Contacts Troubleshooting

Forced Contact Sync Refresh

This method will help if contacts are displayed as “unknown contact”, some contacts are gray (unregistered), or a registered contact is not displayed. Perform the steps in the mobile app, as contacts are synced through it:

Platform	Steps
iOS/iPadOS	Disable access to contacts in iOS settings for the mobile app. Restart the app. A notification about denied access will appear in the Contacts section. Enable access to contacts in iOS settings, restart the app, and wait for the sync to complete.
Android	Check that the app is allowed access to contacts: Settings > Apps > select the app > Permissions > Contacts. Restart the app and wait for synchronization to complete. Contacts have not been updated — collect diagnostics and contact Support.

The “Use Phone Book Names” Feature Is Not Working

Try disabling and re-enabling this setting. You can also perform a forced contact sync refresh (see above). If the issue concerns one contact, edit it in the device's phone book and reload the Contacts section in the app.

A Contact Cannot Be Found

Entered Too Few Characters?

To search for a contact, enter at least three characters in the search field.

Large Phone Book?

If you have a phone book with hundreds of contacts, wait for the contact sync to complete.

Has the User Not Registered in the App?

The contact you are looking for may be unregistered. Check this with them, or your organization's support, or eXpress support.

Displaying “Unknown Contact”?

A sync failure may have occurred. Contacts may appear as “unknown/unregistered contact”. Perform a forced sync refresh (see above). If the issue persists, find the contact in the web or desktop version of the app, collect logs, and contact eXpress support.

Trying to Find a Contact from Another Server?

Contacts from servers of other organizations, with which there is no trusted connection, cannot be found in the app if there are no chats with them.

If trust or corporate search is disabled in the server settings, you won't be able to find a contact even from trusted server. Check this with your organization's support.

Administrator: Checking Search Settings

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Check the settings on the corporate server via the admin panel:

• Ensure that trust search is allowed in the trust server properties and that the Trust Search setting is enabled in the Server > Server Features section.
• Check if corporate search is enabled in the Server > Server Features section.

Searching for a Contact Not by Name, but by Another Field?

• Search may not be performed on some fields, or their display is not configured on the server. Fields available for search: Active Directory login, domain, organization, position, office, department, work phone, email. Search by server or the “description” field is not possible.
• Ensure that exact match search is disabled.

Cannot Find a Contact in the Web/Desktop App, Although It Is Present in the Mobile App

The contact is displayed on the mobile device but is missing in the web/desktop app (or the name is displayed incorrectly).

How o Resolve This?

• On the device with the required phone book, open Settings (avatar above the chat list) > Active Sessions > End all or End all sessions except current and log into the app on the computer via QR code or another method. If that does not help, force contact synchronization and repeat these steps again.
• Workaround: send a message to the contact from the device where they are displayed so that a chat with them appears on the PC.
• Contact your organization's support so that an administrator can clear your contacts on the server for re-synchronization, or contact eXpress support directly.

For Administrators: Assisting a User with Contact Search

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• 1. Ask the user to end all sessions and close the app on the mobile device.
• 2. In the admin panel, find the user in the Users > Activations section > click Clear Contacts for the mobile activation.
• 3. Check the contacts on the mobile device.
• 4. Ask the user to disable contact access in the device settings, restart the app, enable access, and restart again.
• 5. Ensure the contact is displayed and log in on other devices via QR code or another method.

All Contacts Are Duplicated in the iOS App

Disable and re-enable contact access in iOS settings for the app, then restart the app.

Nothing Helped?

Contact your organization's support team for assistance.

For Administrators: Clearing Contacts in the User's Session

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Find the user's profile in the admin panel, locate the iOS session in the Activations section, click Clear Contacts, and ask the user to end the session and log in again.

All Contacts Appear as Gray Unregistered in the iOS App

Disable VPN and restart the app. If contacts are still gray, collect diagnostics and contact Support.

A Phone Number Is Displayed Instead of the Contact's Name

Check if the contact is saved in the phone book with a number instead of a name.

