Almost every client of Pragmati have been eagerly awaiting contact syncing nirvana for Google Apps. Thanks to a prodigious developer in Germany, we are one step closer today. We’ve been testing a freemium application from FloreySoft aptly called Shared Contacts.

This Google AppEngine app allows you to create a group with Google Contacts that is shared amongst subscribers that you elect. I should say, this app actually handled the entire group creation and invitation process quite elegantly. Check out the video for a comprehensive demo.

What this tool provides is a quick and easy way to ensure that your contacts in your Google Domain (or personal GMail account up to 50 contacts) are synchronized, without having to bother passing around Excel spreadsheets or VCards. Or, even worse, having to custom build a laughable solution using the Google Shared Contacts API.

Jokes at Google aside, this tool is most useful for those who rely on the their mobile phones and value that mobile address book as their single source of truth; given that GMail supports various phones and syncs quite well by now. What this solution doesn’t aim to solve, and is still an existing issue in the marketplace for small businesses, is that there are few CRM solutions that make use of the Google Contacts Data API, Shared or otherwise. We strongly feel that the last piece of the puzzle for getting contact information out the CRM is key for the SaaS salesman on the street. Thankfully, this solution brings your small business one step closer because you can at least export contacts from your CRM into Google Contacts quite easily. Heck, if you use Heap CRM, this can be a quite straightforward 2 click process. We only wish more CRM vendors would jump on the Google Contacts bandwagon already. We just can’t stand waiting for a sure thing.

Kudos to FloreySoft for the super fast turnaround time installing this application in our Google Apps domain.