Microsoft Viva Insights

Microsoft will not mine customer data in Exchange Online for advertising.
Microsoft will not voluntarily disclose Exchange Online customer data to law enforcement agencies.
Microsoft will meet all requirements related to encryption of Exchange Online data and implement
controls to reduce security risks and help ensure business continuity, as described in ISO 27001 and
27018.
2. Notify users in the event that a breach is detected. Microsoft will notify customer privacy contacts
within 72 hours of Microsoft becoming aware of a breach by usingMicrosoft 365 incident
responsestandard operating procedures.

3. Honor user requests (DSRs) to expor t, delete, or restrict processing personal data. Microsoft
supports your need to honor user requests in the following ways.

Data expor t requests - Users can view the insights in the Briefing email and manage it if they want
to have permanent copies of their information.
Request to restrict processing - Use PowerShell to opt employees out of the Briefing email. Or
employees can individually unsubscribe from the Briefing email to restrict processing of their data.
Delete employee data - Sign in toAzure Active Directory admin center and then remove the
employee's data through the User Management Portal.

To learn more, see GDPR compliance.

Related topics

Briefing email overview
Configure Briefing email

Configure Briefing email

6/9/2022 • 4 minutes to read • Edit Online

As the admin, you can configure Briefing email for your organization at the user or tenant level. You can set the
default state for all users in your tenant as opted in or opted out in the Microsoft 365 admin center, or you can
enable or disable the Briefing email for a specific user or multiple users with PowerShell.

Prerequisites

Confirm the following before configuring access:
Admin role - You must have a Global admin or an Exchange Online admin role to configure users for
Briefing email in the Microsoft 365 admin center. To configure individual users through PowerShell, you must
have an Exchange Online admin, a Global admin, or an Insights admin role.
Licensed users only - Users get access to the Briefing email only if they have licenses that include the
Exchange Online service plan.
Understand data privacy - See the Privacy guide to understand how privacy is built into Briefing emails
and to learn what you can configure to address your organization's specific privacy requirements.

User-level configuration

Confirm the following additional prerequisites. Then you can use the Exchange Online PowerShell V2 module to
set Briefing email access for one user or for multiple users.
Additional prerequisites

Install the required module - Install the Exchange Online PowerShell V2 module.
.NET Framework - You must have .NET Framework 4.7.2 or the latest available version installed.

IMPORTANT
Before configuring access, confirm you're connected to Exchange Online.

Set access for one user
To enable or disable Briefing email for a specific user, use the Exchange Online PowerShell V2 module and the
following command line, where you replace "[email protected]" with your applicable username and
organization:

Set-UserBriefingConfig -Identity [email protected] [-Enabled [<$true | $false>]

If you set the Enabled parameter to $false, the Briefing email will be Off for that user. The user will not be
able to override this setting or opt-in to the Briefing email.
If you set the Enabled parameter to $true, the Briefing email will be On for that user. Users can then opt-out
from cortana.office.com. If no action occurs, this setting applies by default.

NOTE
When Enabled is set as $true, people who had previously unsubscribed will continue to be opted out and will not
receive any Briefings until they opt back in at cortana.office.com.

For example, to get the current state of the Briefing email flag for "[email protected]," you'd use:

Get-UserBriefingConfig -Identity [email protected]

Set access for multiple users
You can also enable or disable Briefing email for multiple users with a PowerShell script that iterates through the
users, changing the value one user at a time. Use the following script to:

Create a .csv file with all users that were processed with their current status.
List the user principal name for each user.
Set the specified Enabled parameter for each user.

1. Create a comma-separated value (.csv) text file that contains the Identity of the users you want to
configure. For example:

Identity
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

2. Specify the location of the input .csv file, the output .csv file, and the value of Enabled to $true or $false
for each user:

$inFileName="<path and file name of the input .csv file that contains the users, example:
C:\admin\Users2Opt-in.csv>"
$outFileName="<path and file name of the output .csv file that records the results, example:
C:\admin\Users2Opt-in-Done.csv>"
$briefingEmailMode = $true

$users=Import-Csv $inFileName
ForEach ($user in $users)
{
$user.identity
$upn=$user.identity
Set-UserBriefingConfig –Identity $upn -Enabled $briefingEmailMode
Get-UserBriefingConfig –Identity $upn | Export-Csv $outFileName -Append
}

3. Run the resulting commands at the Exchange Online PowerShell v2 module command prompt.

Tenant-level configuration

NOTE
Users can choose to opt out or back in at any time at cortana.office.com. After you change the Briefing setting in the
admin center, it will take 24 hours for the new setting change to take effect.

As the admin, use the following steps to change the setting for Briefing email at the tenant level. This setting is
enabled by default, so that all users who have an Exchange Online license and their Microsoft 365 is set to a
supported language will receive the Briefing email.

Users can unsubscribe individually from within any Briefing email they receive. If you disable the Briefing email
at the tenant level, users in your organization will not receive the Briefing email, but individual users can
override this tenant-level setting. To completely prevent a user from receiving the Briefing email, you must
disable the Briefing email for that user with PowerShell.

To configure access for a tenant
1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. Make sure you're using the new admin center. To do this, if the switch in the upper right of the page reads

Tr y the new admin center, select it so that it reads The new admin center:

3. In the left pane, expand Settings, and then select Org Settings.
4. Under Org Settings, select Briefing email (Preview).
5. Select or deselect the checkbox for Let people in your organization receive the Briefing email, and

then select Save changes. If you deselect the checkbox, all users in your organization will not receive
Briefing email, including all those who were receiving Briefing email. However, individuals can explicitly
subscribe again at cortana.office.com.

Related topics

Briefing email overview
Briefing settings
Use the Exchange Online PowerShell V2 module

Conduct a user pilot

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If you choose to disable the Briefing email for your organization, you can run a pilot with a subset of users first.
Especially for large organizations, a small-scale pilot is a natural first step to validate user readiness, identify and
mitigate issues, and help ensure a successful, organization-wide rollout.

