Why are Exchange mail policies applied to contacts

1. Make a CSV, c:\distro.csv with 1 column called "PrimarySmtpAddress"
2. Make a distribution group called DistroGroup
3. Add the contacts to the group with this code

PowerShell Code:

import-csv c:\distro.csv | foreach {
    $contact = New-MailContact -Name $_.PrimarySmtpAddress -ExternalEmailAddress $_.PrimarySmtpAddress -OrganizationalUnit "Vendors" 
    Add-DistributionGroupMember -id DistroGroup -member $contact
}

c:\distro.csv:

PrimarySmtpAddress
jim@bob.com
joe@user.com
foo@bar.com

This really isn't the right way to do this. What you want is to get your contacts from an LDAP server -- either Exchange or another one you set up. (the linked article is for Outlook 2007, but similar info is available for 2010).

This ensures everyone has up-to-date contacts all the time (as long as they can talk to the LDAP server) and that changes get received by everyone in a timely fashion.

If for some reason you can't use LDAP (why?) you can write a PowerShell script that deletes all the contacts and then imports the new list.
Something like this should work for the delete bit:

olSession = (New-Object -ComObject Outlook.Application).Session
$olSession.Logon('Outlook') #Outlook is the profile name
$myContacts = $olSession.GetDefaultFolder($contactsFolder).Items

foreach ($Contact in $myContacts) {
    $Contact.Delete()
}

and the import could be scripted right after it (or done however you do them now).

Disclaimer: I'm a unix guy and I know dick-all about PowerShell - This was modified from a script I found [here](http://www.powershellneedfulthings.com/?p=35), and is entirely untested.