Automatically sync employee presence status to Outlook & Teams
Modern workplaces require clear communication and transparency. With BitaBIZ’s Microsoft Exchange integration, you get a solution that automatically shares absence status and work availability across Outlook and Teams calendars — boosting productivity, coordination, and visibility at the same time.
Check out our Outlook cases below. Click to open a case:
Case: What does a lack of overview of “Absence status” mean?
Case: What does a lack of overview of “Absence status” mean?
An average employee has about 50 absence days per year spread across vacation, other vacation, sickness, leave, and public holidays.
For a company with 50 employees, that adds up to:
👉 2,500 absence days per year that need to be communicated correctly
Without automatic synchronization, this can lead to:
No clear overview of who is present
Meetings scheduled without key people
Colleagues searching for each other unnecessarily
Interruptions, misunderstandings, and wasted time
A realistic scenario:
If just 10% of these 2,500 absence days aren’t shared correctly, the company lacks clarity about 250 workdays.
That’s the same as one employee “disappearing” for an entire year without anyone knowing where they are.
Case: What does a lack of overview of “Working elsewhere” mean?
Case: What does a lack of overview of “Working elsewhere” mean?
BitaBIZ also syncs when employees work from home, are traveling, at a seminar, or engaged in external activities, and marks it as “Working elsewhere”.
This is crucial because productivity and planning depend on knowing who is in the office and who is working remotely.
If your employees work on average about 20 days a year somewhere other than the office.
For 50 employees, that adds up to:
👉 1,000 “Working elsewhere” days per year
Without automatic sharing, this means:
Colleagues don’t know if someone is available for in-person meetings
Wasted time searching for colleagues
Poor conditions for coordination
Risk of booking errors
Unnecessary emails, chats, and calls
Example:
If just 20% of these aren’t shared correctly, the organization loses track of 200 workdays per year.
That’s the same as one person being “invisible” for almost a whole year.
Conclusion: Absence + working elsewhere
Conclusion: Absence + working elsewhere
When you add the two cases together — absence and working elsewhere — an organization with 50 employees gets:
2,500 absence days
1,000 working elsewhere days
That’s a total of 3,500 days per year when colleagues need to know who is present and where they are working from.
Without automatic sharing and updates in Outlook and Teams, this means:
Risk of hundreds of misunderstandings
Poor planning
Unnecessary interruptions and lost productivity
A drop in effective coordination
With the BitaBIZ Exchange integration, ALL this information is synced automatically.
This gives you:
Better meeting planning
Better collaboration
Less wasted time
A much more efficient and transparent workday
Benefits of the BitaBIZ Exchange integration
1. Unified Communication – always up-to-date calendars
Employee absences and work locations are automatically synced in Outlook and Teams.
2. More and more accurate registrations
Calendar visibility increases both the quality and timeliness of absence registrations.
3. Automatic out-of-office replies in Outlook
BitaBIZ can automatically activate Outlook out-of-office replies when absences are registered.
Once the integration is set up:
Absence and work location are automatically synced to Outlook and Teams
Out-of-office replies can be activated automatically in Outlook
The calendar always shows the correct status information
Get more out of your Outlook Exchange integration. Activate the out-of-office email auto-reply integration. Read more here!
FAQ
How do you set up the integration?
How do you set up the integration?
BitaBIZ has a pre-configured Entra ID (Active Directory) app. It is used to integrate your BitaBIZ account with Microsoft 365.
This is a guide on how to set up the integration for the first time.
The app is used to set up the following BitaBIZ integrations:
Guide to adding the BitaBIZ Application to your Entra ID
1. Go to the Azure portal. Click the Entra ID Active Directory icon in the menu on the left.
2. Select Enterprise Applications from the Manage section.
3. Select All applications -> + New application.
4. Do the following:
Type BitaBIZ in the search field
Select BitaBIZ from the results list
Click Create to add the BitaBIZ application to Entra ID Active Directory.
The BitaBIZ enterprise application is now added to your Entra ID (Active Directory)
Once the app is installed, it needs to be configured for your BitaBIZ Exchange integration.
Setup guide
1. Go to the Azure portal. Click the Azure Active Directory icon in the menu on the left.
2. Select App registrations from the Manage section.
3. Do the following:
Select All applications,
Type BitaBIZ in the search field (or the name your BitaBIZ enterprise application was created with)
Select the application from the results list.
