An assistant for everyone
Enjoy the speed of a virtual assistant augmented with human understanding.
Easy scheduling
Save time by handing off the time-consuming task of scheduling using your own words.
Works 24/7
Request a meeting at any time. Cortana works around the clock even when you are offline or busy.
You control your data
Scheduler works within your Microsoft 365 compliance boundaries and keeps the data inside your organization. You control your data.
Smart technology with human assistance
Increased reliability that will always complete your request by using human assistance to resolve ambiguities and context.
Grows with your needs
Available 24/7 and capable of handling thousands of requests at the same time.
2. 2
2
The true cost of scheduling an external meeting
Scheduling a “simple" follow up meetings with customers
Christine Customer 1 & 2
TLDR;
• 6+ Emails Exchanged
• 2 weeks lost
• No meeting = No sale
Date: August 1
To: Customer 1 & 2
I’ll be sending a proposal to
those interested in the
meeting around Azure. Are
you available to meet before
August 15?
Date: August 1
From: Customer 1
I’m ok to meet.
Date: August 2
To: Customer 1 & 2
I’m going to propose options and
see which ones suit you.
Thursday, August 8 in the morning
Monday, August 12 in the morning
Date: August 6
From: Customer 2
I only have availability after
the 19th of August.
Date: August 7
To: Customer 1 & 2
I’m proposing other options and see which
ones suit you.
Monday, Sept 2 in the morning
Tuesday, Sept 3 in the afternoon
Wednesday, Sept 4 in the morning
2 min to compose
follow up email
3 min context
switch & respond
5 min to check
calendar and send
Send Invite
2 min to send invite
from calendar
5 min to check
calendar and send
3 min context
switch & respond
3. 3
3
Let Cortana take care of it
With Scheduler, you can hand off
your scheduling tasks by simply
cc:ing Cortana, your virtual
scheduling assistant. Cortana
can coordinate, negotiate, and
schedule your meetings for you.
Cortana
You
location call
You Cortana
4. 4
4
Finding a
time
Cortana takes care of scheduling So you can focus on your priorities
Focus on what’s important
Reserving
a room
Emailing
attendees
Sending
invitations
Adding call
information
Rescheduling
meetings
Time
savings
Minimize
interruptions
More
collaboration
Quicker
decisions
Increase
focus time
More
productivity
5. 5
5
Team, we need to decide on the
content and demos for Ignite.
Cortana, please find an hour next
week for us.
Regards,
Lydia
Scheduling a meeting by emailing your assistant:
Cortana
Scheduling a meeting by
emailing your assistant:
Cortana
Team, we need to decide on the
content and demos for Ignite.
Cortana, please find an hour next
week for us.
Regards,
Lydia
6. 6
6
Cortana finds availability then proposes times via
email if needed
Hi Chan,
I'm helping Lydia schedule 1 hour
meeting with you. Below are some
proposed times when Lydia is
available.
• Monday, Nov 25, 1:30 PM PST
• Tuesday, Nov 26, 10:00 AM PST
• Wednesday, Nov 27, 3:00 PM PST
Warm regards,
Cortana
7. 7
7
Thanks,
Chan
All times work!
I'll be OOF during the week of February
15th. How about the week of March 1st
instead?
Attendees respond to
availability via email in
natural language
9. 9
9
HR Recruiting
Identify the top talent
• Schedule phone screens with candidates.
• Arrange interviews between candidates and
hiring managers or technical interviewers.
• Organizer post interview debrief with
managers.
• Better, more responsive candidate experience.
• More time spent with candidates and less time
spent on scheduling.
• Faster time from lead to candidate to hire.
• Screen a larger pool of leads.
Sales & Marketing
Beat the quota
• Find time to meet with customers.
• Schedule follow up sessions on the go.
• Block off time to follow up on action items.
• Connect customers with internal experts.
• Coordinate sales strategy with your team.
• Spend more time with your customers.
• Better alignment across sales teams.
• Never drop the ball.
• More customer support with SMEs.
• Prospect a larger pool of leads.
Customer Experience
Deeper customer relationships
• Schedule kick-off call with customers.
• Coordinate support teams to understand
customer challenges.
• Arrange meetings between customers with
technical experts.
• Arrange follow up meeting with customers.
• Kick-off more customer engagements.
• Better coordination across all stakeholders.
• More responsive to customer inquiries.
• Ensure customer success and satisfaction.
