Another Way for Tenant Administrators to Know When Incidents HappenI
MC211619 was one of the Office 365 notifications that passed me by without making much of an impression. Announced on June 16, it’s about a new right-hand notification panel in Outlook for Windows (click to run, aka Microsoft 365 enterprise apps). The panel appears when an incident happens that affects tenant users and the idea is that administrators get a heads-up before users start to complain that something isn’t working. The update is associated with Microsoft 365 roadmap item 58085.
One reason why I didn’t pay much attention to this change is that relatively few incidents have recently happened that affect my tenant. I guess I’ve been luck. Although incidents occur all the time inside Office 365, the sheer scale of the service and the way that tenants receive service from a network of datacenters mean that some tenants never notice problems while others experience issues.
The Outlook Notifications Panel Opens
Last night, Outlook (version 2006, build 13001.20384) opened the notification panel for the first time to display details of a problem with OneDrive. As you can see in Figure 1, notifications also include when problems are resolved. As it happens, the two incidents are related (navigation in the browser clients for SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business). Clicking the See more link under a notification opens the Service health section of the Microsoft 365 admin center to display details of the problem.
Figure 1:Outlook’s Admin Notifications Panel
I’m not sure how quickly Outlook removes notifications. The service health dashboard shows both problems as resolved at 9:37pm UTC on July 14 while the notifications remain visible some 36 hours later.
Outlook Help Includes Admin Notifications
The notification panel is designed to open automatically, which is what I saw. You can check for incidents at any time by going to Outlook’s help section (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Access admin notifications through Outlook help
Disabling Incident Notifications
If you don’t want to see incident notifications, you can disable their display in Outlook Options. Go to Advanced and scroll to the bottom to reveal the checkbox to disable incident notifications intended for administrators (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Outlook setting to disable admin notifications
Outlook Build 2009 or later also includes the option to turn off notifications (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Outlook Build 2009 includes the Turn off notifications option
Microsoft doesn’t define what users Outlook considers to be an administrator. It seems like the panel is available to any account holding a role which allows them to access service health data, such as global administrators and global readers. This would make sense as these roles can access details of advisories and incidents in the Microsoft 365 admin center. I don’t believe that it works for accounts holding other roles like SharePoint administrator or Teams administrator.
Service Notifications by Email
You can configure service health dashboard preferences in the Microsoft 365 admin center to have incident notification sent by email to up to two users. Oddly, I didn’t receive notifications for the incidents flagged by Outlook, even though I’d chosen to receive emails for incidents and advisories related to SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. As I assume both Outlook and the admin center use the same service communications API to know when new incidents occur, it’s hard to explain why this happened. Maybe it’s just another small disconnect in the cloud.
Uncertain Need for the Feature
I’m unconvinced that a need existed for Outlook to surface incident reports to administrators. There’s already many ways to find out when problems exist, including the email mentioned above, using a third-party monitoring product, or building your own solution using the API. Besides, users let you know faster than any probe when things aren’t working, and your favorite social media feed will highlight problems when they are widespread across Office 365.
Overall, it seems like Outlook could focus on other areas of functionality like the top items in Outlook user voice instead of admin notifications, but hey, what would I know…
Need more information about how to run an Office 365 tenant? We have a few ideas in the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook…
15 Replies to “How Outlook’s Notification Pane Displays Details of Office 365 Incidents”
I do hope that it is not only Global Admin that can use this feature. Maybe the newer Global Reader would make more sense here. I would newer use a normal user account as admin (must allways be separated) It would make sense if the feature could be enabled on specific users by an admin. But I do also agree that the feature seams redundant, especially if it only works for Global Administrators.
Agree with Thomas Nelson. Would be nice if Microsoft would detail which administrative groups receive these alerts. Global Reader would be a logical inclusion.
Interesting. I posted my question on TechNet about this and the next day you post your article. Talk about timing.. I’ve actually been seeing these notifications for about 2-3 weeks now and was trying to figure out how to get these to show up on his outlook. I had forgotten that I was running the preview version.
Personally we like having this mainly because it is something we can’t miss. We are a 2 person IT team with quite a lot of infrastructure to manage.