4. Select API permissions from the Manage section and click + Add a permission.
5. Select Microsoft APIs and then Microsoft Graph.
6. Do the following:
Click Application permissions
Type Calendars in the search field
Select Calendars.ReadWrite
Click Add permissions
7. Click + Add a permission again.
8. Select Microsoft APIs and then Microsoft Graph.
9. Do the following:
Click Application permissions
Type MailboxSettings in the search field
Select MailboxSettings.ReadWrite
Click Add permissions
10. Select Grant admin consent for bitabiz and click Yes.
The two API Permissions are now configured!
11. Add a new Client secret:
Select Certificate & secrets from the Manage section
Click + New client secret
Enter a description for the new client secret, e.g. "BitaBIZ Exchange integration client secret"
Choose an expiration period for the new client secret.
We recommend choosing an expiration period of 24 months.Click Add
The new Client secret has now been created!
We recommend that you set a reminder or change request for when the Client Secret expires, so you get a notification in good time and can renew it before it expires.
12. Copy the Value string from the newly created client secret; you will need to enter this in your BitaBIZ account later.
13. Do the following:
Select Overview
Copy Application (client) ID
Copy Directory (tenant) ID
Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID will need to be entered in your BitaBIZ account later.
Log in to your BitaBIZ account
Click Setup admin -> Integrations -> Microsoft integrations
Under the "Microsoft Exchange Integration" section, click the link:
"Go to Modern Exchange authentication settings"
To configure the Exchange integration in BitaBIZ, follow these steps:
Copy the Application (client) ID from Azure and paste it into Application (client) ID in BitaBIZ
Copy the Directory (tenant) ID from Azure and paste it into Directory (tenant) ID in BitaBIZ
Copy the Client secret Value from Azure and paste it into Client secret (value) in BitaBIZ
Enable the Exchange integration by switching the button to ON.
Click Save Exchange
.
The integration is now ACTIVE. Test the integration by registering a sick day. The sick day registration will be synchronized and updated in your Outlook calendar within a maximum of 4 minutes.
Our Outlook integration isn't working – what should we do?
Our Outlook integration isn't working – what should we do?
Synchronization of absence status from BitaBIZ to Outlook & Teams has stopped
This FAQ will help you find the cause if your BitaBIZ → Outlook/Teams synchronization has stopped working.
We assume that the integration was previously set up correctly and that BitaBIZ is already connected to your Microsoft Exchange environment.
There are typically 3 reasons why the Exchange integration stops, or why some registrations don't show up in Outlook:
Problem | Symptoms | Solution |
Client Secret expired | No one is getting synchronized | Renew Client Secret |
New employee without calendar sync | Only some are affected | Add to Access Policy |
Registration awaiting approval | Does not appear in Outlook | Approve the registration |
1. Client Secret has expired (most common reason)
Symptom
No employees are getting their absence registrations synchronized anymore
Integration doesn't work for the entire company
Reason
Microsoft Entra ID requires a valid Client Secret for BitaBIZ to update Outlook calendars.
When it expires, all synchronization stops.
How to fix it
Renew the Client Secret on your BitaBIZ Enterprise application in Microsoft Entra ID.
See FAQ: How to renew the Client Secret Value for the Exchange integration
Important to know
💡 Registrations created while the Client Secret was expired will not be automatically resynchronized.
If you want them synchronized, you need to:
delete them in BitaBIZ
create them again
Tip (highly recommended)
Set a reminder for when the Client Secret expires, so you can renew it before the integration goes down.
2. A new employee's absence status is not updated in Outlook
Symptom
Only some employees don't see their absence in Outlook – it works for everyone else.
Reason
If you have set up an Application Access Policy in Microsoft Entra ID to limit the Exchange integration's access to certain users, new employees must be added to this policy.
If not, the integration can't update their calendars.
How to fix it
Add the employee to the relevant Access Policy / Security Group
3. The registration is awaiting approval
Symptom
An employee has created an absence, but it doesn't show up in Outlook.
Reason
BitaBIZ only synchronizes approved registrations.
If the absence is awaiting manager approval, it won't be sent to Outlook.
How to fix it
Check if the registration is marked red in the employee's BitaBIZ calendar
Once it's approved → it will be synchronized automatically
Which registrations are synchronized with Outlook?
