Create List of Favorite Contacts who Appear as 1st Recipient Options to Select in Conversation Inbox
There should be a way to set contacts as favorites for specific inboxes.
The favorite contact(s) would then appear first/towards the top of the list when entering them as a recipient in an email inside the conversations inbox (see example below). This function would be similar to the favorites feature in Outlook.
For example:
If your organization has 26 Jonathans in contacts, and Jonathan Z. is a favorite contact, it would be helpful to have Jonathan Z. appear at the top of the list over Jonathans with last names starting A-Y. This is especially helpful since sometimes reps are more familiar with the contact as "Jonathan from Company XYZ" instead of knowing last names of contacts.
Another alternative:
Add a favorite contact button to the email editing ribbon. This button would reveal a checklist of a user or inbox's favorite contacts. The user could then select the checkbox of the favorite contact they'd like to add.