Health Chain Organization
Smarter Coordination in Global Health Logistics
Health Chain Organization connected teams across 20 countries by using Shared Contacts for Gmail™ to unify contact visibility, enable caller ID recognition, and streamline international logistics coordination across domains.
98
Employees
120
Mobile devices
3000
Shared contacts
600
Saved work hours
The Customer
Health Chain Organization is a nonprofit organization supporting public health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Through their open-source logistics platform, they help governments and NGOs manage medical supply chains efficiently. Operating in 20 countries mostly in Oceania, their team collaborates with ministries of health, suppliers, and donors. Effective communication and quick access to accurate contact information are essential to their work coordinating life-saving medicine deliveries across regions with varying infrastructure and urgency levels.
The Challenge
01 . No Caller ID Recognition and Email Recipient Visibility Across Different Domains
Health Chain’s teams operated across various email domains—such as @healthchainorganization.com.nz and @healthcareorganization.com.fj. Because Google Workspace doesn’t automatically surface directory contacts across domains, staff members couldn’t see colleagues from other branches when composing emails. The autocomplete function in Gmail failed, slowing communication and increasing errors.
The problem extended to mobile phones: when colleagues from different countries called each other, the number showed up as unknown. Without caller ID recognition, critical calls from health ministries or urgent logistic requests were often missed or ignored. In a distributed nonprofit where teams must coordinate time-sensitive medical shipments, this became a constant source of inefficiency and friction.
02 . Cannot Share Directory to Contractors
During emergency health interventions, Health Chain Organization regularly deploys temporary field clinics in collaboration with international aid agencies and third-party logistics partners. These external providers—such as freelance medical coordinators and NGO consultants—need immediate access to contacts within Health Chain’s procurement, warehousing, and country leadership teams to execute their roles efficiently. However, without access to the internal directory, these partners constantly interrupted internal staff to request contact information, leading to delays, duplicated efforts, and critical miscommunications during time-sensitive operations.
The Solution Health Chain Organization used Shared Contacts for Gmail™ to make their multi-domain directory accessible to authorized personnel across the 20 countries they operate in. They also shared portions of their directory with external partners, such as freelance medical coordinators and NGO consultants, to enable quicker information exchange and more effective collaboration. With mobile integration, team members can easily identify calls from any Health Chain contact, update shared contacts, and access crucial contact information directly from their phones, ensuring smooth communication on the go.
Helpful Features 
Directory sharing
When a user is created or updated in the domain directory, their contact information is instantly synced across the team's mobile devices. The company directory can also be shared with users outside the domain.
Multiple domain sharing
Invite individuals from other organizations to view and collaborate on contact lists.
Sync with Mobile phones
Easily manage collaborators, contact lists, and Google Contacts labels directly from a phone.
The Result Since deploying Shared Contacts for Gmail™, Health Chain Organization reports a 40% improvement in inter-office response times. International calls are answered promptly, emails are sent to the correct recipients, and logistics handoffs between countries are faster and more coordinated.
We thought our contact issues were just part of the job—until Shared Contacts for Gmail™ showed us they weren’t. Now, we don’t miss calls, we don’t lose time chasing phone numbers, and we present ourselves as the coordinated organization we truly are.
600
Saved work hours
