Unlock the full potential of your organizational management with Teams and Entra ID (Azure Active Directory) Groups Synchronization. Streamline user management, department assignments, and role configurations by integrating absentify with Microsoft Entra ID and Teams groups.
This feature allows HR admins to automate user account creation, manage departmental memberships, and synchronize group owners as department managers, reducing manual tasks and ensuring accuracy.

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Benefits of synchronization

  • Automated user management: Automatically create and update user accounts in absentify.
  • Streamlined departmental updates: Synchronize Microsoft group changes with absentify departments in real-time.
  • Manager synchronization: Align group owners in Microsoft with department managers in absentify.
  • Enhanced onboarding and offboarding: Simplifies processes while maintaining system accuracy.
By leveraging this integration, organizations can optimize their operations, ensuring that team management processes are both efficient and accurate.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following:
  • An absentify account with admin rights.
  • Microsoft Entra ID (Azure Active Directory) access with admin rights.
  • Microsoft Teams and Entra ID integrations activated. Refer to our guide on Teams and Entra ID permissions.

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Getting started

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Step 1: Access the synchronization settings

  1. Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Microsoft Entra ID/Teams Group Synchronization in absentify.
  2. Click Configuration, then select Add a Microsoft Entra ID/Teams group synchronization.

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Step 2: Configure the synchronization

  1. Name your synchronization:
    • Use a name that matches the group in Microsoft and the associated department(s) in absentify for easy identification.
  2. Select the Microsoft group:
    • Choose the group from Microsoft Entra ID or Teams that you wish to synchronize.
  3. Select the absentify department:
    • Map the selected Microsoft group to the appropriate department(s) in absentify.

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Customizable synchronization options

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Enable auto-creation of user accounts

Automatically create absentify accounts for users in Microsoft groups who are not yet in the system. New accounts will be marked as inactive until activated by an admin.
  1. Toggle Enable Auto-Creation of user accounts to activate this feature.
  2. Add users to the Microsoft group under Admin Center > Groups > Members.
  3. Users will appear under Settings > Users as inactive accounts, ready for profile setup and activation. They will have a pro-rata allowance based on default settings and their start date (the date they were added to the group).

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Key points

  • Users already in the workspace: When users who already exist in the absentify workspace are added to a synced group, they will also be assigned to the corresponding synced department — in addition to any departments they were already part of.
  • Users not yet in the workspace: When users who are not yet part of the absentify workspace are added to a synced Entra ID group, they will be created as inactive users and assigned to the corresponding synced department. Additionally, the group owner(s) will receive an email notification informing them of the new user and prompting them to activate the account.
  • Manual department assignment not possible: You cannot manually assign a user to a department that is included in a sync with an Entra ID group.

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Manage department membership and archive users

Keep absentify departments aligned with Microsoft group changes. When employees are removed from a Microsoft group, they are automatically archived or unlinked in absentify.
  1. Toggle Manage department membership on group updates and archive users not assigned to departments.
  2. Update group membership in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center under Group > Members.
  3. Sync the updated group with the desired department in absentify.

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Key points

  • Users still assigned to other departments: When users are removed from a synced Entra ID group but still belong to other departments, they will be removed from the synced department but remain active in the workspace. Their other department assignments remain unchanged.
  • Users with no other department assignments: When users are removed from a synced Entra ID group and have no remaining department assignments, they will be automatically archived in the workspace.
Archived users will maintain their department assignments from the last sync. Automatic archiving occurs 10 minutes after group updates. A short delay in user archiving can occur if the same person is removed from multiple groups in quick succession. When the first removal is processed, an archiving job is scheduled with a 10-minute delay. If another removal occurs within that time window, the original job is canceled and replaced by a new one — restarting the 10-minute countdown. This repeated cancellation and rescheduling causes a slight delay before the archiving is completed.

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Sync group owners as department managers

Automatically assign Microsoft group owners as absentify department managers. This ensures management roles remain consistent with organizational changes.
  1. Toggle Sync group owners as department managers.
  2. Update group owners in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center under Group > Owners.
  3. Sync the updated group with the desired department in absentify.