This article guides you on creating a Meeting Poll in Outlook using Outlook for the web or the desktop client for Windows and macOS.

What is FindTime

FindTime is an Outlook add-in for scheduling meetings. The organizer can send multiple time options through FindTime and minimize the back-and-forth emails in scheduling:

1. FindTime shows what days and times work the best for you and the attendees when available using free/busy data.
2. Propose your selected times to all attendees and allow everyone to vote and quickly come to a consensus
3. FindTime sends out the meeting invite on your behalf

You can send a FindTime invite to anyone with an email address. Only organizers are required to be on Office 365.

You can add requited and optional participants. List the people required for the meeting by adding them in the “To” recipient field and optional participants in the “Cc” field. Within the Meeting Poll, they will appear as

• "required attendee"
  
• "optional attendee"
  

You can send a test invite: just add a second personal email address to the To: or Cc: line.

Recipients of a FindTime meeting are not required to have the add-in installed to vote on meeting times. Invitations can be sent to any email address including Gmail, Yahoo!, and similar providers.

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Outlook for the web

Create and send your polls

To use the app, please follow the step-by-step instructions here below:

1. Open a new message or reply to a message you have received

2. Enter the name of your recipients and the email subject

3. Select the ellipses button (…) 

4. Select the option Scheduling poll

5. A new dialogue box will appear on the right part of the screen. From there you can select:

• Time zone
  
• Duration
• Date
• Your attendees’ availability during the day
  
  

6. Select the settings that fit better for you and select 'Next'

7. The new screen will show the selected time options, the location field and the option the generate a link for a teams meeting. Open the drop-down menu 'Manage poll setting' to check all the options available.

8. Once you have set everything, select the button 'Create poll'

9. Your poll is now ready. Select the button 'View poll details' to open a new window and check them, or close the banner

10. Within the body of your email, there will be a poll box. This box will show:

• The title - you can edit it, if you want
  
• The name of the voters
• The duration of the meeting
• The time options
• The button 'Vote'
• The button 'View all your polls'

11. Send your email as usual

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Outlook desktop client on Windows

Installing FindTime 

1. Open Outlook.
2. Go to 'Home' and then 'Get Add-ins'

3. Search for the FindTime add-in.

 
Note: If you cannot access Add-ins or FindTime, your administrator may have turned off your access. Contact ServiceLine for more information.

4. Select 'Add'

5. Under the 'Home' tab, you will see:

• The icon 'New meeting Poll', if have opened a new email
  
  
  
  
• The icon 'Reply with Meeting Poll', if you are replying to an email
  
  

 

Sending your poll

To use the app, please follow the step-by-step instructions here below:

1. Open a new message or reply to an email

2. Enter the name of your recipients and the email subject

3. Select 'New Meeting Poll' or 'Reply with Meeting Poll'

4. A new dialogue box will appear on the right part of the screen. From there you can select the duration of the meeting, the day and your attendees’ availability

5. A new dialogue box will appear on the right part of the screen. From there you can select:

• Time zone
• Duration
• Date
• Your attendees’ availability during the day
  

6. Select the settings that fit better for you and select 'Next'

7. The new screen will show the selected time options, the location field and the option the generate a link for a teams meeting. Open the drop-down menu 'Manage poll setting' to check all the options available.

8. Once you have set everything, select the button 'Create poll'

9. Your poll is now ready. Select the button 'View poll details' to open a new window and check them, or close the banner

10. Within the body of your email, there will be a poll box. This box will show:

• The title - you can edit it, if you want
• The name of the voters
• The duration of the meeting
• The time options
• The button 'Vote'
• The button 'View all your polls'

11. Send the email with the meeting invites and start the voting process. You and your recipients will receive a direct link to the voting page for your meeting. 

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Outlook desktop client on macOS

Installing FindTime 

1. Open Outlook for the web in your browser.

2. Select 'New message' to open a new email.

3. Next to the Signature button, select the ellipses button (…) and then select 'Get Add-ins'.

 
4. Search for the FindTime add-in

   
5. Select 'Add'

Sending your poll

To use the plug-in, please follow the step-by-step instructions here below:

1. Open a new message

2. Enter the name of your recipients and the email subject

3. Select the ellipses button (…) next to 'Signature'

4. Select 'Scheduling Poll' from the drop-down menu

5. A new dialogue box will appear on the right part of the screen. From there you can select the duration of the meeting, the day and your attendees’ availability

6. A new dialogue box will appear on the right part of the screen. From there you can select:

• Time zone
• Duration
• Date
• Your attendees’ availability during the day
  

7. Select the settings that fit better for you and select 'Next'

8. The new screen will show the selected time options, the location field and the option the generate a link for a teams meeting. Open the drop-down menu 'Manage poll setting' to check all the options available.

9. Once you have set everything, select the button 'Create poll'

10. Your poll is now ready. Select the button 'View poll details' to open a new window and check them, or close the banner

11. Within the body of your email, there will be a poll box. This box will show:

• The title - you can edit it, if you want
• The name of the voters
• The duration of the meeting
• The time options
• The button 'Vote'
• The button 'View all your polls'

12. Send the email with the meeting invites and start the voting process. You and your recipients will receive a direct link to the voting page for your meeting. 

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Meeting and poll settings in detail

Meeting settings

Duration

Select 8 hours for a full-day meeting.

Select Custom in the time dropdown menu to set your own time. The maximum duration is 23 hours 59 minutes.

Work Hours

Check to limit suggested meeting times to work days and hours only.

Time zone

Select the time zone dropdown menu to change the time zone for the meeting.

Availability

The people icons show whether meeting participants are required, and their availability:

• Green: Available
• Purple: Tentative - they may be busy
• Red: Busy
• Gray: Unknown

Online meeting

When Online Meeting is selected, FindTime will schedule a Microsoft Teams meeting.

 

Poll settings

Schedule when attendees reach consensus

A calendar event is automatically scheduled if all required attendees have voted in favour of a specific time option. If multiple options are available, the earliest option will be scheduled.

Hold selected times on my calendar

A tentative event is placed on your calendar for each time option you propose. All holds are removed when the meeting is scheduled or the poll is cancelled.

Notify me about poll updates

You will receive an email each time an attendee votes. The message includes the current poll status and an option to schedule.

Require attendees to verify their identity

To help prevent anonymous voting, attendees will be required to authenticate before voting.

Lock poll for attendees

Attendees will not be able to suggest new times or edit other attendees.

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How to uninstall FindTime from Outlook desktop client

1. Click on 'Get Add-ins':

- Windows users will find the icon under the 'Home' tab:

 
- macOS users need to select the ellipses button (…) next to 'Signature' and then select the 'Get Add-ins' button 

2. Select the 'Admin Managed' button or look for FindTime using the search bar

 
3. Go to the FindTime box and select the ellipses button (...) on the bottom right

 
4.  Select 'Remove' from the drop-down menu

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Related content

You can find full guidance on how FindTime works in the Microsoft article "How to create a FindTime poll".