The absentify Teams Bot is the Microsoft Teams chat that delivers your absence notifications. You can ask the same documentation assistant as in the app for help. When workspace data access is on, it can also use permitted workspace data and offer actions for you to review and confirm. See the plan feature matrix.
You reach it after absentify is installed in Microsoft Teams. Open a chat with the absentify Teams app (for example, absentify - leave tracking). The first time you start that conversation, the bot sends a welcome card and is ready to notify you. The welcome card title shows that same name (for example, absentify - leave tracking in English).
Teams notifications only work when your account is linked to Microsoft. If you sign in with a magic link, link your Microsoft account in Your preferences first.
Notifications
The bot’s main job is to send direct messages in Microsoft Teams when something happens to an absence you are involved in — your own requests, and requests where you are an approver or representative.
Choose how you want to be notified in Your preferences:
- Teams Notification — messages in Microsoft Teams only
- Both — email and Microsoft Teams
- Email — inbox only
Typical cards include the leave type, dates, requester, and status. When a request is waiting on you, the card includes actions:
- Approve or Decline a pending request. Decline asks for a reason. Approving a recurring series from the card applies to every still-pending occurrence, same as in the app.
- Accept or Decline a representative assignment (cover for a colleague).
On the Essentials plan or higher, the weekly absence summary and birthday/anniversary reminder can also arrive as Teams cards if you chose Teams Notification or Both.
You can still handle the same requests in the app from the bell icon.
These cards work without Azure AI. When workspace data access is on, you can also approve or decline in the chat.
Chat with the AI assistant
You can ask documentation questions in the bot chat even with workspace data access off. When workspace data access is on, the assistant also uses the same workspace tools as in the app:
- Create or cancel a leave request
- See your absences, your team’s absences, remaining allowance, leave types, and approvers
- Approve or decline a request, or respond to a representative assignment, when that is your role
- Ask how a feature works. The reply includes links to the help articles and names when something depends on your role, your plan, or a setting. It answers in the language you write in.
Creating, cancelling, approving, declining, or answering a representative request first shows a confirmation. Type help for example phrases, or start / activate to begin a new session.
If workspace data access is off, you still receive notification cards. What chatting shows depends on your role (below).
When workspace data access is off
The bot still delivers notification cards and answers general documentation questions using the messages you type. It does not automatically receive member context, query live workspace data, reuse earlier assistant answers containing automatically retrieved workspace data, or perform workspace actions. Information you type yourself is still sent to Azure AI. Ask your administrator to turn workspace access on under Settings > Microsoft if you need those tools.
