Creating and Managing Dynamic Distribution Lists

Dynamic Distribution lists our email lists based on a search query instead of static member approval like a standard distribution list. Â Dynamic distribution lists can help lessen administration, and increase accuracy if used properly. Â Your directory structure needs to be clean and concise to be able to accuratly query the members. Â Thanks to Lightwave our directory is just that thanks to our Dayforce integration.

This is just one of many methods you can use to manage them.

*All commands are run in Powershell with administrative rights.

$Filter - This is called a variable... you can associate that variable with a query.

Example: This loads the search query below into the $Filter to be used at a later time.

$Filter = "((Title -eq 'Practice Manager') -or (Title -eq 'Area Manager') -or (Title -eq 'Sr. Director of Operations') -or (Title -eq 'Executive Assistant and Operations Coordinator') -or (Title -eq 'Area Manager') -or (Title -eq 'Regional Director of Operations') -or (Title -eq 'VP of Field Operations'))"

To see your results run the following command below. Â Notice the use of the variable. Â You could place the search string above in the command, but this is much cleaner and accurate.

Get-Recipient -RecipientPreviewFilter $Filter | ft displayname, title

Example Output:

DisplayName Â Â Â Â Â Title

Alicia Bryant Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Ana Della Corte Â Â Â Practice Manager

Abbey Galati Â Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Amanda Garthwaite Â Â Sr. Director of Operations

Aleshia Reid Â Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Alyson Taylor Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Becky Burgess Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Bonnie Heath Â Â Â Â Â Regional Director of Operations

Brittney Lemon Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Bronwyn Orr Â Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Brittany Price Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Caitlin Russell Â Â Â Practice Manager

Chaley Borum Â Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Courtney Goodbar Â Â Â Regional Director of Operations

Christina Hill Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Cassi Hughes Â Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Chan'nel Walker Â Â Â Practice Manager

Celeste Izquierdo Â Â Practice Manager

Callie Jordan Â Â Â Â Practice Manager

Christin Lisenby Â Â Â VP of Field Operations

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Once you are happy with your filter results, you can now turn it into a distribution list.

1. Launch powershell as an admin.

2. Run Â Connect-ExchangeOnline

3. Run the following command updating the fields to your preference.

New-DynamicDistributionGroup -Name "DLPM-ALL" -DisplayName "All Practice Managers" -AliasÂ AllPMÂ -PrimarySmtpAddress DLPM-ALL@lightwavedental.com -RecipientFilter $Filter'

4. This will create a new distribution group in Exchange. Â You can login to exchange and view it along with the query.

Good luck and happy querying.