Viva Engage: At-Mentions & Replies notifications improvements

Viva Engage will roll out smarter At-Mention and Reply notifications starting April 2026, sending alerts via the user's most engaged channel to reduce notification fatigue. Secondary alerts occur if unopened within an hour. No admin action is needed, but user communication is recommended. Existing preferences remain respected.

[Introduction]

We hear your feedback about ways we can improve the notifications experience in Viva Engage. It's always a fine balance between ensuring your users are notified of relevant content without notifications feeling too overwhelming or noisy. In response to your feedback, we're rolling out a more intelligent notifications experience.

Specifically, this change improves how At-Mention and Reply notifications are delivered. This smarter delivery approach optimizes notification delivery based on a user’s engagement behavior, helping to reduce notification fatigue while ensuring timely visibility of important announcements.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out this change in early April 2026 and expect to complete the rollout at a later date (TBD). 

[How this will affect your organization:]

Who is affected:

• All Viva Engage users who receive At-Mention or Reply notifications.
• Organizations using Viva Engage across Teams, email, or mobile devices.

What will happen:

• At-Mention Notifications: Previously, when a user was at-mentioned in Viva Engage, notifications were sent immediately to Teams, email, and mobile push. With this update:
• Users will receive the At-Mention notification in one channel only (Teams, email, or mobile push).
• The notification channel is selected based on where the user has engaged most frequently with Viva Engage notifications over the past 30 days.
• If the notification is not opened within one hour, a secondary notification is sent using another preferred channel.
• Reply Notifications: Previously, Reply notifications were sent immediately to Teams, email, and mobile push. With this update:
• Users will receive Reply notifications in Teams and email, or Teams and mobile push.
• The choice between email and mobile push is based on where the user has engaged most frequently with Viva Engage notifications over the past 30 days.
• If the notification is not opened within one hour, a secondary notification is sent using another preferred channel.
• All existing user notification preferences and settings are respected. If a notification channel is disabled or the app is not installed, it will not be selected as a delivery option.

[What you can do to prepare:]

No admin action is required. However, we recommend:

• Informing users about the updated notification behavior to reduce confusion.
• Monitoring user feedback and engagement after rollout.
• Reviewing internal communication practices to align with the new notification delivery behavior.

[Compliance considerations:]

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.