Announcements

New updates and improvements to absentify

  1. Introducing hourly leave

    New Admin Feature
    Announcement
    New Feature

    We're excited to unveil absentify's latest update: Hourly Leave! This addition offers flexibility and accuracy in managing leave, allowing employees and managers to track absences in minutes, hours, or days. Here’s what you can look forward to with this feature:

     

    Customized Leave Types

    Gain control by customizing leave types to be deducted in the precise amount of time needed, ensuring efficient management and tracking of leave within your organization.

     

    Detailed Leave Management

    Hourly leave requests enable employees to book time off for brief periods, like a doctor's appointment, without needing to take a full day. This supports a more flexible and understanding work environment.

     

    Seamless Integration

    Linking a leave type to an hour-based allowance automatically updates the specific allowance, maintaining accuracy and consistency in leave tracking.

     

    Easy Administration

    Administrators can make individual allowance adjustments to accommodate unique situations or changes in employee status.

     

    Visual Calendar Indicators

    Entries booked outside regular hours are highlighted with orange corner alerts in the calendar, ensuring all absences are easily visible without overwhelming the view.

     

    This feature aims to streamline your leave management process, providing clarity and simplicity for both your team and management. It supports your organization's needs, whether adapting to unexpected events or planning for scheduled absences.

     

    Plan Availability:

    This feature is available in our Business and Enterprise plans, ensuring organizations of all sizes can benefit from this flexibility.

     

    For more information on setting up and using the Hourly Leave feature, please consult our support documentation or contact our dedicated support team. We're here to help make your transition to this new feature smooth and beneficial for your whole organization.

     

    Step into the future of leave management with absentify's Hourly Leave feature – because we know every minute matters. Happy scheduling!

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  2. Introducing absentify for SharePoint

    New Admin Feature
    Announcement
    Improvement

    Exciting news! In addition to our existing integration in Teams, Outlook, and our web application, absentify is now also available for SharePoint. This expansion is part of our continuous effort to enhance your experience with absentify and to make the management of absences even more seamless.

     

    What does the Microsoft SharePoint integration offer?

     

    - Easy Integration: Add the absentify team overview directly into your SharePoint pages. This integration allows for smooth handling and facilitates absence management directly from your familiar SharePoint environment.

     

    - Customizability: As with our other applications, you can tailor the display to your specific needs. Simply select the appropriate department when embedding the Webpart in SharePoint.

     

    - Access Rights Management: Absentify respects the access rights defined in your company. Users will see department overviews according to their permissions.

     

    We are proud to offer you this new functionality and look forward to how it will further simplify your workflows. For more information and support, please visit our website or contact our helpdesk.

     

    Thank you for being a part of our absentify family!

     

    Warm regards,

    Your absentify Team

     

    For installation, please visit absentify for SharePoint.

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  3. Featured at Microsoft Ignite: A Glimpse into Our Future

    Announcement
    New Admin Feature
    New Feature

    Exciting news for all absentify users! We recently had the honor of being featured at the prestigious Microsoft Ignite conference. Our logo was proudly displayed among leading technology innovators, signaling a significant milestone for absentify in the tech world.

    thumbnail_CopilotEcoystem_SatyaKeynote_minute53
    thumbnail_CopilotEcoystemZoom_RajeshKeynote_minute4
    thumbnail_CopilotEcoystem_RajeshKeynote_minute4

    This spotlight at Ignite is not just a proud moment for us but also a promise of the innovative future we are heading towards. As part of the Microsoft Copilot Ecosystem, we're gearing up to bring groundbreaking changes to the way you manage absences and plan vacations.

     

    What can you expect? While we're still brewing some exciting features, think of a more intuitive, AI-enhanced experience that simplifies your absence management process. The future of work is about smarter solutions, and absentify is at the forefront, embracing these changes.

     

    Stay tuned for updates as we continue to evolve and bring these advancements directly to your workflow. We are committed to enhancing your experience with absentify and can't wait to unveil what we have in store.

     

    Stay ahead with absentify – where the future of absence management is already happening!

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  4. 📣 New feature alert: central dashboard for out-of-office notes — exclusively in the Enterprise Plan

    New Admin Feature

    We are excited to introduce a brand-new feature exclusive to our Enterprise Plan: a central dashboard for managing all employee out-of-office notes.

     

    🔹 What's new?

    In the standard plan, individual users can set their own out-of-office notes. The new dashboard in the Enterprise Plan allows administrators to:

    - Create uniform out-of-office notes for the entire team

    - Automatically populate these notes in each employee's Outlook profile when they are away

    - Use placeholders for personalized details such as expected return date or current supervisor

     

    🔹 How do I activate this feature?

    After purchasing the Enterprise Plan, you can find this setting under `Settings / Integration / Out-of-Office Note`.

     

    🔹 Why is this important?

    - Increases operational efficiency

    - Enables clearer and more consistent communication

     

    🔒 This advanced feature is only available in the Enterprise Plan.

     

    We are confident that this new feature will add significant value to your organization. Should you have any questions or require further information, our customer service team is always available.

     

     https://feedback.absentify.com/roadmap/centralized-management-of-ooo-templates 

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  5. 🎉 Exciting News: absentify is Now Available in Outlook and Outlook Mobile! 🎉

    Announcement
    New Admin Feature

    We are thrilled to announce a significant expansion to our absentify platform! Thanks to Microsoft's recent developments, we are now able to integrate our trusted absence management tool directly within Outlook and Outlook Mobile.

     

    absentify-outlook

     

    What Does This Mean for You?

     

    - Even More Convenience: Manage absences directly within your Outlook application, whether on desktop or mobile.

    - Unified Experience: All the features you've come to know and love in absentify on Microsoft Teams are now available within Outlook.