To achieve the most realistic results, the pilot should involve a group of actual users, mimic how they regularly
communicate and collaborate, and verify both technical and user experiences.

Outline pilot logistics

A successful pilot includes the following:

Defined start and end dates and clearly defined goals for measuring success. These goals can help you plan
the rollout after the pilot is complete.
Allow enough time to run the pilot and assess its impact, which a minimum of 30 days is recommended.
Include the right stakeholders and participants, knowing you can add more users throughout the pilot, if
necessar y.
Start small and take time to pause, assess results, and adjust the pilot.

Recruit pilot participants

The most important task when planning a pilot is thoughtfully selecting the participants. Today, the Briefing
email shows insights, such as tasks identified in email and documents related to upcoming meetings. The best
participants for your pilot are people who have consistent email and calendar activity because they would
regularly get the Briefing email and can benefit the most by using it for daily work activities.

A great place to start is to ask your stakeholders and department managers which teams they think would
benefit from the assistance offered in the Briefing email. The pilot should also extend to key people in IT,
Training, Corporate communications, and your Help desk. This allows for those in key roles in your organization
to have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the capabilities of the Briefing email.

TIP
When selecting a group of people for your Briefing pilot, be sure to include those who check email on Adaptive-
compatible clients. The Adaptive version ensures users get the optimal experience with links to open tasks, upcoming
meetings, related documents, and book suggested focus time, all within the email.

You can control who receives the Briefing email in your pilot in one of the following ways:

Use the admin center to set the default state for all people in your organization as opted out. Then advise
your pilot participants to opt in to receive the Briefing email at cortana.office.com.

Use PowerShell to disable Briefing for non-pilot users and leave pilot users enabled. In the admin center,
have all users opted-in by default.

Users who are enabled and opted-in will receive the Briefing email.
Users who are disabled and opted-in will not receive the Briefing email. Note that as you onboard new
users to a tenant, you will need to use PowerShell to disable Briefing for them if you do not want them
to be part of the pilot.

Design your test plan and feedback survey

For a successful pilot experience, give your participants clearly defined tasks to complete along with a way to
share their feedback. Examples of what users can do in the Briefing email include:

Organize or accept a meeting invite with a cloud document attached (can be a link in the invite itself, a reply
to the original invite, or sent in a related email thread).
When documents appear in the Briefing email, they can open them directly from the email and mark them as
Done or Not related.
Review tasks identified by opening the linked source email and marking the tasks as Done or Not a task.
Book focus time where available in your calendar.

Ensure you have an open feedback channel to track progress and measure outcomes, such as:

Use a predefined survey as an easy way to capture and assess pilot results. You can use the Sample feedback
surveys to get started.
Create a Team or Channel for pilot participants to join and share their experiences.
Create a Security group where pilot users can ask questions and submit feedback.

Create your communications plan

It's crucial to the success of your pilot that you educate pilot participants on what's happening when and why,
and what's expected of them. To drive excitement and maximum participation, be sure you include value
messaging and links to Training and Support where users can get additional information throughout the pilot.
The following resources are available to get you started with a pilot communications plan:

One-page Briefing overview
Sample email introducing the Briefing email
Demo for the Adaptive version of the Briefing email

Pilot planning tips

The following tips can help ensure the success of your pilot:

Remember the Briefing email is enabled by default for everyone with an Exchange Online mailbox in a
supported language. You can use PowerShell to choose who gets the Briefing email first.
Before beginning a pilot, confirm that all pilot participants have active Exchange Online licenses.
Throughout a pilot, meet with your project stakeholders to review user feedback and help desk tickets to
ensure the pilot is running smoothly. Make any adjustments as necessary.

The following is an example timeline for a 30-day pilot:

One week before the pilot kickoff - Send initial communication to pilot users about what to expect and
when. This is also a good opportunity to conduct training or share training materials about how to use the
Briefing email. You can also send a survey now to compare user sentiment before and after the pilot.
Day 1 - Send kickoff communication to pilot users.
Day 14 - Send midpoint communication to pilot users and optionally send a survey.
Day 30 - Send final communication to pilot users. Conduct a final survey on their experience.
Days 31–45 - Assess pilot results and plan for next steps.

Assess learnings and make a plan

After a pilot is complete, gather all of the feedback surveys, support tickets, and other metrics to analyze with
your goals and decide your plan for the rollout. Your analysis should help you decide if your organization is

ready for a broad deployment of Briefing, or if you need to extend the pilot to more users, or revisit the pilot
after you've identified and mitigated any concerns.

When the results indicate:

The pilot goals were achieved (for example, user satisfaction)– You are ready to start the rollout
phase. Depending on your goals, you can do one of the following:

Extend the pilot to additional participants, perhaps in different roles or with different collaboration
patterns than the initial pilot group.
Enable Briefing for other select groups in your organization.
Enable Briefing for all other users in your organization.
The pilot didn't achieve the goals - Take some time to make adjustments to your plan and revisit the
pilot.

TIP
Enlist your pilot participants as peer champions to help evangelize and onboard new users to Briefing. Peer champions
can easily relate to other users, sharing their own experiences and learnings, and offering support and guidance to their
colleagues.

Admin preview

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As an admin for your organization, you are eligible to receive the Briefing email before people in your
organization start receiving it.
As an admin, this is your opportunity to experience the value of the Briefing email and familiarize yourself with
its functionality before the rest of your organization sees it.
First, you'll get a one-time welcome email that explains what the Briefing email is, key privacy and security
information, and links to helpful resources for managing the rollout.



For the next two weeks starting with the welcome email, you're eligible to get a Briefing email on days that you
have actionable tasks. Your Briefing will look and function exactly how it will for everyone in your organization
so you get a good feel for what they will see and experience.