This option is not available to me. I am actually a Global admin and have this version installed. I had previously rolled back because of the crashing issues yesterday. Is it possible this option was removed in a fix?
If this is indeed limited to accounts with the Global Administrator role, this feature is pointless for us. We have a large tenant, work in Outlook with our user accounts, not with admin accounts, and very few of our admins have the Global Administrator role. The Global Reader or Service Support admin roles would be more appropriate.
Right. After looking at this some more, it seems like anyone who has the right to see the service health information in the admin center can see the notices.
Is this in the non-preview channels now? I have the option in Outlook to show the pane, but I am not getting any notifications even though I am a Global Admin
Thank you. That’s what I thought. I was getting them at my old company for about a year also, but since starting with my new company in April, I’ve not had a single ntofication!
Just wanted to rule out the build/channel being an issue 😉
Loading...
The feature was disabled on my end, and “Admin notifications” panel keeps resurfacing.
This is a useless feature that just won’t die.
Do you mean that you have toggled the “Show Admin Notifications” option in the panel to “Off”, but the panel keeps popping back in?
I get the same. Even though I have disabled it from showing admin notifications, the panel keeps randomly popping back into the right hand side of Outlook, but shows me no notifications.
What is the point of disabling the toggle, if the panel constantly pops back in! It’s incredibly frustrating and I can find no other options to disable the feature out right!
{"id":null,"mode":"button","open_style":"in_modal","currency_code":"EUR","currency_symbol":"\u20ac","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":100,"top_media_type":"featured_image","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cover-141x200.jpg","featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"Virtual Tip Jar","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Pay","payment_request_label":"Office 365 for IT Pros","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Office 365 for IT Pros","form_subtitle":null,"currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for supporting the work of Office 365 for IT Pros!","payment_confirmation_title":"Office 365 for IT Pros","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to tip?","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please choose a valid currency."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}
I do hope that it is not only Global Admin that can use this feature. Maybe the newer Global Reader would make more sense here. I would newer use a normal user account as admin (must allways be separated) It would make sense if the feature could be enabled on specific users by an admin. But I do also agree that the feature seams redundant, especially if it only works for Global Administrators.
Agree with Thomas Nelson. Would be nice if Microsoft would detail which administrative groups receive these alerts. Global Reader would be a logical inclusion.
Interesting. I posted my question on TechNet about this and the next day you post your article. Talk about timing.. I’ve actually been seeing these notifications for about 2-3 weeks now and was trying to figure out how to get these to show up on his outlook. I had forgotten that I was running the preview version.
Personally we like having this mainly because it is something we can’t miss. We are a 2 person IT team with quite a lot of infrastructure to manage.
This option is not available to me. I am actually a Global admin and have this version installed. I had previously rolled back because of the crashing issues yesterday. Is it possible this option was removed in a fix?
If this is indeed limited to accounts with the Global Administrator role, this feature is pointless for us. We have a large tenant, work in Outlook with our user accounts, not with admin accounts, and very few of our admins have the Global Administrator role. The Global Reader or Service Support admin roles would be more appropriate.
I am only a Global Reader and I receive the notifications
Right. After looking at this some more, it seems like anyone who has the right to see the service health information in the admin center can see the notices.
Is this in the non-preview channels now? I have the option in Outlook to show the pane, but I am not getting any notifications even though I am a Global Admin
Yes. I believe so. I’ve been seeing these incidents for at least a year.
Thank you. That’s what I thought. I was getting them at my old company for about a year also, but since starting with my new company in April, I’ve not had a single ntofication!
Just wanted to rule out the build/channel being an issue 😉
The feature was disabled on my end, and “Admin notifications” panel keeps resurfacing.
This is a useless feature that just won’t die.
I have sympathy to your views. I disabled the feature.
Do you mean that you have toggled the “Show Admin Notifications” option in the panel to “Off”, but the panel keeps popping back in?
I get the same. Even though I have disabled it from showing admin notifications, the panel keeps randomly popping back into the right hand side of Outlook, but shows me no notifications.
What is the point of disabling the toggle, if the panel constantly pops back in! It’s incredibly frustrating and I can find no other options to disable the feature out right!
I have come back after a week off, and so far, mine has not exhibited this behaviour