How to sync Microsoft 365 contacts in 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams

Overview

You can sync your personal Microsoft 365 contacts into 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams so contact names appear in SMS threads, voicemails, and call recordings.

Note: This feature is under Limited Availability. Full GA will be available starting with September 2026.

8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams identifies callers and message senders by matching phone numbers against your contacts. Without a contact source, incoming calls, SMS messages, and voicemails display raw phone numbers.

Microsoft 365 contacts sync imports your personal Microsoft 365 contacts into the 8x8 plugin. Once imported, 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams matches those names against phone numbers across SMS threads, voicemails, and call recordings, so you see who is contacting you instead of a number.

Only your personal Microsoft 365 contacts are imported. Shared directories, distribution lists, and organization-wide address books are not included.

Administrators control the feature in 8x8 Admin Console. They set whether the sync is on or off by default, whether users can change that setting, and whether users can create contacts inside the 8x8 plugin.

Applies to

• 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams (Desktop, Web, and Mobile)

Note: Enable Contacts management in the MS Teams 8x8 Work app must be enabled in Work Apps Settings before Microsoft 365 contacts sync is available. This setting adds the Contacts tab to 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams. Without it, neither the Contacts tab nor the sync toggle appears.

Sync your Microsoft 365 contacts

Steps

1. Open 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams.

2. Click Dashboard.

3. In the left navigation, click Preferences & Help.

4. Under Preferences > Microsoft 365, enable Sync personal contacts from Microsoft 365.

Note: If the toggle is grayed out, your administrator has locked the setting. The tooltip reads "Contact your admin to enable this setting." Contact your administrator to request a change.

Where synced contacts appear

Go to Contacts > My Contacts to see your imported contacts. Each synced contact carries a Microsoft icon on its avatar, so you can tell Microsoft 365 contacts apart from contacts held in 8x8.

Contact names from this list appear automatically in SMS threads, voicemails, and call recordings.

Note: 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams imports up to 500 of your most recently updated Microsoft 365 contacts. Contacts beyond this limit do not sync.

How synced contacts update

Synced contacts refresh automatically the next time the 8×8 plugin tab loads, so edits you make in Microsoft 365 carry across without any action from you.

To pull in changes immediately, you can refresh the contacts using the dedicated button in the My Contacts tab.

Creating contacts in 8x8

Contact creation inside the 8x8 plugin is disabled by default. Microsoft 365 stays the single source of truth for contact creation.

If you need the option to create contacts in 8x8, ask your administrator to enable it in Work Apps Settings. Once enabled, an Add a new contact to 8x8 option appears in the plugin.

Disabling the sync

Go to Dashboard > Preferences & Help and disable Sync personal contacts from Microsoft 365. Once the toggle is disabled, all Microsoft 365 personal contacts will be removed from Contacts > My contacts tab.

Configure Microsoft 365 contacts sync in 8x8 Admin Console

Administrators control this feature from the Contacts section of Work Apps Settings.

Set the default for the sync toggle

1. Sign in to 8x8 Admin Console.

2. Go to Work Apps Settings.

3. Go to the Contacts section.

4. Enable or disable Sync Personal Contacts from M365 in the MS Teams 8x8 Work app.

The setting determines whether the sync toggle is on or off by default for every user.

5. To apply your choice to all users and prevent changes, select Locked Setting for this setting.

The toggle is grayed out in 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams and users cannot change it.

Warning: Locking the setting overrides any choice users have already made. Users cannot restore their own preference until you unlock the setting.

How the admin settings affect users

Allow users to create contacts in 8x8

By default, users cannot create contacts inside the 8x8 plugin, so Microsoft 365 remains the single source of truth for contact creation. Enable this option when your organization wants users to hold contacts in 8x8 as well.

In the Contacts section, toggle on “Allow users to create contacts in 8x8 Work for MS Teams when Microsoft 365 sync is enabled”.

An Add a new contact to 8x8 option appears for your users in 8x8 Work for Microsoft Teams.

Note: This option applies only when Sync Personal Contacts from M365 in the MS Teams 8x8 Work app is enabled.

Additional information

This feature is offered under Limited Availability. To enable it for your users, please contact workapps-team@8x8.com.