Blog Post: Google Contacts Notes vs Shared Contacts for Gmail Comments

Sending a text message or making a call is more convenient now than before. Gone are the days when you have to memorize a phone number to dial. Thick yellow pages and printed phone books are almost, if not completely, obsolete.  

Often, people go straight to the messaging platform, be it email, SMS, or other messenger applications then simply type in the texts and input the first few letters of the addressee on the recipient’s field.. 

Little attention is paid to the app that made this convenience possible. However, learning more about how the digital phonebook works can help you maximize its useability. 

Google Contacts Notes vs Shared Contacts for Gmail Comments

Google Contacts is one of the most popular digital phonebooks these days. As a core application to Google services, it is widely used across the platform and beyond. It serves as the database for contact information and other personal details such as birthdate, company affiliation, etc.

Aside from the categories mentioned earlier, Google Contacts also has a notes feature. It allows users to attach some texts that do not belong to any of the primary contact information fields. For example, you can put in the note the employee number, schedule rest days, or locker designation.

However, Google Contacts is not a complete contact management tool. There are certain features that it doesn’t offer, like sharing contacts. 

Shared Contacts for Gmail® addresses this issue. With this contact management app, you can share your contacts like you share Google Docs. You and your team members can now share, access, comment on, and update centralized contacts from everywhere, including your desktop, mobile device, and through other third-party integrated applications like WhatsApp, Outlook, or even on CRMs. 

Read more about Shared Contacts for Gmail® Integrations

Advantages of Shared Contacts for Gmail® Comments over Google Contacts Notes Feature

Aside from sharing contacts or labels, Shared Contacts for Gmail® offers more features than Google Contacts. Just take a look at Google Contacts Notes as compared to Shared Contacts for Gmail® Comments feature. As you compare the two, you will see the advantages of the latter when it comes to these functions:

Tagging a user

Timestamp

Privacy of comments

Tagging a user

Google Contacts Notes: Not possible.

Shared Contacts for Gmail® Comment: Yes. You can type the ‘@’ symbol followed by the name of the person you want to tag in the comment section. Then, you can add the rest of your comments.

Read: How to Tag a Colleague in a Contact

Timestamp

Google Contact Notes: None.

Shared Contacts for Gmail® Comment: Yes. The date and time are recorded as to when the comment was written. This information can be useful if the notes are time-sensitive. For example, you can make this a record of when the employee got hired and introduced to the team. 

Privacy of comments

Google Contacts Notes: None.

Shared Contacts for Gmail® Comment: Choose either to make a private or public comment. Private comments can be read only by the person who wrote them. On the other hand, public comments can be read by anyone who has access to the shared contacts. However, only those with a permission level higher than “View Only” can leave a comment.

Learn more about Different Sharing Permission Levels on Shared Contacts for Gmail®

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