MailGuard · Microsoft 365

Exchange Online is down.Your peopleare not.

During a Microsoft 365 incident your tenant stops accepting messages. Senders retry, but nobody can read or reply. Conbool bridges exactly that window.

What actually happens during a Microsoft 365 incident

The mail is not gone. The working day is.

Service status does not help you work

The message center tells you an incident exists and is being worked on. It does not tell you how your staff answers customer requests in the meantime.

Inbound queues, outbound stops

Senders hold messages in their queue, usually for twenty-four to forty-eight hours. During that time nothing leaves your side.

Deadlines keep running

Bid deadlines, tenders and statutory deadlines do not care about a vendor status page.

There is no second channel

Phone lists are outdated, private messengers are not an option for data protection reasons, and nobody has a second mailbox.

Conbool already sits in front

As the upstream instance Conbool sees the incident at the same moment the senders do. That becomes usable access.

1. Detect the incident

If your tenant repeatedly refuses messages over a longer period, Conbool switches to emergency mode. A single hiccup deliberately does not qualify.

2. Provide access

Your people sign in with their usual Conbool account and see the messages Exchange Online did not accept.

3. Reply and keep working

Replies go out through the regular Conbool path, signed and inspected as always. Nothing looks different to your business partners.

What this means for your Microsoft 365 tenant

No change to your tenant, no app, no additional vendor.

Nothing changes in Microsoft 365

No add-in inside the tenant, no permission, no connector beyond the one MailGuard already uses.

Works during sign-in incidents too

A share of incidents does not affect mailboxes but authentication. Conbool has its own sign-in and is not affected.

Hybrid environments included

Exchange Online, on-premises Exchange or a hybrid combination makes no difference. What matters is that the next hop sits behind Conbool.

The backlog stays orderly

After the incident senders deliver as usual. Conbool only holds a read copy, so no second delivery and no duplicate occurs.

Protection stays active

Even in emergency mode every message passes the full inbound inspection. An outage is no reason to suspend protection.

Plannable for maintenance

Emergency mode can be switched on by hand before a planned migration.

The usual answers to an M365 incident

What companies do, and what it achieves.

 
With Conbool
Without
Read messages during the incident
yes
no
Reply during the incident
yes
no
Change required in the Microsoft 365 tenant
no
none
Works during sign-in incidents
yes
no
Additional vendor in the mail path
no, Conbool already sits in front
none
Preparation time before the incident
one switch
none, but no effect either

This comparison describes operation across a company. For individual users, encryption inside the client remains a workable solution.

Frequently asked questions

How do I tell whether Microsoft 365 and not my network is the cause?
A reliable signal is the response code towards senders. If a temporary rejection persists for hours and affects every recipient of a domain, the cause sits behind the gateway. If it affects single mailboxes it is usually a rule or a full mailbox.
Are messages lost during an incident?
Usually not immediately. Sending servers retry for typically twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Only after that does a non-delivery report reach the sender.
Do I need additional Microsoft licences?
No. Emergency mode sits entirely with Conbool and does not touch your Microsoft licensing.
What about calendar and Teams?
Emergency mode covers the mail channel, not calendar or chat. That is deliberate: email is the channel deadlines run on and the one outsiders use to reach you.
Do my business partners see that we are in emergency mode?
No. Replies go out through the regular path with the usual signature and authentication.
Is this a second mailbox I have to maintain?
No. There are no additional accounts and no synchronisation. Access appears in an incident and disappears afterwards.
How fast does it switch over?
After several failed delivery attempts across a contiguous period. The delay is intentional so a brief hiccup does not trigger emergency mode.
Does this satisfy a NIS2 requirement?
It addresses continuity of operations under Article 21(2)(c) for the mail channel. The continuity plan itself and its testing remain your responsibility.

Verwandte Lösungen

Rehearse the incident before it happens

We show emergency mode on your own tenant without touching your environment.