If you keep the Briefing email on for your organization, your end users will start receiving the Briefing email two
weeks after you received the welcome email.

Key considerations

Only admins with a mailbox in a supported language as configured in Outlook are eligible to receive the
welcome email and the two-week preview of Briefing.
Not all admins in an organization will get the welcome email and have a two-week preview before the rest of
the organization starts receiving the Briefing email. For example, if all admins in your organization have a
mailbox language set to something other than a supported language and other people do have supported
language mailboxes, those admins are not eligible to receive the email but the other people are and will start
receiving the Briefing after the two-week preview period.
If Microsoft Viva has no suggestions for you, you will not receive the Briefing email. You could receive the
welcome email and not receive a Briefing email during the two-week preview period. The rest of your
organization will start getting the Briefing email 14 days after you got the welcome email, regardless of how
many Briefing emails you received.
If you turn off the Briefing for yourself or your organization, you will not receive the welcome email or the
two-week preview.

Briefing email resources

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When you're ready to roll out the Briefing email to your organization or to a new group of employees who just
joined your organization, it's important that you educate them on how the Briefing email can help them get their
work done and plan for the day ahead.
You can use the following to help explain what the Briefing email is, when they will get it, and how to best use it:

One-page Briefing email overview
Sample email introducing the Briefing email
Demo for the Adaptive version of the Briefing email
Sample feedback surveys

TIP
You can edit and customize the overview and email documents to include information specific about your company, such
as a logo or custom header and footer information.

Related topics

Briefing email overview
Conduct a pilot

Prepare for upcoming meetings

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In this section of your Briefing email, you’ll see today's first three meetings chronologically that have at least one
suggested action. You can select the meeting heading to open the meeting details or select a document that’s
related to the upcoming meeting to open and view it.

With the Adaptive email version, you can also do the following to help prepare for today's meetings:

To schedule a different time because of low acceptance or a majority of the attendees have declined a
meeting you’ve organized, you can select Reschedule.
For a document that is related to a meeting, if you got what you needed or you've already followed up on it,
select Done. To remove the task from your list, select Not related.
For a task that is related to a meeting, select Add to To Do to add to your task list. If you have already
completed the task, select Done.
To inform the meeting organizer whether you’re planning to attend a meeting or not, you can select Accept
or Decline so the meeting organizer can better assess their meeting quorum. If you have a meeting conflict,
you can select Reply to let the organizer know if you’ll be late, leave early, or be unable to attend.
As a meeting organizer, you can add a Teams link to your invitation by selecting Add Teams.
As a meeting organizer, you can select Add agenda if your upcoming meeting is missing an agenda.
Agendas help make meetings more effective.

In the following example, you’d select Weekly PM meeting to open the meeting details or select the related
Status update document to open and view it. If you see a meeting that has low acceptance, you could select
Reschedule .

In the following example, for the Status Update meeting, you can select:
Add Teams to add a Teams link to the invitation.
Add agenda to add a meeting agenda to the invitation.

Reschedule for low acceptance

As a meeting organizer, your Briefing alerts you to a meeting that is at risk of having low attendance.

Meetings with low attendance may be less productive because decisions can't be made without key decision-
makers in attendance. You might have to repeat the meeting or share similar information again for those who
do not attend.

You can select Reschedule to open the meeting invite and schedule it for a different time.

Add Teams link

When scheduling a meeting, a common mistake is forgetting to include online meeting information for remote
attendees. Online meeting access is important because it:

Enables you to include remote collaborators or those working in other locations.
Helps meetings start on time.
Enables you to record meetings and present information to remote attendees.
Having a single-select correction also saves you time and stress before and at the start of meetings.

When you select Add Teams, Microsoft Viva Insights adds a Teams meeting link to the meeting invite for you,
so you don't have to open the meeting to add it and automatically sends an updated invite to all invitees.

Add agenda

Agenda can help attendees understand what to expect out of a meeting, what prep is required, and what the
outcome of the meeting should be. It’s a key step and a best practice for meeting preparation.

Selecting Add agenda sends a reply to the scheduled meeting.

RSVP to a meeting with no conflicts

It is a best practice to let organizers know if you will attend their meeting so that they can plan accordingly.
Briefing focuses on smaller meetings where it might be more likely that your attendance is required.

You can Accept or Decline a meeting in the Briefing email. If the meeting is recurring, Accept and Decline are
for the series. Accept and Decline are sent as a response to the organizer. After declining, you can still see and
interact with content for this meeting in the Briefing email.

RSVP to a meeting with conflicts

Again, it’s best to let organizers know if you will attend their meeting so they can plan accordingly.

You will see the following actions for a meeting depending on the type of conflict you have with the meeting.

SC EN A RIO MEETING DETAILS REASON A C T ION

Late reply This meeting conflicts with Let [organizer] know if you Reply
[Meeting title] at [start will be late
time] to [end time].

Leave early reply This meeting conflicts with Let [organizer] know if you Reply
[Meeting title] at [start need to leave early.
time] to [end time].

Decline or late reply This meeting conflicts with Let [organizer] know if you Decline or Reply
[Meeting title] at [start can’t make it or if you will
time] to [end time]. be late.

Decline or leave early reply This meeting conflicts with Let [organizer] know if you Decline or Reply
[Meeting title] at [start can’t make it or if you will
time] to [end time]. need to leave early.

Accept or decline This meeting conflicts with Let [organizer] know if you Accept or Decline
[Meeting title] at [start will attend.
time] to [end time].

Related topic

Briefing email overview

Follow up on tasks

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For Commitments and follow-ups in your Briefing, you'll see one or more of the following based on your
recent email activity:

Commitment - Something you promised or committed to do for someone else in an email.
Request - Something another person asked you to do in an email.
Follow-up - Something you asked for from someone else in an email.
To Do task - A task that you've added to your To Do task list.