Registration type | Synchronized with Outlook? |
Vacation | ✔ Yes |
Other vacation | ✔ Yes |
Sick | ✔ Yes |
Child sick | ✔ Yes |
Time off | ✔ Yes |
Other leave | ✔ Yes |
Custom absence types | ✔ Yes |
Day bank (minus days) | ✔ Yes |
Mileage | ✖ No |
Overtime | ✖ No |
Time registrations | ✖ No |
Working hours (Flex time) | ✖ No |
Day bank (plus days) | ✖ No |
Tip (highly recommended)
Public holidays added to employees' policies in BitaBIZ are not synchronized to Outlook, as they are not registered as actual absence events (like vacation or sickness). We therefore recommend using Outlook's own feature to add public holidays.
How do you set up Exchange integration for multiple companies in Microsoft Entra ID?
How do you set up Exchange integration for multiple companies in Microsoft Entra ID?
Introduction
If you have multiple companies in Microsoft Entra ID, and each company has its own BitaBIZ account, the Exchange integration must be set up per company.
This guide explains how the integration works and how you can restrict the integration's access so each company can only synchronize its own employees.
How Exchange integration works per company
1. Set up Exchange integration on the company's own BitaBIZ Azure app
Each BitaBIZ account uses its own Azure app, and the Exchange integration is activated here.
2. Important: Exchange does not follow the AD group
Unlike SSO and Provisioning, the Exchange integration's access is not limited to users in the AD group.
By default, the Exchange integration gets access to all users in the entire Azure AD.
3. Limit access to only the company's users
To ensure proper separation between companies, Microsoft recommends restricting the Exchange integration's access to specific users or groups.
This is done via Conditional Access / scoping.
How to get started
BitaBIZ: Follow the FAQ guide to set up Exchange integration
Microsoft guide: Restrict access to the Exchange integration's service account
Summary
The Exchange integration provides a strong Unified Communication solution, but requires proper access restriction when working with multiple companies in the same Microsoft Entra ID.
Function | Setup per company | Default access | Option to restrict |
Exchange integration | ✔ Yes | Access to all users | ✔ Yes – via Microsoft configuration |
How do you renew the Client Secret Value for the Exchange integration?
How do you renew the Client Secret Value for the Exchange integration?
If your Client Secret Value for the Exchange integration is about to expire or has expired and needs to be renewed, please follow the instructions below:
Step-by-step guide:
1. Open the Azure portal
• Go to https://portal.azure.com
• Click on Microsoft Entra ID in the left navigation menu
2. Go to App registrations
• Under the Manage section
• Click on App registrations
3. Find your BitaBIZ application
• Select All applications
• Type BitaBIZ (or the name of your BitaBIZ enterprise application) in the search field
• Select the application in the result list
4. Create a new Client Secret
• Select Certificates & secrets under Manage
• Click on + New client secret
• Enter a description, e.g. 'BitaBIZ Exchange integration client secret'
• Choose an expiration period (we recommend 24 months)
• Click Add
Your new Client Secret is now created.
ℹ️ Set a reminder or change request so you get notified well before it expires.
5. Copy the Client Secret Value
• Copy the Value field from the new client secret
• It's important that you copy the Value – not the Secret ID
6. Update BitaBIZ with the new Client Secret Value
1. Log in to your BitaBIZ account
2. Go to Setup admin → Integration → Microsoft integrations
3. Under Exchange integration:
• Paste your copied Client Secret Value into the Client secret (Value) field
• Click Save Exchange
Your Client Secret Value has now been updated for the Exchange integration.
Can you turn off reminders for calendar events synced from BitaBIZ to Outlook?
Can you turn off reminders for calendar events synced from BitaBIZ to Outlook?
Reminders for calendar events are managed by your Outlook settings and cannot be controlled directly from BitaBIZ.
When entries from BitaBIZ are synced to Outlook, they are created as calendar events in the employee's Outlook calendar. BitaBIZ only creates the calendar event itself and does not manage Outlook's reminder settings.
How are reminders handled?
Reminders are determined by:
the employee's personal Outlook settings
or the company's Microsoft 365 / Outlook policies
Therefore, BitaBIZ cannot enable or disable reminders for these calendar events.
What can I do?
If you want to change or remove reminders on calendar events, we recommend contacting your IT department or Microsoft 365 administrator.
They can advise you on the options available in your Outlook setup and calendar settings.
✅ In short
Entries from BitaBIZ are synced as calendar events in Outlook
Reminders are managed by Outlook, not BitaBIZ
Contact your IT or Microsoft 365 administrator if you need to change reminders