Published 28 Dec 2019

The Office 365 team at Microsoft is looking to enhance the company’s hosted cloud email service aimed at businesses, Exchange Online, by adding a message recall feature.

A similar feature is already available to users of recent versions of Microsoft Outlook. Users can choose to recall any message that has not yet been opened by recipients. This can be accessed on the email action menu of Outlook by selecting the “Recall this email…” option. Users are then given a choice of deleting unread messages or replacing them with a different message.

This has proved very popular with users, because it enables them to correct incorrect information or add missing details, such as when they forget to add an attachment. Unfortunately, this feature only works when both senders and recipients are within the same organisation and also using Outlook combined with an Exchange server or an Office 365 email account.

The roadmap entry for Microsoft 365 says about the upcoming feature:

“The Outlook for Windows Message Recall feature is extremely popular with users, yet it doesn't always work so well. Part of the problem is that the recall is client-based, and the recall can only happen if the recipient also uses Outlook. With millions of users with mailboxes in Office 365, we're now able to improve upon that feature by performing the recall directly in the cloud in Office 365 mailboxes, so it doesn't matter which email client the recipient uses, the recall takes place in their Office 365 mailbox, and when their client syncs their mail, the message is gone.”

Of course, this feature can only work seamlessly when recipients have not already opened the original email. This means a recipient may have read the original email, but despite the use-from-anywhere nature of Office 365, that recipient may not have read the corrected version in time, perhaps because he or she is busy in the field, out of mobile coverage, or driving long distance.

To help with these situations, the Office 365 team is also looking to add a status report for users of the feature. This will identify which emails could be recalled in time and which could not, so the sender can choose to take follow-up action if there is an urgent need, such as by telephoning the people in question.

The new message recall feature will unfortunately not be rolled out until the fourth quarter of 2020, but it is an example of the ongoing development Office 365 customers enjoy when choosing to purchase the productivity suite as a service rather than a one-off software purchase.

While the move from traditional versions of Office to the online-based Office 365 may seem daunting, it needn’t be. Pro-Networks is an accredited Microsoft Partner, so our skilled engineers can provide a pain-free, professional migration service that will soon see your staff benefiting from all that Office 365 has to offer. We can even offer product familiarisation and training sessions, so your organisation will yield the best possible returns from it.

 

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