Microsoft introduces new email message recall feature

Microsoft is launching a new cloud-based message recall feature for Exchange Online that is twice as effective as the traditional recall tool.

Microsoft is introducing a new cloud-based message recall feature for Exchange Online, improving on the classic recall feature in Outlook for Windows, which was successful only half the time.

The feature, which is rolling out now through mid-March to all Exchange Online tenants worldwide, is essentially an enhancement to the classic recall feature in Outlook for Windows that allows senders to recall messages.

However, that classic message recall feature was limited, allowing users to “at least partially recall an e-mail” with an average success rate of only about 50%, according to an Exchange Team blog.

“So for most message recall requests, it has been a best-effort or better-than-nothing action, rather than a complete sigh of relief,” writes the Exchange Team.

Based on its use by Microsoft employees in recent months, the new message retrieval feature is more than twice as effective, according to Microsoft.

In addition to improved performance, Microsoft has also improved usability by creating an aggregated recall status report for each recalled message to replace potentially hundreds or thousands of individual recall status e-mail notifications, according to the blog.

In addition to being more effective at successfully recalling messages, recipients no longer need to have Outlook for Window open to process recalls from their mailboxes. Instead, the recall happens with the cloud mailbox, not on the client. This allows recipients to use any e-mail client that syncs with Exchange Online mailbox and does not require the client to be open to process the recall, the company says.

The new recall feature can also recall “read” messages and messages from any folder or subfolder in the inbox, not just the inbox. However, administrators can disable the ability to retrieve read messages. Eventually, administrators will be able to disable the message recall feature entirely, according to the blog.

Senders must still use Outlook for Windows to trigger a message reminder, the company adds.

Like the old recall feature, there is no time limit, but Microsoft may add the ability for administrators to customize a time limit for their organizations.

“The new Message Recall won’t stop you from accidentally sending ‘Oops’ email messages, but with its high success rate and ease of tracking with the new recall status report, it should give you much more peace of mind for when you do,” writes The Exchange Team.

Source: mytechdecisions