Function Scenarios Business Value
10. 10
10
Cortana, please find time next week and book a room
Search for a room
Scheduling intent Time scope
Outlook Calendar Settings
AI Models process natural language and scheduling intent
11. 11
11
Scheduling intelligence models and workflows
does most of the work
getRequestType
getMeetingType
getSubject
getAttendees
getDuration
getTimeZoneUtterances
getTimeZoneMeanings
getPossibleTimeUtterances
getPossibleTimeMeaning
getLocation
getTimeSuggestions sendBallot
Hi Chan,
I'm helping Lydia schedule an 1 hour
meeting with you. Below are some
proposed times when Lydia is
available.
• Monday, Nov 25, 1:30 PM PST
• Tuesday, Nov 26, 10:00 AM PST
• Wednesday, Nov 27, 3:00 PM PST
12. 12
12
I’m in London week of the 25th. How
about the week after? Let me send
you some times tomorrow.
Chan
getBallotResponse getPossibleTimeUtterances
week of the November 25th
or
week of the December 25th
week after this week
or
week after November 25th
tomorrow
getPossibleTimeMeaning
week of November 25
or
week of December 25
week of November 16
or
week of November 30
Tuesday, November 10
Human assistance is needed when AI models are unsure
13. 13
13
Human assisted AI Services Increase stability
and understanding
Human Intelligence
• Understands contextual
references
• Understands natural language
ambiguities
• Handles variability and
edge cases
• Takes sensible actions
Artificial
Intelligence
• Scalability
• Speed
• Consistency
• Always on
Enables full delegated, fire & forget experience
14. 14
14
Cortana’s access to customer data
• Emails sent to Cortana <cortana@contoso.com>
• The organizer’s Outlook settings including working hours
and time zone.
• The organizer’s free/busy information and the free/busy
information that the organizer has access to.
• The organizer’s Microsoft Graph information including online
meeting configuration and conference room history.
• Access to the organizer’s calendar to update the calendar
and send calendar invitations on behalf of the organizer.
• Customer data is stored within the organizer’s mailbox in
the organizer’s tenancy and processed within M365 trust
& privacy boundaries.
• Cortana does not monitor or read the organizer’s or
attendee’s mailboxes.
• Cortana does not actively monitor or read the organizer’s
or attendee’s calendar entries and meeting details.
Cortana
You
location call
You Cortana
15. 15
15
Scheduler for M365 Data Flow
Organizer Emails
Tenant Boundary /
Substrate
Cortana Mailbox
Organizer’s Mailbox SSPA Certified
Assistants
Azure Trust Boundary
Azure Services
Scheduler Workflow
Engine
Substrate Item
Processor
LUIS Azure FN Intent Models
Compliant DLIS
Application Insights
Rave Ticketing
System
Assisted Task
Server (NEMO)
Microsoft Support
Microsoft 365 Trust & Privacy
Organizer
Emails
Attendee
Emails
16. 16
16
Scheduler for Microsoft 365 will be generally available
on June 14, 2021 from Razor Technology through CSP
Scheduler for Microsoft 365
Users email in-tenant Cortana and delegate their scheduling needs to a digital personal
assistant, including scheduling and re-scheduling appointments and meetings with
people inside and outside of their organization.
English language support only
Commercial license costs $10 / user / month
Add-on for Microsoft Exchange Online excludes Microsoft 365 F1 and F3 SKUs
17. 17
17
Release 1.1: 2021
White Glove Support
enabled, fully
compliant
• Organizers can book
internal, external, and
mixed attendee
meetings
• Cortana@contoso
mailbox
• Licensing checks
Release 1.2
Support for High
Volume Organizers:
Recruiting/Sales
• Conference Call
preferences (Zoom)
• ATS Integration
• Lunchtime scheduling
avoidance
• Multi-time zone support
• Reduced email
communications
Release 1.3
Enhanced multi-time
zone experience:
Global Corporations
• Detect and
accommodate invitee
time zone
• Preference setting for
extended business
hours to support
international calls
• N+1 meeting
recurrence
Release 1.4
Hiring manager
delegation for
Recruiting
Release 1.5
Enhanced conference
room booking
experience
• Support for hiring
manager
delegation
• Support
relationship
between Hiring
Manager and
Cortana
• Book conference rooms
• Support preferred
conference rooms
• Scoped conference
rooms
Post GA Roadmap