MC786325: Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams: Respond to meetings with Follow

Announcement IDMC786325Published Date04-26-2024
ServiceO365ClientLast Updated08-30-2024
CategoryStay informedExpiration Date10-28-2024
Roadmap ID154557Action Required by Date
TagsNew feature, User impact


Summary
                Microsoft Outlook and Teams are introducing a new 'Follow' meeting response option. This feature allows attendees to stay informed without attending the meeting. Rollout begins late May 2024 for Targeted Release and mid-June 2024 for General Availability, with completion expected by late August 2024.


More Information

Coming soon in Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams: We are introducing a new meeting response option called Follow that allows people invited to a meeting to let the organizer know they can't attend but would like to stay informed. Follow goes beyond the traditional Accept, Tentative, and Decline responses. Follow is for busy individuals with high meeting loads and conflicting meetings. Follow is the ideal meeting response option when you can't attend a meeting but still want to stay engaged and have access to post-meeting information in Teams. Meeting attendees can respond with Follow in the new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the Web. Follow is not available on Outlook for Mac or Outlook Mobile at this time. Additional Follow features in Teams for meeting organizers are shown in the screenshots in this message.

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out late May 2024 and expect to complete by mid-June 2024 (previously late May).

General Availability: We will begin rolling out mid-June 2024 (previously early June) and expect to complete by late August 2024 (previously mid-September).

How this will affect your organization:

Meeting attendees can respond with Follow to any meeting invitation as long as the meeting has more than two attendees and where the organizer has requested a response.

Follow responses will:

  1. Inform organizers: Follow will let the meeting organizer know you can't attend but want to stay engaged and have access to post-meeting information.
  2. Free up time: Follow will mark the meeting on your calendar as free so you can better prioritize your time. You will still retain access to the meeting and chat.
  3. Stay informed: Follow will remind meeting organizers to record and take collaborative notes during the meeting. You will receive a notification that the recap is available after the meeting (this feature will be available shortly after the GA rollout).

After rollout, invitation response options will be Yes, No, and Follow. Maybe will be accessible through the three-dot menu.

Meeting invitation email with new Follow option (Outlook for Windows and Outlook for web):

Meeting invitation email

Meeting organizer's view of invitees who respond with Follow (Outlook for Windows and Outlook for web)

invitees who respond with Follow

Reminder to the meeting organizer at the start of the meeting about people following the meeting (Outlook for Windows and Outlook for web):

Reminder to the meeting organizer

Note: After rollout, Follow responses are only available in new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web. If meeting organizers are using either of these Outlook versions, they will see Follow responses. However, if the meeting organizer is using classic Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, or Outlook Mobile, the meeting organizer will see the response as Tentative, with a note that the invitee is following the meeting:

Follow responses

What you need to do to prepare:

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before the rollout. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation as appropriate.

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