If you get the Adaptive email version, you can also do the following:

If the related task is already done, select Done.

If you’d like to follow up on the task later, select Remind me. The task is automatically added to To Do
and a Briefing email reminder is set for the next working day.

After you select Remind me, you can customize the task or its reminder in these ways:

To edit the task, select Edit task in To Do.
To choose a date on which you’d like to be reminded of the task, select Remind me on date.
To be reminded of the task in the briefing email during the following week, select Remind me next
week.
To remove the task from your list, select theDelete(trashcan) icon.

In the following example, you’d select Done to confirm you’ve already done the task related to TED Talks. Or
you could select Remind me tomorrow to get a reminder in your next day's briefing email and to view the
task in To Do. After you select Remind me, you can further customize your management of the task by editing
it in the To Do app or by selecting a reminder for another day.

Or if you use the To Do feature, you could select Edit task in To Do.

Related topic

Briefing email overview

Book focus time

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If you get the Adaptive email version, you can use this section to schedule focus time for today’s top-priority
work. Select Book next a suggested time to block it on your calendar as "focusing," which silences notifications
for uninterrupted focused work.
This section will also reference and list any already scheduled focus time in today’s calendar.
In the following example, you’d select Book next to 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM to schedule you as focusing during
that time on today’s calendar.

Related topics

Briefing email overview

Start a guided meditation with Headspace

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In the Headspace section of the Briefing email, you can launch a guided meditation to start your day grounded
and focused.
Before you can use Headspace, you need access to Viva Insights in Microsoft Teams. See Discover the Viva
Insights app for details.

NOTE
Headspace is currently available only to you if your Outlook or Exchange Online language is set to English. Additional
languages will be supported soon.

Start a guided meditation

1. In the Headspace section of a Briefing email, select Star t meditating or select the Play button to open
Headspace within the Viva Insights Teams app (if you're using a computer) or in Teams Mobile (if you're
on a mobile device).

Before Teams opens, you might see a message about the "site is tr ying to open Microsoft Teams." If
prompted to "always allow teams.microsoft.com to open links of this type in the associated
app," you can select Open or Cancel. To continue to Teams and Headspace, select Open.

2. To start the meditation, select the Play button for Headspace to open it.

To learn more about other guided meditation resources in the Viva Insights Teams app, see Mindfulness content
from Headspace.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What is Headspace?

A1. The Headspace app gives you a curated set of guided meditations and Focus music that you can play to
start your day more centered and grounded, relax your mind before a big presentation, or find focus before
starting an important project. In just a few minutes a day, meditation and mindfulness with Headspace can help
you decrease stress and increase focus.

Q2. Where can I get more information about meditation and other best practices?

A2. Check out Headspace app's Questions about meditation.

Related topic

Briefing email overview

Plan your week

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If you get the Adaptive email version, you'll see a What do you want to set aside time for section in a
Briefing email about next week. This helps you plan the week ahead for important activities that improve long
term productivity and wellbeing.
Select Book next one or more of the following to schedule it for each day during your work week:

Focus time - Schedules up to two-hour blocks of available time on your calendar for uninterrupted focused
work. When scheduled, your status shows as "focusing" and notifications are silenced.
Catch up on messages - Schedules a 30-minute block of time to catch up on email and chats. When
scheduled, your status shows as "busy" during this time each day.
Take a break - Schedules a 15-minute block of time twice a day to disconnect and recharge.
Learning - Schedules up to a two-hour block of time to learn a new skill or for career development.
This section will also reference and list any already scheduled time in your calendar for these activities.
For example, as shown in the following, you’d select Book next to Catch up on messages to schedule that
time on your calendar for each day during your work week.

To enroll in focus time

Applies to: Enrollment in focus plan through the briefing email is currently available only to users who have a

Viva Insights service plan enabled.
In the What do you want to set aside time for? section of the Briefing email, you can easily sign up to have
focus time automatically added to your Outlook calendar.

On the Focus time row, select Book and then select Enroll.

Related topics

Briefing email overview

Catch up with your team

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People managers often have hectic schedules, and it can be tough to stay in close contact with your team
members. The Briefing can help you maintain a strong relationship with your team and stay caught up and
respond quickly to important requests from your team.

Only managers who have team members can see this feature. You can add or edit your team members in
Settings.

As a manager, you'll see one or more of the following based on your calendar and email activity in the Catch up
with your team section of your Briefing email:

Schedule a 1:1 - If no 1:1 time is currently scheduled or you have a scheduling conflict, you're prompted to
schedule it for a team member (or reschedule for a conflict).
You may have outstanding tasks - Something you promised to get done or that one or more team
members asked you to do.
Recent items you may have missed - Important emails and documents from one or more team
members that you haven’t read yet.

If you get the Adaptive email version, you can also do the following:

In Schedule 1:1, select Find time to schedule it, or Snooze to remind you to schedule it later.
If you see items that may be related, you can select Done or Add To Do.
To do the task later, select Later.
Or if it's not a task, select the Delete (trashcan) icon to remove it from the list.

In the following example, you’d select Find time to schedule a 1:1 with Christie and select Done to mark the
Sync up as complete.

Related topic

Briefing email overview

Settings for the Briefing email

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You can change your personal settings for the Briefing email to set what time of day you receive the Briefing in
your mailbox or to unsubscribe from it. These settings override or take precedence over what the admin sets up
for your Briefing email. If the Briefing is using an incorrect time zone, use Change time zone to change your
Outlook time zone setting.