     

    Please note that these new capabilities are only compatible with the latest versions of Outlook. We strongly recommend updating your applications to take full advantage of these features.

     

    We are proud to continue pioneering the integration of absence management tools into the Microsoft 365 environment. Your feedback is valuable to us, so please don't hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions.

     

    Thank you for your ongoing trust and support. We look forward to continuing to serve you with absentify!

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  6. Customize the 'Reason for Absence' Field

    New Admin Feature
    Announcement

    📣 New Feature Alert: Users can now customize Absence Reasons!

     

    We are excited to announce a new feature that makes managing absences even more flexible and user-friendly.

     

    What's New?

    - Administrators can now centrally customize the 'Reason for Absence' field.

    - This field can be set as mandatory, if necessary.

    - A 'Hint Text' can be defined to guide users while filling out this field.

    - These settings can be individually configured for each leave type.

    - Only absentify administrators, relevant department managers, and approvers who need to approve the leave request can see the 'Reason for Absence'. It will not be synchronized with the Outlook Calendar.

     

    How Does It Work?

    Simply navigate to the "Leave Type" settings page, where you can customize the 'Reason for Absence' field.

     

    We hope this new feature further simplifies the planning and management of absences within your organization.

     

    Thank you for your ongoing support as we aim to continually improve absentify for our users!

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  7. Exciting Update: Customizable Fiscal Year Now Available!

    Improvement
    Announcement
    New Admin Feature

    We're thrilled to announce a game-changing update that brings flexibility to your absence management process – the ability to customize your company's fiscal year!

     

    At absentify, we understand that every organization operates uniquely, and adhering to a standard year format might not always align with your business needs. That's why we've listened to your feedback and are introducing this highly requested feature.

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    Year starting in different days

    The activities of our organization follow the academic year (e.g. Sep 2021 - Aug 2022). There could be an option to change the carry forward date. Please consider it.

    Luiz S
    Shipped 🚀

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    By tailoring your calendar year, you now have the power to delegate vacation contingent in a way that perfectly aligns with your organization's structure. Whether your fiscal year starts in July or October, absentify lets you set it up effortlessly.

     

    Bildschirmfoto 2023-08-01 um 16.10.22

     

    Embrace the power of flexibility and efficiency in absence management. We're confident that this enhancement will revolutionize the way you handle absences, empowering you to tailor your processes to your organization's unique needs.

     

    We look forward to seeing how this update will further revolutionize how you manage leave!

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  8. New Update: Never Miss a Time Off Request Again!

    Improvement
    New Feature
    New Admin Feature

    We're excited to introduce an enhancement that ensures a smooth and timely time-off approval process - the all-new time off request reminder! At absentify, we understand the importance of staying on top of your employees' time off requests, and this feature is designed to streamline the approval workflow.  

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    Email reminders to approve holiday

    When a manager misses the first request to approve holiday, a follow up email would be useful after a day or two as a reminder.

    Laura E
    Shipped 🚀

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    Here's how it works:

    Time Off Request Reminder:

    Users can now send their approvers a friendly reminder E-mail 24 hours after a time off request is created by simply clicking on the request and then the clock symbol. This reminder ensures that the approvers are promptly notified of pending requests, avoiding any delays in the approval process.

     

    Bildschirmfoto 2023-07-31 um 11.02.28

     

    Second Reminder for Pending Requests:

    In case an approver has not approved or denied the request within 48 hours, users can decide to send a second reminder E-mail. We know how busy workdays can get, and this additional prompt ensures that no request slips through the cracks.

     

    Say goodbye to missed time off requests and hello to a more organized and efficient absence management system with absentify. We value your time and strive to make your experience with our platform as seamless as possible!

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  9. Admin-friendly absence cancellation!

    New Admin Feature

    You talk, we listen! Based on your fantastic suggestions, we've added a cool new feature: department managers can now cancel old absence requests.

    5

    Manager need to cancel a old request

    Hello, I think there should be an option in the settings to allow the manager of the department to correct an old day. If only an administrator can make this change it takes a lot of administrator time.

    Carl P
    Shipped 🚀

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    How does it work? Just go to Settings / General under Privacy & Permissions and enable the "Retroactive absence cancellation by department manager" toggle. Just like that, your department managers have more control and can take a load off your admins.

     

    Keep in mind, regular employees can still only cancel their future absence requests. And don't worry, every cancellation triggers an email to everyone involved, so everything stays transparent.

     

    Give this new feature a try and let us know what you think!

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  10. New Privacy Settings - Enhanced Privacy for Employees

    New Admin Feature

    We are excited to inform you that we have improved and expanded our privacy settings. From now on, you have two new privacy settings options available to better protect your employees' privacy.

    absentify-privacy

     

    Hide past absences:

    With this setting, you can determine that regular employees can no longer view their colleagues' absences in the past. Future absences will remain visible. This has the advantage of preventing employees from drawing conclusions, such as calculating the number of sick days. Managers, approvers, and admins will continue to have full access to their employees' past absences.

     

    Individual annual overviews:

    Another setting allows you to specify that regular employees can only view their own annual overview with all their absences. Managers, approvers, and admins will still have access to the annual overviews of all employees they supervise.

     

    We hope that these new privacy settings will help you protect your employees' privacy while ensuring information sharing within the team. If you have any questions or suggestions, we are always here to help.

     

    We would appreciate your feedback on these new settings. Please share your thoughts with us at:

    3

    Privacy: Restrict users to only see current and future calendar of other users

    Privacy of previous dates taken. User would only have the ability to see their own prior PTO dates.

    Libby A
    Shipped 🚀

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    Thank you for using absentify, and good luck implementing these new privacy settings!

     

     

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