Approval Workflow - Approver Out of Office - Capture Auto Reply from Absent Approver?

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Posted on by Brice235i

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Hello,

I have an recurring approval workflow that runs when a SharePoint calendar event is equal to today. The administrator adds the 12 calendar events and the manager to approve in the Approver column.

They are concerned that the Manager will be away and the flow will fail as a result. I asked them to add a couple of delegates, but they say they won't know who these delegates are until they get the 'Out of Office email' from the manager which states the delegate.

Does anyone know if it's possible to capture this Out of Office email somehow?

The idea is that the administrator will get this notification and enter the delegate in the Approver field and re-run the workflow.

I doubt this is possible, but just thought I'd ask.

Thanks.

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Building flows

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v-yuazh-msft on at

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Hi @Brice235i,

If you want to capture this Out of Office email, could you please share more details about the Out of Office email? Does the Out of Office email have some specail string in it's Subject or body?

What would be the content in the body of the Out of Office email?

Will the delegates be listed in the body of Out of Office email?

Please share more details so we would try to provide a proper workaround for you.

Best regards,

Alice

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Brice235i 651 on at

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Hi Alice, there is no set format. Each person creates their own out of office message. It is an automatic reply and 90% of the time would contain "I am out of the office" Most people would also include a message about who to contact while they are away, but again, no set format.

I started using an actionable email (email with options) instead of the Approval action, but unfortunately I can't record/update the SharePoint list with the name of the person who actually clicked the 'Approve' button. Neither am I able to capture their comments. The idea is that usually the general manager will share their mailbox with their assistance or their delegate. If the GM is away, the assistance or delegate can approve. Just need a way to record who actually clicked approved.

See this idea outlines this deficiency: https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Flow-Ideas/approval-and-email-with-options-capture-who-is-actually-clicking/idi-p/107610#M6931

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