To update settings

1. Near the end of any Briefing email, select Settings or go to https://cortana.office.com/briefing.

2. In Settings, you can change the following, which take effect the next working day if you have any
insights:

To change your subscription to the Briefing email from Microsoft Viva, set Cor tana Briefing to On to
subscribe or Off to unsubscribe.
In When would you like to receive this email, select a preferred time period, and then select
Save. You'll receive your next Briefing within two hours of this new time.
In Current time zone, select Change time zone to change the Outlook setting for your Briefings.
Only managers or team leads will see this option. In Your team members, select Edit team to add
or remove team members. If you're not a manager, you can select I am not a manager to hide this
setting.

NOTE
If you unsubscribe, you can always subscribe again at https://cortana.office.com/briefing.

Related topics

Briefing email overview
Configure Briefing email

Briefing languages

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If you have an Exchange Online license and your Microsoft 365 is set to one of the following supported
languages, you will receive the Briefing email in that language.

SUPPORTED LANGUAGES

English
Japanese
German
Chinese (Simplified)
Spanish
French
Portuguese (Brazil)
Russian *
Italian
Chinese (Traditional) *
Korean *
Dutch *
Polish *
Swedish *
Turkish *
Czech *
Portuguese (Portugal) *
Thai *
Danish *
Hungarian *
Finnish *

SUPPORTED LANGUAGES

Norwegian (Bokmal) *
Arabic *
Hebrew *

NOTE
The asterisked (*) languages are part of a rolling release with an expected general availability in May 2022.

See Change your display language and time zone in Microsoft 365 for Business to learn how to change your
Microsoft 365 language setting.



Viva Insights Outlook add-in

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Applies to: Microsoft Viva Insights elements are available in varying levels to users of different Microsoft Office
365 and Microsoft 365 plans. See Plans and environments for details. Also see How do I find my plan?

Did you ever miss an important email or forget a commitment you made to your co-workers? Do meetings and
emails tend to take over your calendar? Do you ever wish to see reminders for 1:1 meetings with your manager,
direct reports, or other top collaborators? Would you like to be notified if an upcoming meeting doesn't have a
quorum?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, the Microsoft Viva Insights Outlook add-in provides insights that
can help you stay on top of your tasks and get more done during your workday.

This add-in is an extension of your Microsoft Outlook experience and works within Outlook to help you gain
focus time, maintain your work relationships, plan time away from work, and improve your overall work-life
balance.

Privacy by design

This Outlook add-in preserves all the data-subject rights afforded by GDPR. The insights you see in the add-in
are only available to you. They are computed as needed, from your email and meeting information, and are
never stored outside your mailbox.

Additionally, the add-in begins processing data for insights only after the first time you open it. Learn more
about how Microsoft protects your privacy.

How to see the add-in

Before you can use the Viva Insights Outlook add-in, be sure that the following prerequisites are in place:

Have an applicable Microsoft 365 plan and let at least 24 hours elapse since you were granted that
license.

Have a valid mailbox. This cannot be a shared mailbox or even a shared mailbox that was converted into
a user mailbox. It must be a user mailbox from the start. We recommended that you provision a new user
mailbox, if necessary.

Have the following in place:

Your computer has Microsoft Outlook version 1705 (build 8201.2102) or higher for Windows, or
version 15.39.1010 or later for Mac.
Add-in commands are enabled for the Outlook add-in. For details, see Add-in commands for Outlook.
Internet Explorer version 10 or 11 is installed on your computer.
The admin enables the add-in by default in the Exchange admin center. If your admin sets the deployment
status as "Optionally, disabled by default," you can manually add the Viva Insights Outlook add-in
yourself from the Microsoft Store Add-ins.

NOTE
The Viva Insights Outlook add-in is not available on mobile devices.

Open the Viva Insights Outlook add-in in one of the programs listed under Open the Viva Insights add-in,
namely Windows Outlook desktop, Outlook on the web, or Mac Outlook desktop.

Select an email. In Outlook, you can do this in one of the following ways:
1. Open the email in a new window.
2. With the Outlook Reading Pane open, view the email in the Reading Pane.

NOTE
This works only with emails to which information rights management have not been applied.

Open the add-in

You can use the Viva Insights Outlook add-in in the following environments:
Windows Outlook desktop
1. Open the Home ribbon of Microsoft Outlook.
2. Select the Viva Insights icon.
Outlook on the web
1. Open Outlook on the web.
2. Open an email message.
3. Select the ellipsis (...) in the top-right corner of your email message, and then select Viva Insights.

NOTE
You can pin the Add-in to your quick access pane for easier access; see Pin the add-in for details.

Mac Outlook desktop
In the new Mac interface, add-ins are not currently available, but you can enable them by switching to the old
interface, as described here:

To enable the Viva Insights Outlook add-in for the Mac

1. Switch to the old UI by using the toggle at the top of the page:

2. In the Outlook Home ribbon, open Viva Insights by using the same steps as for Windows Outlook
desktop.

NOTE
If the Viva Insights add-in is not showing up for you, check out the prerequisites that are described in How to see the
add-in.

What you might see

After you open the Viva Insights add-in, you'll see a number of cards in the right (Viva Insights) pane.
This pane will show you a number of options, such as the following:

Prepare for your meetings - Prepare for your meetings and then drive more effective meetings.

Track email and document open rates - Track readership of emails that you've sent sent by viewing the
percentage open rate, the percentage attachment click rate, and so on.
View outstanding tasks - Make sure nothing falls through the cracks by seeing reminders of tasks that you've
agreed to do.
Follow up on your requests - Receive reminders to follow up on commitments made by your colleagues or
on requests that you have made.
Book time to focus - Protect your calendar by reserving focus time before meetings take over.
Catch up on email - Cut through the clutter with a summary of unread email from your more important
contacts.
Catch up on documents - See a list of shared OneDrive and SharePoint documents that you need to catch up
on.
Add important people - Manage your list of important contacts. You'll see reminders when you have tasks to
complete for these people or unread emails from them.
Set lunch hours - Use this card to protect your lunch hours and personalize your insights.
Plan your time away - Use this card to plan your time away from work.
Catch up with your team - Stay on top of your team's needs with insights for 1:1 meetings, outstanding tasks,
and so on.
Meeting suggestions - Grow and nurture your network by staying connected with important colleagues.

