9mo ago

Watch out, Microsoft Outlook could soon give away when you're sneakily working from home

www.techradar.com

Sneaking in a work from home day could soon be a bit trickier thanks to a new update coming to Microsoft Outlook.

The email provider is rolling out a new feature that will allow users to spot which of their co-workers or colleagues is currently in the office, and therefore possibly free for a quick meeting or able to reply to a message.

The update will use the Work Hours and Location information stored within Outlook to offer up this information, meaning there may be some awkward conversations if your colleagues believe you to be in the office.

In its entry in the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the company notes that the feature will be "always on", meaning there may be no getting around what it represents as your office presence.

74 comments

Wouldn't your coworkers already know you're working from home by, you know not seeing you at the office?
- When I worked in an office, most of my team was in other offices across the world. But we had to be in the office for that TEAM BUILDING
  
  Go to the office
  All meetings are on teams because half the team works on other offices.
  
  Yes, pleb, build that team 🤡
  
  That's... incredibly dumb.
  
  I had to read this like six times, because it was so illogical my brain refused to comprehend.
- If your company is nationwide and has offices all over the country and you work on a distributed team where some people are on the west coast, some are central, and some are on the east coast. In this such event, none of your teammates will physically be able to tell if you are in the office. That’s what this feature is for.
  So we can all continue to work from home, from a prescribed office of our employers choosing.
  
  Ahhh the gigantic benefit of seeing a cubicle in the background of your zoom. Thanks Microsoft
  
  What? How would this change anything in that scenario? You're still doing a video call if you want to talk to them.
- My “office” is a network of interconnected multi-story buildings. It’s actually really convenient for me to know if I need to go meet someone in person or just use video.
  Sometimes we have a room booked ahead of time and I learn they are wfh when I get to the empty room.
  
  That's just poor common courtesy by your coworker. If you have a physical room booked and they are WFH they need to tell you so you don't waste your time. You shouldn't be relying on teams status
  
  Sounds like all the meetings should just be done by video and nothing would be lost.
- Maybe head honchos don't go into the office all the time and aren't aware if the lower managers are working from home potentially
- My co-workers are also rarely in the office, so it makes no difference. ;)
Boy I hate MS, and I hate Outlook, and MS Teams, and offices, and companies, and work..
Yet, I'm failing to understand what I'm supposed to be angry about here, can someone help?
From what I understand, you set the work hours and people will know if you're working or not based on that..? It doesn't sound too controversial to me.
Do people stay home without telling anyone and they wont be able to do that anymore? Or what?
- It very clearly says it'll be using your work hours and location information. MS is turning your hardware into a GPS tracker for your company.
  
  Except since there’s no actual GPS tracker, it uses your IP address. Microsoft thinks I live in either Virginia or North Dakota or Florida, depending on which part of the company’s VPN I connect to.
  
  MS is turning your hardware into a GPS tracker for your company.
  I hate to break it to you but they are logging your location every time you log into their hardware... if you are using your own hardware, stop being an idiot and make your daddy buy you equipment required to do your job for him.
- I am in the middle of trying to get e911 functional for Teams direct route calls, based of lis data, my Teams can't correctly determine the state I am in, much less my current address. It took multiple tickets to get our corporate headquarters to show up correctly instead of an address a half-mile away.
  I forsee getting a lot of tickets from this feature.
  
