Unable to address e-mail to Firstname Lastname in Outlook 2003

One issue I have seen in Outlook 2003, and had several complaints on, is the inability to resolve e-mail addresses by Firstname Lastname. This is possible in previous verions of Outlook, and in Outlook 2003 when not using Cached Mode, but then you loose out on all the features of Cached Mode.

There is a workaround from Microsoft that requires making a registry entry that tells Outlook to resolve Ambigious Names using the Online Global Address List instead of the Offline Address List which is the default. Most companies list their employees by Lastname, Firstname this scenario works fine most of the time, but there are many times when you would like to address mail using Firstname Lastname. This change will force Outlook to look at the Online GAL so that you can address e-mail to John Doe, or even just John D and it will return a list of close matches.

To make this change:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.Locate or create the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
   Office\11.0\Outlook\Cached Mode
2. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
3. Type ANR Include Online GAL, and then press ENTER.
4. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
5. Type 1, and then click OK.