BACKGROUND

A contact manager enables users to easily store and locate contact data. Such contact data includes names, addresses and telephone numbers. However, additional contact data may also be included. Contact data is stored locally by individual users or at a server that may be accessed by a contact manager of a user. Thus, if a user shares contact data with other users, this information is entered into a contact management system that the other users maintain. Unfortunately, the contact management system can contain outdated contact data if not maintained and constantly updated by the user. Yet, it may be hard for the user to know when contact data has changed. Users of social networking services may expose to others profiles that contain valuable contact data. For example, a typical profile may contain a user's name, image, current status, a description of client interest, and so on. This information is usually updated on a regular basis by the user thus providing current contact data.

In an organization, contact data can be stored locally by an individual user, and also by the organization in an address book that is available to all members of the organization. Thus, users may access contact data that is locally stored and that is stored in the address book of the organization. However, contact data for these contacts and others may be accessible from other sources. For example, user may be able to access contact data at multiple places inside and outside an organization's firewall, e.g., a social networking site where a contact has posted contact data. An aggregate display of contact data that enables users to easily find information in one place would be optimal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the limitations described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, embodiments for providing an aggregate display of contact data, which enables users to locate information in one place, are disclosed. Contact data is retrieved from internal sources, as well as external sources.

The above described problems are solved by an aggregate view of the contact data based on preference order of the sources. Users may identify which source the contact data is retrieved. Additionally, the users can access a profile link to get to the full set of contact data for each original source. Accordingly, embodiments disclosed herein maintain up-to-date contact data automatically. Contact data from internal sources, including sources such as active directory, local Microsoft® Outlook contacts, presence channels, as well as from external sources may be aggregated with external sources. External sources may include any third party database that integrates with the system, including social networking sites, business networking sites, or any other third party source.

An embodiment includes a method for aggregating contact data of a user. The method includes obtaining contact data associated with at least one contact from a plurality of sources, including at least an internal source and an external source, processing the obtained contact data to generate an aggregated collection of contact data, storing the aggregated collection of contact data and accessing the aggregated collection of contact data and presenting a display of the aggregated collection of contact data in a single, interactive interface.

In another embodiment, a system for aggregating and displaying contact data is disclosed. The system includes memory for storing data and a processor, coupled to the memory, the processor configured to obtain contact data associated with at least one contact from a plurality of sources, including at least an internal source and an external source, to process the obtained contact data to generate an aggregated collection of contact data, to store the aggregated collection of contact data and to present a display of the aggregated collection of contact data in a single, interactive interface.

In another embodiment, a computer readable medium including executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, provides a suitable computing environment for aggregating and displaying contact data is disclosed. The executable instructions of the computer readable medium includes obtaining contact data associated with at least one contact from a plurality of sources, including at least an internal source and an external source, processing the obtained contact data to generate an aggregated collection of contact data, storing the aggregated collection of contact data and accessing the aggregated collection of contact data to present a display of the aggregated collection of contact data in a single, interactive interface.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

