Welcome to Scheduler for Microsoft 365

Important

Scheduler for Microsoft 365 will stop working in August 2023. After that date, Scheduler won't be able to create or modify any meeting requests.

Scheduler for Microsoft 365 is a service that lets you delegate meeting and appointment scheduling to Cortana, your digital personal assistant.

Scheduler uses natural language processing to interpret emails sent to Cortana (cortana@yourdomain.com) to find a time to meet and send calendar invitations for the meeting organizer.

Scheduler:

• Communicates with the meeting organizer and attendees by email in natural language.
• Finds a time to meet when everyone is available.
• Coordinates between external attendees based on the organizer’s availability.
• Keeps the meeting organizer informed on scheduling progress and asks the organizer for guidance when needed.
• Negotiates times to meet across up to two different time zones.
• Sends the invitation to the meeting from the organizer.
• Adds a Teams link to every meeting.
• Reschedules or cancels meetings booked by Cortana.
• Works from any device with access to email.

Who can benefit from Scheduler for Microsoft 365?

Scheduler takes care of the time-consuming hassle of scheduling meetings so users can focus on more important things.

If you regularly schedule small meetings with fewer than five attendees, you'll save time with Scheduler. Departments such as recruiting, sales, procurement, and legal can benefit from delegating meeting coordination to Scheduler.

How does Scheduler for Microsoft 365 work?

Scheduler uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human intelligence to complete scheduling requests that are received by emailing Cortana (Cortana@yourdomain.com).

To use Scheduler, add Cortana’s email address to an email with the people you want to meet with and ask Cortana to book a meeting in natural language.

In your request, tell Cortana how long and when you want to meet. For example, “Cortana, find 45 minutes for us to meet next week.”

After a user sends a meeting request to Cortana, the Scheduler service:

• Finds a time to meet based on the availability of the organizer and attendees in the same tenant.
• If the organizer does not have access to availability of the attendees, Cortana negotiates a time to meet with those attendees by email.
• Once a mutually agreeable time has been found, Cortana adds a Teams meeting and sends out the calendar invites.

Pricing and licensing

Learn more: Scheduler for Microsoft 365 licensing

[Note: Meeting attendees do not need a Scheduler or Microsoft 365 license.
The Scheduler assistant mailbox does not require a Microsoft 365 or a Scheduler license.