Edit the contact in the phone book and restart the app, or disable the Use phone book names setting.

“Unknown User” Is Displayed Instead of a Contact Name

If “Unknown user” is displayed instead of a name, a profile loading failure occurred due to a lost connection with the server.

How to Resolve This?

Wait until the connection to the server is restored: the name will appear automatically. The app requests such a profile again when the contact is displayed on the screen again, but no more than once every 30 minutes. To update the profile immediately, open the contact card. You can also perform a forced contact sync.

Contact is Displayed Twice in the App

If you see another user (your colleague) twice in the application, this may be due to one of two reasons:

Reason	Description
User Actually Has Two Profiles	The user has a public account with a phone number and a corporate account without a phone number or with a different number. This situation occurs if the user, already having a personal account on the public server with a phone number, logs into a corporate server without a phone number or with a different number, thereby creating an additional profile. You can send messages or make calls to both the personal and corporate profiles. Both profiles will appear in chat and contact searches. The personal profile will be marked with a green (in chats — green and blue) icon, while the corporate profile will have a blue icon. If the user needs to use the phone number from their personal account, share this guide with them.
CTS eCTS There Is a Numberless Account with Lost Access to It	The user’s corporate account without a phone number was logged out, after which they logged into the same corporate server again. After logout, a numberless corporate account doesn't become public — other users can no longer interact with it, and its owner permanently loses access without the ability to save chat history. You can send messages or make calls only to the new corporate profile of such a user. The old profile will not appear in contact searches, but the old personal chat with them will remain accessible. Both profiles (old and new) will be marked with blue icons. Learn more.

Updated information for another user is not visible

If outdated information (name, job title, internal phone number, etc.) is displayed in another user’s profile, follow these steps:

Is the User on Your Server?

• Open the user’s profile card;
• Receive a new message from them.

These actions will synchronize the updated data. Restarting the app does not update the profile: the app shows the profile from its cache.

Is the User on a Trusted Server (Another Server in Your Organization)?

• Wait for automatic updates (from 12 hours to 7 days);
• Or request the server administrator to force-update the cache (contact your organization's support team).

Waiting Was Not Helpful. What Else to Do?

Ask the user to log into the app again. This may help, e.g., if user profiles are being synchronized from OpenID. If nothing helps, ask the eXpress Support for help.

For Administrators: Updating the Trusted Profile Cache

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The cache is cleared on the server where the changes are not visible. The trusted connection scheme does not affect the sequence of actions: it is the same for direct trust between two corporate servers and for communication through the root server.

The trust cache updates once a week. To avoid waiting:

1. Access the phonebook console of the corporate server where changes are not visible:

docker exec -i cts-phonebook-1 ./bin/ad_phonebook remote

⚠️ Pre-3.43 server versions require remote_console command instead of remote.

2. Clear the profile cache:

CcsCache.AdPhonebook.V1.ProfileCache.delete

For Administrators: User Changed Avatar, but the Old Avatar Remains in the Admin Panel

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The avatar uploaded by the user via the client app is only visible in client apps and in the “Profile change request list” section of the admin panel. The user's profile in the admin panel displays the old photo from AD or one previously uploaded via the admin panel.

For Administrators: User Avatar did not Update (KeyCloak is Used)

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For eXpress, the avatar from Keycloak is just one of the attributes stored as a Base64 dataset.

If the built-in Keycloak database — H2 — is used, avatars cannot be stored in it. To support avatars, the Keycloak database must be built on PostgreSQL, Oracle, or another supported DBMS.

The avatar updates during user authorization. If the eXpress integration with Keycloak has the SPI extension from eXpress developers installed, user attribute changes (including avatars) will be applied automatically.

If the Keycloak extension is not installed, the user needs to log in to the application again to update the data.

Another User Changed Their Status, but I Still See the Old One

Statuses update every 30 minutes. To see the change immediately, open the user's contact card (profile).

User “Online” Status Displays in the Future

Check the time settings on your device.