Today, we are announcing the support of Actionable Messages in Outlook for iOS and Android to further help customers get things done quickly on the go. When you receive an email that has an option to take action, such as approving a timesheet, granting system access or quickly answering a survey, you can act on it right inside the email without leaving your inbox and switching apps.
Microsoft is working with the developer community to integrate the tools, tasks and experiences of leading applications in a way that brings the work you would normally do in other apps right to your email. Using Actionable Messages with Adaptive Cards, developers can deliver messages in Outlook so customers can stay in context of what they doing and quickly take action. Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web already support Actionable Messages and rolling out over the next few months, customers will be able to take action with Outlook for iOS and Android on a mobile device.
The Microsoft partners who are actively developing Actionable Messages with Adaptive Cards include SurveyMonkey, Freshworks, ServiceNow and Sage. If your company uses these business applications, you may soon see their new Actionable Messages appear in Outlook on your mobile device as well as the other supported platforms.
If you are a developer: Partners who develop Actionable Messages with Adaptive Cards will be able reach their target users wherever they are and on their device of choice. The supported platforms are Outlook on the web, Outlook for Windows and Outlook for iOS for customers using the Microsoft sync technology. Outlook for Android will support Actionable Messages in the coming weeks and Outlook for Mac later this summer. Developers should now pivot to design Actionable Messages with Adaptive Cards for mobile first which will scale well to larger screens.
For our business customers: We’re helping customers improve productivity and achieve their business goals by partnering with leading developers of the applications they already use, including Microsoft 365. Business apps are intended to help achieve specific results. For example, shorten approval cycles that can reduce accounts payable or meet data compliance requirements, and reach front line mobile workers to retrieve inclusive company survey results. Now with Outlook mobile support of Actionable Messages, customers can act promptly, get results faster and increase reach when the emails can be acted on from their mobile devices.
Please give us feedback in Outlook mobile Help and Feedback or at Outlook.uservoice.com so we can continue to learn and improve how these new Outlook mobile experiences, including Actionable Messages, help you connect, organize and get things done faster.
FAQ
1. Who are some of the notable partners developing Actionable Messages for Outlook mobile at this time?
We are working with a range of first-party and third-party partners—including Microsoft SharePoint, Office 365 Groups, @mentions in Word and Excel inline tasks and MyAnalytics for focus time to SurveyMonkey, ServiceNow, Sage and Freshworks —and the number of partners continues to grow.
SurveyMonkey is combining the power of Microsoft Graph with Actionable Messages within its latest integration with Microsoft to enable intelligent peer-to-peer feedback. This new integration empowers employees to define, gather, and reflect upon feedback from peers for professional development. Microsoft Graph helps SurveyMonkey’s platform effortlessly identify users’ most frequent collaborators, while Actionable Messages ensure that survey recipients can quickly respond right from Outlook, without switching tasks or context, and when and where it is most convenient. Launching in the coming months.
ServiceNow offers Actionable Messages for approvals and to survey end users that engage a department for services and support. With Actionable Messages, it’s easier and faster to approve or complete a survey when you can take action right from the email message. Frictionless action means faster approval times, more responses and feedback, and therefore more opportunity to create great experiences for customers.
Sage understands importance of timesheet approval for auditing and payroll purposes and that late or missing approvals impact customers and employees alike. Making it easier and faster to approve timesheets with Actionable Messages in Outlook, approvals can be done on the go and on time.
Freshworks is using Actionable Messages to help speed up the helpdesk support process and improve productivity. Agent assignment and ticket priorities can be set right from the inbox of the triage team leads so they complete key steps in the process faster and aim to exceed customer expectations.
2. Do users opt-in to enable Actionable Messages once available or is it rolling out automatically to Outlook mobile users?
There is nothing users need to do to enable Actionable Messages. Customers using the Microsoft sync technology for Outlook mobile will automatically receive support for Actionable Messages. At this time, the Microsoft sync technology is available to all Outlook.com accounts and is still in the process of rolling it out to all Office 365 accounts. It’s expected that the roll out of the Microsoft sync technology for Outlook mobile customers will be completed in the coming months.
3. What Outlook endpoints support Actionable Messages?
Outlook for Windows - Version 1805, Build 9330
Outlook on the web – Available to all Office 365 customers
Outlook for Mac – Coming later this summer. Version number TBD
Outlook mobile will support Actionable Messages for customers who are using the Microsoft sync technology which is available today for all Outlook.com users and gradually rolling out in the coming months to Office 365 customers. The availability of the Outlook mobile app that support Actionable Messages are:
- Outlook for iOS – available today, for Office 365 users who have been moved to the new Microsoft sync technology, and Outlook.com users.
- Outlook for Android – in the coming months for Office 365 users who have been moved to the new Microsoft sync technology, and Outlook.com users.
This means that you may have the Outlook mobile app that supports Actionable Messages but until your company is using the Microsoft sync technology, the user experience with the Actionable Messages may not be as designed. We expect most Office 365 customers to be transitioned to the Microsoft sync technology over the coming months.
You can determine if you are using the Microsoft sync technology for Outlook mobile: go to Settings and select your Office 365 account. There will be a notation at the bottom of this screen if you are using the Microsoft sync technology. Customers can contact their account team if they would like to expedite the transition.
Information about support for Actionable Messages with Adaptive Cards in Office 365 can be found here.
*Actionable Messages is not available for US Office 365 Government Community Cloud High and Department of Defense customers.
4. Are controls available for Administrators to manage Actionable Messages?
Yes, Actionable Messages can be managed at the company tenant level by an administrator using a Powershell command to manage connectors. Disabling Actionable Messages would disabled them across all Outlook endpoints in addition to Outlook mobile. Office 365 Administrators can learn more about managing Actionable Messages in Outlook here.