Contact management update protocols

A method for maintaining contact information, comprising:

• receiving updated contact information from a non-member in response to a request by a first member for the updated contact information;
• updating first stored contact information in a first folder stored on a first device for the first member using the updated contact information received by the non-member;
• and
• synchronizing the first stored contact information in the first folder with a universal address book stored on a server and with second stored contact information in a second folder stored on a second device for a second member.

A computing system comprising:

• a processor configured to execute instructions;
• and
• a computer readable medium for storing the instructions, the instructions when executed by the processor cause the computing system to:
• receive from a member a request to update contact information for one or more contacts in a contact information folder for the member;
• search for the one or more contacts in a universal address book to determine whether each of the contacts is a member or non-member;
• and
• send an update request message to the one or more contacts who are determined to be members using a private protocol and to the one or more contacts who are determined to be non-members using a public protocol, each message requesting that the one or more contacts provide updated contact information.