Pin the add-in

If you're using Outlook on the Web, you can pin the add-in for easier access.
1. In Outlook on the web, select the Settings (gear) icon.

2. In Settings, select View all Outlook Settings.
3. Confirm Mail is selected in the left pane, and in the center pane, select Customize actions.

4. In the right pane, in the Message surface area, select Viva Insights.
5. In the right pane, in the Toolbar area, select Viva Insights.
6. Save your new settings.

To opt out

1. Open your dashboard.
2. Select the Settings (gear) icon at top right.

3. Under Viva Insights, select Settings.
4. For Insights Outlook add-in, set the control to Off.
5. Select Save to save your changes.

NOTE
It might take up to 24 hours for your saved changes to take effect.

To remove the Viva Insights icon

If you opt out of the Viva Insights Outlook add-in, you might also want to remove its icon from the Outlook
ribbon. To do so, follow these steps:
1. In Outlook, select Get Add-ins.

2. On the left navigation pane, select My add-ins.
3. On the Viva Insights card, select the ellipsis (...), and then select Remove.
If I am opted out, can I opt back in?
Yes; if you opt yourself out or if an admin opts you out, you can opt back in any time to regain access to the Viva
Insights Outlook add-in.

To opt in

1. Open your dashboard.
2. Select the Settings (gear) icon at top right.

3. Under Viva Insights, select Settings.
4. For Viva Insights Outlook add-in, set the control to On.
5. Select Save to save your changes.

NOTE
It might take up to 24 hours for your saved changes to take effect.

Related topics

Use Viva Insights
Viva Insights elements

Use Viva Insights in Outlook

6/9/2022 • 20 minutes to read • Edit Online

The following insight options help you get your work done fast.

Prepare for your meetings

Meetings are vital for healthy collaboration. Better meeting practices can improve productivity, information
sharing, innovation, decision making, and connections among team members.
Prepare for your meetings shows you a list of upcoming meetings that you've organized or that you've been
invited to. This insight helps you decide whether each meeting is ready to go.
1. On the Viva Insights panel, the Prepare for your meetings insight tells you about meetings that

you've organized or were invited to for the next seven calendar days (including the current day) to help
you review and plan for them.

2. Select Prepare for your meetings to see an insight for each of your upcoming meetings. You can select
to view All, Organized, or Invited to filter the list by.
As the meeting organizer, you will see an insight similar to this:

As a meeting invitee, you will see an insight similar to this:

Insight option details

Each meeting card title includes the meeting title, the organizer, the start time, and the location. Some of the
following options apply to the meeting organizer, some apply to invitees, and some apply to people in both
positions.

CARD SECTION NOT ES REC O M M EN DAT IO N S

Attendees The percentage of invitees who have Make sure that you have a quorum
accepted, and the number of invitees. before the meeting. Consider sending
Select the down arrow to see more a reminder if you haven't heard back
information about these attendees. from attendees.
                 
 

Conflicts This section outlines all other meetings Take time to resolve conflicts well
that have a conflict with this meeting. ahead of each meeting. Doing so helps
other participants know whether there
will be a quorum for the meeting.

CARD SECTION NOT ES REC O M M EN DAT IO N S

Respond (RSVP)        This section is only for invitees, not for Responses help the organizer
the organizer. determine if required participants can
attend or not, and then take any
You can respond Yes or No to the necessary steps, such as rescheduling
invitation. If you have already or recording the meeting.
responded, your response is
shown here.

If a meeting is scheduled outside
of your typical meeting hours
(when you typically organize and
attend meetings during and
outside the workday), it will be
highlighted with an option to
respond accordingly.

Attachments This section shows the number of
attachments, their titles, and their
Related documents storage location (online or local). You
Related tasks can see more details and you can open
Online meeting link the attachment if it is stored online.

This section shows documents that
you might want to review to prepare
for the meeting.

This section shows tasks that you
might want to complete to prepare for
the meeting.

(This section is only for the organizer, Be an inclusive meeting organizer. If
not for the invitees.) you have attendees who are working
remotely, consider adding an online
Yes or No indicates whether the link to your meeting.
meeting invitation includes a link
for joining the meeting online in
Skype for business or in Teams.

Preparation time This section gives you the options to Be prepared. If you need travel time or
book either 15 minutes or 30 minutes have other tasks that need to be done
of preparation time. This option right before the meeting to prepare for
appears only if there is an available slot it, consider booking preparation time.
in your calendar right before the
meeting. Booked time appears on your
calendar and references the meeting,
as "Preparation time for [meeting
title]." You can also cancel the meeting-
preparation time or delete it directly
from your calendar.

Track email and document open rates

Applies to: This insight is currently available only to people who are enrolled in an applicable service plan.

Viva Insights can tell you how many people have opened your email and the average time they spent reading
that email. In general, it informs you about email that you sent to five or more Microsoft 365 users who are
internal to your organization. For more information about which email messages are reported about, see
Reporting details.

Viva Insights also tells you how many email recipients opened a document that you shared in the email as a link
or as an attachment (this insight works for documents that are stored in SharePoint or in OneDrive for
Business).

After you send an email message, it can take up to 30 minutes before Viva Insights informs you about it. If the
email is sent from a delegated mailbox with "send on behalf" permission, the delegate can see the read statistics.

Viva Insights shows the open rate for the sent email that is open in Outlook. It also groups open rate
information for qualifying sent items into a single summary that you can select and expand to see a more
detailed view.

Reporting details
Viva Insights does not display read information about every email that you send, such as in the following
circumstances.

Qualifying messages requirement

Read statistics are shown only for qualifying messages. A qualifying message is an email message that is sent to
five or more qualifying recipients. A qualifying recipient is a person who is in the same company as the sender
and has a cloud mailbox. Distribution lists are expanded before counting qualifying recipients.

