Outlook Integration for Calendar and Email
Keep your Outlook calendar and your project schedule in step, and turn the emails that are really work into tasks, with the reply going back out from Orangescrum.
Available in the Self-Hosted edition - runs on your own servers
This capability is available in the Self-Hosted (on-premise) edition. It is not part of the Cloud edition today.
What does the Outlook integration do?
The Outlook integration connects a Microsoft 365 mailbox and calendar to Orangescrum. Calendar events and tasks are kept in step in a direction you choose per calendar, so a meeting can appear as a task, a task can appear in the calendar, or both. On the email side, rules decide which messages become tasks, so a shared inbox turns into a work queue instead of a place things go missing. You can reply to the original email from Orangescrum, and the reply is kept with the task as a comment. Updates arrive through Microsoft Graph subscriptions, so changes are picked up as they happen.
Why work hides in the inbox
Outlook and Orangescrum, in step
Two way calendar sync
Outlook events can become Orangescrum tasks and Orangescrum tasks can appear as Outlook events, with changes and deletions carried across.
You choose the direction
Each calendar mapping has its own direction, so you can pull only, push only, or keep both sides in step.
Email to task
Turn a message into a task, keeping the subject, the body, and the sender, so nothing has to be retyped.
Rules that do it for you
Match on the things that identify real work, and let matching mail become tasks automatically. Rules can be applied to existing mail as well as new.
Reply from the task
Answer the original email without leaving Orangescrum, and the reply is recorded on the task as a comment.
Respond to invitations
Accept, decline, or mark yourself tentative on a meeting invitation, and the response is sent and recorded.
Changes arrive live
Microsoft Graph subscriptions push mailbox and calendar changes to Orangescrum, and the subscriptions are renewed automatically.
An add-in inside Outlook
A task pane add-in puts the Orangescrum actions in Outlook itself, so people can work from the client they already have open.
How to set it up
For teams that run on Microsoft 365
Which edition includes what
| Capability | CloudManaged SaaS | Self-HostedOn-premise / private cloud | Open SourceCommunity Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two way calendar sync with per calendar direction | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Create a task from an email | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Rules that turn matching mail into tasks | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reply to the email from the task | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Respond to meeting invitations | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Live updates through Microsoft Graph subscriptions | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Outlook add-in task pane | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Project calendar inside Orangescrum | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
Outlook integration FAQ
Does Orangescrum integrate with Outlook?
Yes, in the Self-Hosted edition. It connects a Microsoft 365 mailbox and calendar, syncs calendar events and tasks in a direction you choose, turns emails into tasks using rules, and lets you reply to the original email from the task.
Which edition includes it?
The Self-Hosted edition. The Outlook plugin is not part of the Cloud edition or the free Community Edition. If Outlook is central to how your team works, that is worth settling before you choose an edition.
Does the calendar sync go both ways?
It can. Each calendar mapping carries its own direction, so you can import Outlook events as tasks, export tasks as Outlook events, or keep both in step. Updates and deletions are carried across, not just the initial creation.
Can it turn a shared inbox into a work queue?
That is the main reason people use it. Rules decide which messages become tasks, and a rule can also be applied backwards over mail that already arrived, so you do not have to start from an empty queue.
If I reply from Orangescrum, does the sender get a normal email?
Yes. The reply goes out through Microsoft Graph as a real reply on the original thread, and a copy is kept on the task as a comment so the conversation and the work stay together.
Can I accept a meeting invitation from Orangescrum?
Yes. You can accept, decline, or respond tentatively, and the response is sent to the organiser and recorded on your side.
Does it create Teams meetings?
Not from this integration. Creating online meetings is part of the separate Microsoft Teams integration, which is also in the Self-Hosted edition. Outlook here covers calendar, email, and invitations.
How quickly do changes appear?
Microsoft Graph pushes changes to Orangescrum through subscriptions rather than Orangescrum polling for them, and the subscriptions are renewed automatically before they expire, so updates are close to immediate.
Connect Outlook to your projects
The Outlook integration is included in the Orangescrum Self-Hosted edition, running entirely on your own infrastructure.