Sends a reminder
The card shows what is missing, for which client and for which month. People who have not installed the bot are not sent a card.
Teams bots
Requests and approvals where people already work: in a Teams chat
A Teams bot sends a reminder or request with buttons to an employee's Teams chat, takes in the file they send back and files it in the right SharePoint folder, running in your Azure subscription with a managed identity.
An approval in Teams · illustrative example
Approval request
- Request
- Access to a folder
- From
- A team member
- Due
- Friday
What happens next
- The decision is recorded
- The requester is told
- The history stays
01
Why Teams rather than another email
Email reminders get lost easily, and requests and approvals end up scattered across emails, chats and spreadsheets. If your team works in Teams, that is the place to send a question that can be answered with one click or one file.
The bot works in a one-to-one chat with each employee. It does not read other chats or channels: it receives only what a person writes or sends to it.
02
What the bot does
We tested all of this in Teams on the web, in our own test environment with invented data.
Takes in a file in the chat
The bot reads the file it receives, works out the client, the document type and the month, files it in the right folder under the standard name and says where it put it.
Uses the reminder's context
If the file shows only the document type, the bot takes the client and the month from the reminder the person is replying to.
Asks when unsure
If a file cannot be read or its type is unclear, the bot asks with buttons: the person picks one of the suggested options or says that none of them fits.
Keeps to its limits
The bot does not file a document for another person's client, and does not overwrite a file sent twice: it replies that the file is already there.
03
What else can be built the same way
These are possibilities, not delivered projects. For a pilot we pick one process.
Requests
An access, purchase or equipment request on a Teams card with required fields, routed to the person responsible.
Approvals
Approve or reject with one click; the decision is recorded where it can be found later.
Reminders
Regular reminders with a link to what needs doing, and a way to reply in the chat.
04
How the bot runs in your tenant
The bot runs in an Azure Functions app in your Azure subscription and signs in with a managed identity, so there is no bot password.
| Part | Permission or setting | Why it is needed | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Bot | A bot registered in your tenant only, with a managed identity | Receive and send Teams messages without a bot password | Chat with the bot only |
| Filing | Sites.Selected with write on one documents site | Put files on that site only | Write, one site |
| Reminder content | Files.Read.All, Sites.Read.All, User.Read.All, or Sites.Selected (read) | Find out what is missing and whom to remind | Read |
| Teams app | Uploaded to your organisation's app catalogue and installed for the people you choose | Let the bot write in a one-to-one chat | One-to-one chat only |
Teams has to reach the bot's address over the internet, so this is the only public part of the solution. Every request is checked against a token signed by Microsoft: in our test, an unsigned or forged request got HTTP 401.
05
Test results
Tested on 2026-10-09 in Teams on the web, in our own Microsoft 365 test environment with invented data. We have not yet tested the Teams mobile app. These are test results, not a client project.
- 2 of 2
- people with the bot installed received the reminder card
- 401
- the response to an unsigned or forged request to the bot's address
- 3
- missing documents cleared from the check once the files were sent to the bot; nothing else changed
- 0
- files overwritten: a file sent twice was left as it was
06
What we need from your IT team
- An Azure subscription and a resource group in an EU region
- A Teams administrator to upload the app to your catalogue and install it for the pilot users
- Permission approval by a Global Administrator or Privileged Role Administrator
- One SharePoint site the bot can file documents into
- A few people who will use the bot during the pilot
Common questions.
Something else on your mind?
How is a Teams bot different from Power Automate approvals?
Power Automate approvals suit a simple yes or no. A bot is needed when you have to take in a file, read it, decide where it goes or ask a follow-up question. On the call we tell you which route is simpler for you.
Does the bot see all our Teams chats?
No. The bot works only in a one-to-one chat with it, and receives only what a person writes or sends to it.
Does the bot need a password or key?
No. The bot signs in with a managed identity in your Azure subscription, so there is no bot password or key, and nothing to rotate.
Does the bot work on mobile?
We tested it in Teams on the web. We have not yet tested the Teams mobile app, so we check that at the start of the pilot.
Where are files and bot data stored?
Files go into your SharePoint. The bot's state, such as who was sent a card and which file it is waiting for, is kept in Azure storage in your subscription.
What if the bot cannot recognise a file?
Then it does not file it and asks the person with buttons. A file is filed only when it is clear which client it belongs to, what type of document it is and which month it covers.