Exceptions to qualifying messages

Viva Insights does not report about email messages in the following categories:

Email that was sent from a shared mailbox
Email that was sent more than 14 days ago.
Email in which the total number of recipients (the sum of all of the recipients in the To:, Cc:, and Bcc: fields) is
less than five.
Email sent to modern groups. (If users are following the modern group, they are included in the count.)

Open rate

Viva Insights respects user privacy. For this reason, the Viva Insights add-in does not show information about
individual recipients, and when necessary to protect privacy, it reports approximated values only.

Within 30 minutes of when you sent qualifying email, the Viva Insights add-in reports the actual or an
approximated open rate, as described here:

Below minimum. For open rates lower than the minimum threshold, the threshold value is reported.
For example, when 20% of 10 email recipients open the email, Viva Insights displays the open rate as "<
25%."

Between thresholds. If the actual open rate falls between the "Minimum" and "Maximum" values
shown in the table, then the actual open rate is reported.

Above maximum. For open rates higher than the maximum threshold, the threshold value is reported.
For example, when 96% of the 25 email recipients open the email, Viva Insights displays the open rate as
"> 95%."

NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS OPEN RATE REPORTED

5 - 10 Minimum: 25%
Maximum: 75%

11 - 20 Minimum: 10%
Maximum: 90%

> 21 Minimum: 5%
Maximum: 95%

For more information, see Email read rates and document open rates. To see who opened an email, use
Outlook's request read receipts.
To see read information about sent emails
1. If the Viva Insights pane isn't already open, select the Viva Insights icon in the Outlook Home ribbon to

open it.

NOTE
If you see a "Welcome!" message, select Get star ted.

2. In Viva Insights, select one of the following:
a. In-context email open rate - Shows read statistics for the sent email that you currently have
open in Outlook. It also provides open rates for linked or attached documents that are stored in
OneDrive for Business or in SharePoint.

NOTE
In rare cases, the document open rate can be higher than the email open rate. This can happen when
recipients open the document through sources other than the email in which it was shared.

b. Track email open rates - Shows read statistics for all sent emails.

The option you selected (in step 2a or step 2b) shows the email subject line and a summary of the
open rate, the open rate (sometimes expressed as a percentage), and the number of forwards.

View outstanding tasks

It is easy to lose track of commitments that you've made to your colleagues in email. The View outstanding
tasks insight helps you make sure nothing falls through the cracks by reminding you of tasks that you've
agreed to do. It is based on emails that you've sent and requests from your colleagues during the last 14 days of
email communication. For example:

"I will send you the latest report tomorrow"
"Will get back to you by end of the week with a suitable meeting time"
A colleague asked you three days ago: "Please review this deck by the end of the week"
In the Viva Insights pane, select View outstanding tasks. This insight is available only in English.

This opens a panel that displays insights for each of your suggested outstanding tasks.

Insight option details

CARD SECTION NOT ES

Name and icon             This is the person you might have an outstanding task for
Email subject line
Task snapshot Subject line preview of the email along with a hyperlink to
Open open the email
Already done
Not a task Action A snippet of text related to the task
Add to To Do Actions
Select this to open the relevant email so that you can review
the task.

Select this to mark the task as completed. Suggested tasks
disappear after two weeks or after you mark them as done.

Select this to mark the insight as not a task. This will help us
improve the detection accuracy

If available, select this to add the task to Microsoft To Do so
that you can catch up later. This tool can help you prioritize
and even delegate work, which can lead to higher
productivity.

Consider breaking tasks down into simple steps, adding due
dates, and setting reminders to keep you on track.

Follow up on your requests

It can be easy to lose track of requests you made of your colleagues. By automatically extracting your
outstanding follow ups from the last 14 days of email communication, the Follow up on your requests
insight can help you check in on requests to your colleagues. For example:

"Can you send me the latest report for this year?"
"Everyone, please complete your performance evaluations by the end of the week."
"Cancel my RSVP for Carrin Patman's lunch scheduled early next week."

In the Viva Insights pane, select Follow up on your requests. This insight is available only in English.

This opens a panel that displays insights for each of your suggested follow-up tasks.

Insight option details NOT ES

CARD SECTION The person with whom you might want to follow up

Name and icon                  Subject-line of the email that contains the follow-up item,
Email subject line along with a hyperlink to open the email
Follow up snapshot
Follow up A snippet of text related to the follow-up
Already done
Not a follow up Select this to open the relevant email so that you can follow
up on the task
Add to To Do
Select this to mark the follow-up as completed. Follow-ups
disappear after two weeks or after you mark them as done.

Select this to mark the insight as not a follow-up and
remove it from your list. This also helps Viva Insights
improve its detection accuracy.

Select this to add the task to Microsoft To Do so that you
can catch up later.

This tool can make your days more manageable and reduce
the stress of things falling through the cracks. It can also
help effectively prioritize and even delegate work, which can
lead to higher productivity.

Book time to focus

Research shows that on average it takes 23 minutes to refocus on a task after a distraction, and constant
distraction during focused work can cause higher stress, lower productivity, and bad mood. Further, it can be
hard to go deep on challenging work if you have only small chunks of time to focus between meetings or are
easily distracted by incoming emails and chats. Blocking a few hours every day to focus without interruptions
can help you make progress on your important tasks and projects.

Book time to focus can help you protect time for focused work and also minimize notifications (and thus
distraction) by Teams and Skype for business chats and calls during your focus time.

In the Viva Insights pane, select Book time to focus. This insight appears if your calendar has time available

during your working hours that is not blocked by meetings or appointments.

This opens a panel that displays all the time available to focus in the coming week, with a couple of available
slots every day. With one click you can add focus time to your calendar and get ready for distraction-free deep
work. You can also book all available time for focused work with one click, thus setting you up for focused work
over a longer duration.

