Why can't I see members of some group addresses

[Eric]

My company is using Outlook 2003 with the Microsoft Exchange Server.

Some of the groups in our company have set up group IDs. I'd like to know
who my messages are going to - who are the recipients. In some cases, the
members of the group are available via Properties, but in other cases they're
not.

Why are the members of the group sometimes visible and sometimes not? Should
I be doing something different to view the members of the group address?

Thanks.

 

[F.H. Muffman]

My company is using Outlook 2003 with the Microsoft Exchange Server.

Some of the groups in our company have set up group IDs. I'd like to
know who my messages are going to - who are the recipients. In some
cases, the members of the group are available via Properties, but in
other cases they're not.

Why are the members of the group sometimes visible and sometimes not?
Should I be doing something different to view the members of the group
address?

In Exchange, the Administrator can control whether or not users can see the
members of a DL. So, on ones you can't see, assuming you're doing it the
same way as others, the DL is likely set up that way. Probably best to ask
your Exchange Admin about it.

 

[Eric]

Thanks for your response. I think I may be confused about the difference
between a mailbox and a DL. I assumed all entries in the global address book
with group names and not individuals' names DLs.

I received an email in my inbox which was cc'd to something that appears to
be a DL ("BSG Help Desk"), but when I right-click and check properties, it
does not have any members. Maybe it's a mailbox. Is there any way to tell
what's a mailbox and what's a DL?

When a mailbox represents a group, how can I determine who will receive
emails sent to tha mailbox? I don't like to send an email without knowing who
will receive it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[F.H. Muffman]

My company is using Outlook 2003 with the Microsoft Exchange Server.

Thanks for your response. I think I may be confused about the
difference between a mailbox and a DL. I assumed all entries in the
global address book with group names and not individuals' names DLs.

Well, a DL and an Mailbox have a different icon in the GAL.

Also, if you open an item to look at it's properties, a DL has a different
properties page. It would have a box for Owner and a box for Members. A
mailbox would likely have your normal type of contact fields, like name,
address, etc.

I received an email in my inbox which was cc'd to something that
appears to be a DL ("BSG Help Desk"), but when I right-click and check
properties, it does not have any members. Maybe it's a mailbox. Is
there any way to tell what's a mailbox and what's a DL?

See above. There's also a third option. It could be a mailbox that multiple
people have access to. It would look just like a mailbox in terms of the
icon in the GAL and the property pages, it's just that more than one person
likely looks at it.

When a mailbox represents a group, how can I determine who will
receive emails sent to tha mailbox?

First:

A mailbox does not represent a group.

A mailbox represents a mailbox. A group might have access to it, for instance,
even you can share your mailbox out to multiple people, however, it is still
just a mailbox.

A distribution list, however, represents a grouping of mailboxes. If the
owner of that DL, or the administrator, has configured permissions so that
you can't see membership, you can't see membership. Period. That's what
permissions are for. In the case of a help desk type dl, I personally would
hide membership to prevent users from contacting indviduals directly, since
if any of the individuals are on vacation, it would lead to Help Desk satisfaction
issues. That's why DLs/Group Mailboxes are useful. Rather than you mailing
Joe and wondering why he isn't responding (because he's in Fiji), you get
a response from whoever is available.

I don't like to send an email
without knowing who will receive it.

Tough. Since you can't even be sure that the person you're emailing on an
Exchange server hasn't shared out their mailbox to a delegate, you're basically
up the crick. Sorry. If it's a DL, look at the owner field and mail them
if you're that interested about who might be on a DL. And if the Owner isn't
listed, just mail the Exchange admin and ask.