You have set up email on your own domain on your laptop and phone, and messages appear on both. It is tempting to assume that meetings and contacts will work the same way. Yet those may still be stored on just one device or in a different account. If you arrange meetings and work with a small team, check separately how messages, calendar events and contact details move between devices.
1. Why IMAP does not automatically sync calendars and contacts
IMAP is a protocol for accessing and synchronising messages and folders in a mailbox. Depending on the configuration, it can keep read status and message organisation consistent across applications. Sending messages generally uses SMTP. Neither protocol, on its own, provides calendar or contact synchronisation.
An application may display email, calendars and contacts in the same interface while using a different service for each component. Adding an IMAP account does not mean the application has also configured the other two.
- Messages are managed through the email service.
- Events may be stored locally or in an online calendar service.
- Contacts may belong to the phone, a personal account or an online business address book.
Check collaboration features separately when choosing a web hosting service. The availability of email addresses on your domain does not automatically confirm that a shared calendar or team address book is available.
2. Your options for calendars and contacts
CalDAV and CardDAV
CalDAV enables calendar access and synchronisation between a server and compatible applications. CardDAV serves a similar purpose for contacts. You need both a service offering the relevant protocol and applications that support it, either directly or through a suitable connector.
These protocols do not guarantee that every feature will be available everywhere. Sharing, permissions, delegation and resource management depend on the service implementation and the application you use. A personal CardDAV address book does not automatically become a shared team directory.
Collaboration suites and separate calendar services
A collaboration suite can bring email, calendars and contacts together using standard protocols or its own integration methods. Alternatively, you can keep email with your current provider and use a separate service for calendars and contacts, provided that user identities and meeting invitations work correctly together.
Subscribing to a calendar published through a link, often in iCalendar format, is another option for viewing a schedule. Such subscriptions are often read-only, and updates may be delayed. Do not confuse them with two-way synchronisation or permission to edit events.
3. Shared calendars and meeting invitations do different jobs
A shared calendar lets several people access the same events within the permissions they have been given. An invitation asks someone to attend a meeting. You can receive invitations by email without access to the organiser's calendar and without your own calendar syncing across devices.
For a small team, first decide who creates meetings and who may change them. Seeing busy periods may be enough for one colleague, while another needs event details or editing rights.
- Attendance: check whether accepting or declining an invitation updates the organiser's attendee list.
- Updates: test changes to the time and location, as well as cancellations.
- Recurring events: check the difference between changing one occurrence and the whole series.
- Time zones: check how meetings appear for colleagues in other countries.
- Identity: confirm that invitations are sent from the intended business address.
An invitation file attached to a message can be imported into a calendar, but importing it does not necessarily mean that every future update will be processed correctly. The integration between the service, the application and the invitee's address matters.
4. How to check service and application compatibility
Start with a list of the devices and applications your team actually uses: laptops, phones, email applications and browser access. Check compatibility for each combination rather than relying on operating system support alone.
Read the service documentation and the relevant application guidance. You can also start with the frequently asked questions, then ask for clarification about any features that are not explicitly described.
- Does the service offer CalDAV and CardDAV, or does it require a particular application?
- Do your applications support these features natively, or do they need a connector?
- Is two-way synchronisation available for both events and contacts?
- Are shared calendars available with separate viewing and editing permissions?
- Does two-factor authentication require a particular authorisation method or app passwords?
- What remains accessible offline, and when are changes sent back to the server?
For synced contacts, also check the fields your team relies on: multiple phone numbers, company names, job titles and notes. Distribution lists, contact groups and organisation directories may work differently from a personal address book.
5. Run a practical test before moving your team's data
Use sample data and two accounts before importing your real address book. The steps below help you identify the limits of your setup.
- Identify where data is stored. Check which account is the default destination for new events and contacts.
- Configure the services separately. Add email and, where available, calendar and contact connections according to the documentation.
- Create a test event. Edit it on a second device and check whether the change appears on the first.
- Test collaboration. Share a calendar with limited permissions and send an invitation to a colleague, then to an external address.
- Check the address book. Create a contact, change a phone number and look for the update on the other device.
- Test reconnection. Make a change while offline and observe how it is handled when the device reconnects.
Before migrating, export the existing data and check whether the new service accepts the available formats. Keep the exported copy somewhere protected. Repeated imports can create duplicates, and moving between services may lose fields, permissions or links to earlier invitations.
6. Choose for your team's workflow, not just the mailbox
If you only need to see when colleagues are available, free/busy information or a read-only calendar may be enough. If you organise meetings together, look for clear permissions, reliable handling of invitations in your tests, and synchronisation checked on your actual devices. For shared contacts, explicitly confirm that a shared address book is available.
Write down your requirements and test results before choosing. For clarification about GazduireOnline.ro services, use the contact page and specify the applications, devices and features you need. Email on your domain is the starting point; calendars and contacts need their own assessment.