Insight option details NOT ES

CARD SECTION Shows the date and time of the available focus time that you
can book.
Date/Time             
Select this to add time to your calendar as focus time.
+
Pencil icon Say you want to focus on “Sales pitch” for two hours. Select
the pencil icon, change the “Focus time” label to “Sales pitch,”
and then click (+). This books a two-hour appointment on
your calendar with title “Sales pitch.”

You can set priority contacts in Teams to ensure that you
don’t miss important messages during focus time.

CARD SECTION NOT ES

Book all This books all available focus time at once, setting you up
with protected time throughout the week.

Use Set lunch hours to set your lunch hour preferences. Viva
Insights will respect your preferences when it proposes focus
time.

Catch up on email

It is easy for important emails to get lost when your inbox is full of unread emails. With the Catch up on email
insight, you can cut through the clutter by seeing a summary of the most important unread email, based on last
14 days of email communication.

In the Viva Insights pane, select Catch up on email.

This opens a panel that displays insights for each of your important unread emails:

Insight option details NOT ES

CARD SECTION Sender of the email
Subject line preview of the email
Name and icon A snapshot of the text related to the email
Email subject line
Email snapshot

CARD SECTION NOT ES

Open Select this to open the relevant email for your review.
Scanning your important unread emails first can help you
get to your important workflows faster.

Catch up on documents

Searching for that document you had planned to read but just can't find? With so many documents shared
across meetings and emails, it can be difficult to stay caught up on documents shared by your colleagues. With
Catch up on documents, you can see a list of the shared OneDrive and SharePoint documents in email that
you need to catch up on.

In the Viva Insights pane, select Catch up on documents:

This opens a panel that displays insights for each document shared with you in the last 14 days that you have
not yet opened.

Insight option details NOT ES

CARD SECTION The person who sent you the email with the associated
document
Name and icon
Subject-line preview of the email
Email subject line
Document name Name of the document that you might want to catch up on.
Select the document name to open it.
Open email
Book time Select this to open the related email.

Select this to see an option to book calendar time to review
the document.

Add important people

You might receive emails and tasks from various people but some items might deserve more attention more

than others. For example, an outstanding task from your manager or a message from a key customer would
likely be of higher priority. Based on your collaboration patterns, Add impor tant people can suggest that you
mark some of your contacts as important; afterwards, Viva Insights will remind you when you have tasks to do
for these important people or unread email from them.
In the Viva Insights pane, select Add impor tant people:

This opens a panel with suggestions to mark a recommended contact as important:

Insight option details NOT ES REC O M M EN DAT IO N S

CARD SECTION

Name and icon The person whom Viva Insights
recommends to mark as Important

Mark as impor tant        Select this to mark the suggested Consider marking your top
                    contact as important. Viva Insights will collaborators and contacts as
then help you stay on top of important so that you are always
outstanding tasks, unread documents, aware of outstanding items from them.
and email from your important people.

Set lunch hours

Struggling to protect time for lunch? Colleagues keep sending meeting invitations during your lunch hours? Not
taking a lunch break can leave you feeling more tired and stressed and less focused. Even if you just take 15-20
minutes, this is a proven way to maintain levels of concentration and energy during the day. Use this insight to
protect your lunch time and personalize your Viva Insights to take into account your preferred lunch hours.

You can set your lunch hours in either of two ways, in Settings or by using the Set lunch hours card. This card
is shown only for a short while to new users of Viva Insights. It is not available permanently, but you can always
set your lunch hours in Settings:

Set lunch hours in Settings

1. In the Viva Insights pane, select Settings (the gear icon).

2. In the Set lunch hours area, select the edit (pencil) option:

3. Change the values in the Star t and/or End fields.

4. Select Update.

Set lunch hours through the Set lunch hours card

1. In the Viva Insights pane, select Set lunch hours:

2. Use the options that are described in the following table.

Insight option details

CARD SECTION NOT ES REC O M M EN DAT IO N S

Default Lunch hours           Your default lunch hours, which you

      can confirm or change

Change Select this to reset your lunch-hour
times

Confirm Select this to save your settings. Viva Taking care of your mental and
Insights will then exclude lunch hours physical wellbeing. Studies show that
when recommending focus blocks or taking a lunch break allows your mind
meeting times.             to rest, recharge and refocus, which
                     can directly improve your productivity
          for the rest of the day.

Add a recurring calendar event By checking this box, you have the Consider setting a recurring calendar
                   option to add a recurring calendar event if your preferred lunch hours
                     event to protect this time. frequently conflict with meetings.

Plan your time away

Taking time off from work helps reduce stress and burnout and improve overall wellbeing. However, research

shows that a lack of planning can reduce the benefits of taking a vacation.
The Plan your time away checklist can help reduce the stress of planning for upcoming time away from work.
This single tool helps you:

Resolve all your meetings in one place with a custom message about your scheduled time off.
Compose your autoreplies and notify your team about your planned time off.
Schedule focus time to wrap up tasks before you go and to catch up on work when you get back.
You can plan your schedule with these options all at one time or individually as you get closer to the date. You
can also come back at any time and change details before you go. Viva Insights will track your progress and
update which actions are done.

In the Viva Insights pane, select Plan your time away to see a checklist of planning options.
Select dates - Select Star t and End dates for when you'll be out of office, and then select Schedule,
which sets up an Out-Of-Office appointment on your calendar for the selected dates.

TIP
Updating your calendar with out-of-office information is a best practice that’ll set the right expectations with
coworkers who want to connect with you.

Set automatic replies - Compose and save an out-of-office reply message here. Your automatic replies
will be sent during the start and end dates you selected. You can select to send the same message to
people inside and outside your organization, or you can compose a different auto-reply message for
those outside your organization, and then select Save.