  Shit, wtf? Don't you set the location yourself? Why don't they just ask your city or something instead of trying to play smart?
It's already started for me today. Teams now snitches on those who are remote and there's no way to shut it off. My status is no longer just "Available", it's now "Available, Out of office". Fuck Microsoft!
- soon "Available, Out of office, Single, Virgin, Allergic to milk"
- This is because you’ve accepted a meeting that happens at a location not in the building; for example, someone else’s PTO reminder that they’ve invited you to. Decline that invitation, and you’re fine.
- Fuck the technocrats.
- Do you not have a work VPN?
I don't pretend I am in the office when I am not. I don't even bother with hiding yellow. I am avaliable during business ours to get things done.
If there is nothing to get done. I am shoot shit with coworkers in the office or doing laundry at home. If you need me, ping me and I will magically appear to take care your needs.
Nice system, barely needs any management but they keep trying to "contribute" 🤡
- Exactly. Part of it is whether you’re doing assigned tasks. Part of it is being available for questions.
Outlook will soon know if you're properly dressed for work while you're WFH in case you're not. They will detect pink pixels on your camera. They will detect gurgling noises, thuds, clapping noises, spitting, long wave vibrations such as fun chair bouncing and short wave vibrations such as clipping your hair sounds. The future is worthless! I mean endless!
- So what if my boss knows when I'm fapping. Why else would they have scheduled an "all hands"?
  
  I just need one for that.
- Soon Microsoft full body detection (including feet)
  "Those loafers sure don't look like heels Jenny! I expect you to be in your office attire at all times during work hours."
Complete nothing burger
Interesting. Teams has been doing this for a few years now, so I assume it's the same functionality just transferred over to Outlook (which has been going through a massive overhaul recently). For anyone in an MS-based company with Teams being actively used, this is not a new thing.
- How does Teams give away your location? I've used it extensively, but I've never seen someone's location unless the enter it manually.
  
  It can be turned on by the IT dept in a large office. It has a different icon for in office network connection vs not. Not every IT dept uses it. Some treat other employees like adults, for instance.
  
  At a lower level your IT dept logs the IP address you’re accessing m365 resources from.
And your VPN connection to work knows your endpoint...
Interestingly, there's another way of finding out if your coworker is in the office --- just walk over to their desk.
Your M365 admin can already tell by your IP address. Just like they know when you're looking at porn when your IP randomly hops states for a little while.
- Who be looking at porn on the work PC lol. For me I have to give a ' reason' to disconnect form the work VPN. I do do anything on work PC besides work tbh
  
  Yeah, never use a work device for anything you're not actually getting paid to do. To do otherwise is just stupid. Save non-work stuff for your own devices.
  
  I know someone who has said that the office they use at a small firm probably was used by someone who would be not just looking at it, but potentially slinging rope as well.
Look. You are incapable of doing work anywhere but the office. Your collaborations severely lack. Somehow tho, when the executive class spends 10 hours in email it's innovation. When you do it, you're unproductive.
OK, easy solution: don't open outlook.
Most of the time that I'm in the office, my laptop is closed anyways, you know, for collaboration.
So they are using the information they have in Azure/Entra about where you login from and presenting it to other users through Outlook/Teams?
Seems fine as long as they don't include your exact address.
Imagine having so few people at the office that the only way people know you're working remotely is your Outlook status
Oh boy, this sounds like it could get interesting! On one hand, it's great that Outlook is trying to make our work lives more transparent and efficient. Scheduling meetings has always been a bit of a juggling act, so knowing who's actually in the office could help a lot.
But yeah, I get the concern about privacy and the potential for some awkward moments. I think it's gonna be important for companies to use this feature responsibly and to have open conversations about expectations. Maybe this will even push more workplaces to formally recognize the value of flexible working arrangements instead of needing the classic "sneak" day at home.
On the bright side, at least we're not back in the days of buggy webcams and battling over the last working ethernet cable, right?
- Not sure if sarcasm or apologist
- This reads like a LinkedIn comment honestly
- Scheduling meetings is easy. Don't do it. Send an email.
  "But what about when..." No. Email over meetings. You're not special, your job isn't special, your company isn't special, your perceived needs aren't special. Send an email. If that isn't enough, send another email. If you get the urge to "give them a quick call", firmly grasp your phone and hurtle it out the highest window or rooftop you have access to. Then send another email.
  
  You sound like you're really fun and easy to work with.

74 comments