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Anonymous
Not applicable

Question regarding Microsoft Flow functionality for delayed notifications

Hi!

 

I am working on an onboarding project for my company and am trying to determine the best way to acheieve two important communications with Flow. I have a SharePoint list that I have tied to Microsoft Flow. Once a form is submitted, it is branching off (3) separate emails.

 

However, I'd like it to also branch off a 4th and 5th e-mail -- with the following parameters:

 

  • First email: 90 Day Check-in
  • Second email: 2 Day Reminder

 

For the 90 Day Check-in, here's what I've come up with:

  • Form is submitted
  • Form sends to the contact email address in the form 90 days after it is submitted -- delay: 90 days

I've figured out how to delay flows. However, I've read that Microsoft Flows expire after (30) days in various sources. Is this still correct? If 90 day will still work, this is a moot point, but the project launches in January so I don't have 90 days to test it. If they still expire after 30 days, here's a workaround that I've come up with, but am unsure how to implement:

 

Option 1:

  • The associated list has a "start date" field with month, day, year defined ("EMPLOYEE START DATE")
  • Flow sends immediately when form is submitted, but within the email, it says: "Employee's 90 day check in is due on DATE (automatically calculcated 90 days from START DATE field). Please add a calendar invitation to remind yourself of this important check-in."

Option 2:

  • Flow sends immediately, with a calendar invitation attached for 9:00am 90 days from START DATE. When the recipient double-clicks the invite, they can add it to their own calendar. The invite states:
    Subject - EMPLOYEE NAME / EMPLOYEE LOCATION  / 90 Day Check In
    * Both NAME and LOCATION are brought in from the SharePoint list.

 

For the 2 Day Reminder email:

 

  • I'd like the flow to send (2) days prior to the defined START DATE in my list. This is to remind our managers that their employee is starting. Again, start date is month/day/year.
  • A workaround is to delay the form by (5) days, since presumably that would be enough time, but I'm wondering if Flow is "smart" enough to make the (2) day reminder happen?
    - Example: EMPLOYEE NAME is starting in two days. Please make sure you've reviewed all requirements for their first day.
  • If I could attach an Outlook calendar invite that the manager that adds an appointment at 9:15am to pick up their new employee on their start date, that would be amazing.

Really sorry to throw this out there in such a long message -- especially if this is fairly easy, but really at a loss with how to start or the best avenue to take. Would appreciate some expert advice!

 

Thank you. 🙂

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

Hi @Anonymous,

 

You could use workflow definition language to add 90 days to your START DATE.

The expression should as below:

addDays(START DATE,90)

You could refer to link below for more referance of workflow definition language:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/logic-apps/workflow-definition-language-functions-reference#addDays

 

Best regards,

Alice

 

View solution in original post

4 REPLIES 4
v-yuazh-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @Anonymous,

 

For the first email, yes, as you said, Microsoft Flows expire after (30) days in various sources, so you could take your Option1 as a workaround.

 

For the second email,Flow is "smart" enough to make the (2) day reminder happen, the delay action is works fine in microsoft flow.

 

Best regards,

Alice

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks! Do you know how to have it calculate START DATE + 90 days? I haven't been able to figure out how to have it translate the date. That same type of "formula" might work for me to say START DATE - 2 days for my option 2 as well.

Hi @Anonymous,

 

You could use workflow definition language to add 90 days to your START DATE.

The expression should as below:

addDays(START DATE,90)

You could refer to link below for more referance of workflow definition language:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/logic-apps/workflow-definition-language-functions-reference#addDays

 

Best regards,

Alice

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

@v-yuazh-msft - you have been an amazing help! I'm sorry for my delay; I was out on holiday for Thanksgiving.

 

I was able to get the 90 Day reminder setup with your guidance that properly notes their 90 day anniversary date.

 

A few more questions, if you don't mind:

1. On the DELAY email (which I want to send 2 days prior to their START DATE), do I add the following in the "Count" field for DELAY or do I use the DELAY UNTIL function? I tried both and it didn't work:

addDays('triggerBody()?['Employee_x0020_Start_x0020_Date_']', -2) -- trying to get it to subtract two days from the start date to trigger it, so it sends promptly then.
 
2. Have you ever successfully added a calendar reminder to an invitation? In this case, I'd want to attach a calendar reminder that is set for the employee's start date at 9:15am local time. I've got it to work, but I'm not sure how to incorporate the START DATE into the Flow. I want the calendar invite to look at START DATE and send the invite for that date, not today's date.
 
Here's a capture of my flow:
 
I assume I need to add an expression to the start time?
 

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