Moving to New Outlook: What legal professionals need to know

Microsoft is currently transitioning all customers to New Outlook as the future of email and collaboration. Introducing a modern platform that enables improved integration with Microsoft 365 services, Copilot, Teams and future Microsoft innovations.

New Outlook will also provide a single experience across desktop, web and mobile, improved security and compliance capabilities and reduced reliance on legacy technologies such as COM add-ins and VBA customisations.

With the transition, there are key differences between Outlook Classic and New Outlook, including changes to some familiar features and workflows.

Some new features of New Outlook are still evolving, such as:

• Quick Steps
• Advanced offline functionality
• Some shared mailbox administration features; and
• Legacy VBA-based customisations.

We know that there are concerns in the legal sector that some software providers have not provided a response or looked at how this will impact customers.

However, we'd like to offer reassurance that as part of this move, OneAdvanced has aligned its Outlook integration for IQ Legal with Microsoft's long-term strategy, ensuring our customers can continue to benefit from the latest capabilities, security enhancements and ongoing innovation.

Our new Outlook add-in has been created with New Outlook in mind and shows our commitment to future-proofing our software and meeting our customers’ needs as changes arise in the technology market.

For further clarity, here are a few frequently asked questions about New Outlook and how we’ve developed our software to keep powering your world of work on New Outlook:

"The interface looks different"

Change can take time, particularly for users who have worked with Classic Outlook for many years. While some menus and actions have moved, New Outlook follows Microsoft's modern design standards and provides a more consistent experience across desktop, web and mobile applications.

We recommend using Microsoft's onboarding resources alongside OneAdvanced guidance materials to help users become familiar with the updated experience.

"Are any features missing?"

Some legacy Outlook capabilities are still being introduced into New Outlook. Microsoft continues to deliver enhancements on a regular basis and has publicly committed to feature parity for key business workflows. We actively monitor the Microsoft roadmap and adapt our solutions accordingly.

"Will the OneAdvanced Add-In still work?"

Yes. In fact, we built a new Outlook Add-In specifically for New Outlook.

Microsoft's move to New Outlook required a fundamentally different approach to Outlook integrations. Rather than adapting our legacy add-in, OneAdvanced invested in developing a new add-in using Microsoft's modern web add-in technology.

This ensures our solution remains fully aligned with Microsoft's future direction while continuing to support key day-to-day activities such as filing emails, recording time and working with matters directly from Outlook.

While some functionality and workflows differ from the legacy Outlook integration, the new add-in provides a modern foundation that allows us to continue enhancing the user experience as both our products and Microsoft's platform evolve.

"What about working offline?"

Microsoft has significantly improved offline support in New Outlook. Users can now:

• Read emails offline
• Draft emails offline
• Work with cached content

Microsoft continues to invest in offline capability improvements, although full parity with Classic Outlook's cached mode experience is still being enhanced.

If you have questions about New Outlook, Outlook Add-In functionality, or the impact on your OneAdvanced solutions, please contact your Account Manager or OneAdvanced Support team.