Teams Everyone Mention Notifies All Chat Participants About Important Messages
Following on from the feature to allow users to add people to Teams group chats with an @mention (a feature due to appear in late December that seems to be delayed), Microsoft plans to add the @Everyone mention to allow participants in group and meeting chats to notify all participants about a message. According to message center notification MC485628 (15 December 2022, Microsoft 365 roadmap item 101573), Microsoft expects to roll out the feature in late January 2023 with completion due in late February. The feature will support desktop, iOS, and Android clients. There’s no mention about browser clients.
Using @Everyone is very simple. Type @ in the message compose box and Teams shows the list of people in the conversation plus the ability to use @Everyone or add someone to the chat (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Using the Teams Everyone mention in a group chat
Messages sent using @Everyone are flagged in the activity feed of all chat participants as “(User first name) mentioned Everyone” and show up in the chat with an Everyone: prefix and icon (Figure 2).
Figure 2: How a Teams Everyone mention shows up in a chat
Controlling Notifications
Users can control how Teams notifies them about @Everyone mentions through the Notifications section of Teams settings (Figure 3). The default is banner (pop-up notification) and (activity) feed, but you can turn the notifications off completely. I personally choose “only show in feed” for most Teams notifications.
Figure 3: Settings to control notifications for the Teams Everyone mention
Team and Channel Mentions
It’s surprising that Teams has taken so long to add the ability to notify all chat participants about important messages. After all, channel conversations can use both the special @Team and @Channel mentions to highlight messages to all team members and in a channel. In fact, for standard channels an @channel mention works the same as an @team mention because all team members can access any standard channel in a team.
Mentioning the channel rather than a team might be useful to highlight a subset of users who communicate through a specific channel, but all team members receive the notification in their activity feed if their team list exposes the channel. Teams suppresses notifications in the activity feed from teams in a user’s hidden list. Mentions for @team and @channel aren’t available in private channels but they are in shared channels.
Things to Understand About @Everyone Mentions
Logically, an @Everyone mention is useful only when more than two people are in a chat, so it’s unavailable for personal 1:1 chats. If more than fifty participants are in a chat, Teams alerts the sender that using @Everyone will generate many notifications. This is a gentle hint that maybe a more focused notification to a smaller set of people might work better.
Speaking of focus, if you include a specific mention of an individual in a message along with an @Everyone mention, Teams ignores the notification for @Everyone and only displays the individual mention in that user’s activity feed.
Not an Earthshattering Change
Like many Teams updates, being able to notify chat participants with a @Everyone mention won’t have much effect on how people work. It’s functionality that should have been available years ago, so from that perspective it’s good to see it show up now. I suspect that those who needed to highlight messages to co-workers in Teams chats figured out how to do this with specific @mentions by now. Having @Everyone makes it just a tad easier.
Learn more about how the Office 365 applications really work on an ongoing basis by subscribing to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. Our monthly updates keep subscribers informed about what’s important across the Office 365 ecosystem.
4 Replies to “Teams Adds @Everyone Mention to Group and Meeting Chats”
On a side topic. I don’t like when people in 1:1 chat use @ with my name. I get both the notification bell and unread chat message notification for the same message. That’s superfluous. This is why @Everyone in group chat doesn’t do much for me.
The reason for the @Name/Group is because it provides an onscreen alert msg at the time where as simply posting a message in a channel does not. Sure the user can see when loading Teams that the channel has ne posts but they aren’t actively alerted like they are with @Mentions which is a bog deal if you have users who rarely check teams unless they get that alert.
{"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}
On a side topic. I don’t like when people in 1:1 chat use @ with my name. I get both the notification bell and unread chat message notification for the same message. That’s superfluous. This is why @Everyone in group chat doesn’t do much for me.
The reason for the @Name/Group is because it provides an onscreen alert msg at the time where as simply posting a message in a channel does not. Sure the user can see when loading Teams that the channel has ne posts but they aren’t actively alerted like they are with @Mentions which is a bog deal if you have users who rarely check teams unless they get that alert.
Hi! Do you know a way that we can enable @mentions in a team/group/community larger than 10.000?
I don’t. @mentions are blocked in very large teams for performance reasons.