way to log on with this account because it doesn’t have any account logon information or a password. If you open the properties of the account, you find only a handful of tabs including General, Address, Telephones, Organization, and Member Of. Most of this is to allow contact information to be added to the object.

In the properties of the contact from within the EMC, you can see the same information, only it has spread across different tabs. Also note a couple of extra tabs:

• E-mail Addresses— Allows you to add more email addresses and determine which one is the external address and which one is the Set as Reply email address.

• Mail Flow Settings— Here you can configure message size restrictions. You can also configure message delivery restrictions (for accepting and rejecting messages from different senders).

You can disable or remove any of these contacts by simply locating them in the Mail Contact Results pane, selecting the account or accounts, and choosing the Disable option or the Remove option.

Create a New Mail User

Creating a new mail-enabled user also creates an object in AD. However, it does not create a mailbox. Messages sent to the user are forwarded to the external address. To create a new mail user, perform the following:

1.	Open the EMC.
2.	From the Navigation Tree, select the Recipient Configuration work center.
3.	Select Mail Contact.
4.	From the Actions pane, locate and select New Mail User.
5.	The New Mail User Wizard opens and the Introduction screen asks if you want to create a New User or work from an Existing User. Choose New User and click Next.
6.	The information you must provide is the same user and account information you would provide for a standard mailbox, including a password. Enter that data and click Next.
7.	You are taken to the Mail Settings screen, which asks only for two pieces of information. The first is an alias for your mail-enabled user. The second is the external email address. If the address is a simple SMTP address, click Edit and provide the email address for the external client. However, if the person has an X.400, GroupWise, or Lotus Notes address, you can select the arrow next to Edit and choose Custom Address and supply the email address and the type. When complete, click Next.
8.	On the New Mail User screen, review the Configuration Summary and if it’s satisfactory, click New.
9.	When complete, you are taken to the Completion screen and shown a green Completed sign. Click Finish.

Note in Figure 2 that both users are located in the Mail Contact and have different icons depending on their types.

Figure 2. Viewing mail users and mail contacts from the Mail Contact node.