Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly: Outlook enhancements for improved mail merge and additional features

Welcome back to our weekly review of the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, where we explore the latest entries. This week, we have exciting updates regarding new functionalities slated for the Outlook email client. Recently, we’ve shared insights about forthcoming features, including AI-generated themes via Copilot, as well as the anticipated offline email sync functionality, which is set to enter preview by the close of December.

On the roadmap site this week, Microsoft announced the introduction of upgraded mail merge capabilities for the new Outlook app on Windows and the web, expected in April 2025.

Enhancements to basic Mail Merge will allow users to substitute fields with values tailored for each email address. When the advanced Mail Merge feature launches, each recipient will receive a personalized email containing only their address in the recipient list, alongside customizable content such as their name.

Additionally, both Outlook for Windows and web will introduce a new feature in December, enabling users to manually insert a signature into calendar events, similar to the functionality available in the “classic”Outlook for Windows app. Moreover, in December, mobile Outlook applications for iOS and Android will at last sync the folder order, ensuring consistency across different versions of Outlook.

Simultaneously, Microsoft Teams will undergo enhancements in December for administrators on all platforms:

The existing ‘Meeting chat’ control in Teams Admin Center will be expanded to include two new options: “In-meeting only for everyone” and “In-meeting only except anonymous users.” Admins can find the ‘Meeting chat’ setting under Meetings > Meeting Policies > Meeting Engagement. The updated settings will allow admins to select from five choices: (1) “On for everyone” (2) “On for everyone but anonymous users” (3) “Off” (4) “In-meeting only for everyone” (5) “In-meeting only except anonymous users.” By selecting the “In-meeting only” options, admins can restrict participants from sending messages outside the active meeting session, while still permitting them to read previous chat history.

In November, both the desktop and Mac versions of Teams will receive enhancements to the Copilot AI bot chat:

Custom engine agents and Teams bots will now have the ability to stream responses similar to Microsoft Copilot. This function allows for real-time updates and the delivery of response segments as they’re generated, making user interactions appear quicker and more engaging.

Desktop and Mac Teams clients will also see improvements to the time clock feature in November, offering a ‘more comprehensive and detailed view of your scheduling data.’

This concludes our overview of this week’s highlights from the Microsoft 365 Roadmap site.

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