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Recognition and rewards, inside Microsoft Teams. A complete guide to using and administering Empuls within Microsoft Teams. Quick link: Add Empuls to your Microsoft Teams account

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1. Overview — Empuls, inside Microsoft Teams

Empuls integrates natively with Microsoft Teams, bringing recognition, rewards, surveys, and your social intranet directly into the platform your employees already use every day. Instead of asking employees to log into a separate tool, Empuls meets them where they already are. Recognitions happen in the flow of work. Survey nudges arrive in chat. Rewards are redeemed without switching tabs. And everything syncs back to Empuls automatically, giving HR the visibility and data they need to run a meaningful engagement programme. The result is higher participation, stronger culture, and an engagement platform employees actually use.
Empuls Home tab inside Microsoft Teams showing the Elevate & Celebrate banner

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2. Why the Teams integration

Most recognition programmes fail for the same reason: employees have to go somewhere new to use them. A separate login, a new tab, another app to remember. The tool exists, but participation never follows. When Empuls lives inside Teams, that friction disappears. Employees recognise teammates mid-conversation, respond to surveys without leaving their workflow, and redeem rewards the moment they get notified. Recognition stops being a task and becomes part of how work happens.
Setup takes under 10 minutes from the Teams admin center, costs nothing to integrate, and needs little to no training for employees.
For the full results and methodology behind these numbers, read the MS Teams Integrations case study.

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3. What you can do inside Teams

Empuls is accessible across three surfaces inside Microsoft Teams: the Home tab, the Chat tab, and directly inside channels and chats via the message extension. Here is a full breakdown of what is available on each surface. Prefer to watch instead of read? This 2-minute demo video walks through everything below.

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Home tab

The Home tab gives employees a single view of everything happening across the organisation. It is divided into the following sections. Hero banner and points overview At the top of the Home tab, employees see their current points summary — including points available to give for recognition and points available to redeem in the rewards store. Quick action buttons to Go to shop and Recognize are available here.
Home tab hero banner with points summary and Go to shop and Recognize buttons
Feeds Shows the latest activity happening across the organisation — including recognitions posted, company updates, team announcements, and social interactions from Empuls. Employees can click any feed item to view the full details. Recommendations Empuls surfaces items that need attention — including polls to participate in, team discussions needing input, and suggested actions or alerts.
Feeds and Recommendations panels on the Empuls Home tab in Teams
Celebrations The Celebrations section surfaces birthdays, work anniversaries, and new joiners across the organisation, organised by date. Employees can switch between the three tabs to see who is celebrating today or in the coming days, and click Wish to send a personalised message or appreciation instantly.
Celebrations section showing new joiners with Wish buttons
Recognition Rally (leaderboard) Shows a list of top performers and most appreciated employees in the current cycle. Employees can track appreciation momentum and see who is contributing actively to the culture.
Celebrations and Recognition Rally leaderboard side by side
Employee discount programme Shows exclusive brand deals and offers enabled through Empuls. Employees can click Explore to browse the full catalogue of offers. Surveys and quizzes Empuls delivers survey and quiz invites directly to employees inside Teams. Employees can view and respond to active surveys and quizzes without leaving the Home tab.
Survey and quiz invites next to the Employee discount programme panel
Wall of Fame The Wall of Fame highlights the most recognised employees across the organisation, updated monthly. Employees can browse by month, filter by department or team, and see peer-nominated highlights for each person. Each card shows the employee’s name, role, and a recognition message from their peers. The Wall of Fame can also be shared directly from within Teams.
Wall of Fame cards spotlighting the month's top performers
Reports and insights Provides personal and team-level insights. Employees can see how often they recognise or get recognised, compare with team and org averages, and understand recognition patterns. Clicking View Reports & Insights opens the detailed dashboard.
Wall of Fame and Reports & Insights entry points on the Home tab

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Chat tab

The Chat tab is where employees interact directly with the Empuls bot for quick actions without navigating through the Home tab. Welcome message and quick actions When opening the Chat tab for the first time, employees see a welcome message from the Empuls bot with options to Appreciate a colleague, Learn more about Empuls, or start typing a message directly.
Empuls bot welcome message and quick actions in the Teams Chat tab
Recognise teammates from chat Employees can recognise colleagues directly from chat using the Appreciate button or by typing “Recognize”. The recognition flow lets employees search for a teammate by name or email, select the person, choose a value card or award, add a message, and submit.
Select People search when recognising a teammate from Teams chat
Redeem reward points Employees can redeem points from chat using the Redeem Points command or via automated reminders sent by Empuls. The bot shows the current points balance and a Go To Store button to open the full rewards catalogue.
Rewards catalogue with gift card options opened from the Empuls bot
Surveys, nudges, and notifications The Chat tab is where Empuls delivers survey and quiz invites, recognition alerts, approval notifications, and nudges to participate or respond. Employees can open and complete surveys directly from the chat thread.
Empuls bot delivering an announcement in the Teams chat thread
Commands and prompts Employees can view all available shortcuts by clicking View Prompts at the bottom of the Chat screen. Available commands include Recognize, Redeem Points, Help, and Survey Responses.
Mood-o-meter survey and prompt suggestions in the Empuls chat

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Inside channels and chats (message extension)

The Empuls message extension is available in all Teams channels and group chats, allowing recognition to happen directly in the flow of conversation. Recognise from a channel or chat Employees can give value cards, monetary awards, or nominations without leaving the channel. Steps to add MS Teams on chat and appreciate peers:
1

Add Empuls from the app menu

Click on the three dots on your Teams group to add Empuls.
Search for apps menu in Teams with Empuls available to add
2

Continue to add Empuls

Click Continue and Empuls will be added to your chat.
Prompt asking to add Empuls to the channel or chat, with a Continue button
3

Open a channel or group chat

Open any channel or group chat in Teams.
Empuls added confirmation with an Appreciate action in the Teams chat
4

Recognise a teammate

Select the teammate, choose an award or core value, write a message, and submit.
Select People screen to recognise a teammate from a Teams channel
If the award requires approval, the recognition post is published after the approver reviews it.

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4. Admin setup and controls

This section covers everything IT administrators and HR admins need to deploy, configure, and manage the Empuls app across the organisation.

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Installation guide for IT admins

Deploy and configure the Empuls app across the organisation via the Microsoft Teams admin center. Install Empuls for all employees (Add to Me) This installs Empuls as a personal app for every employee in their individual Teams space. Once deployed, employees will see Empuls pre-installed and pinned in their Teams app bar and messaging extensions without having to search for or install it themselves. This is the recommended deployment method as it ensures organisation-wide access from day one, with no action required from individual employees.
1

Log in to the Teams admin center

Log in to the Microsoft Teams admin center at admin.teams.microsoft.com.
2

Find Empuls in Manage apps

Go to Teams Apps and select Manage apps, then search for Empuls.
Manage apps page in the Teams admin center with Empuls in the results
3

Open Setup policies

Go to Setup policies and select Global (Org-wide default).
App setup policies page with the Global org-wide default policy
4

Add Empuls under Installed apps

Under Installed apps, click Add apps and add Empuls. This pre-installs it for all users.
Installed apps and pinned apps sections with Empuls added
5

Pin Empuls under Pinned apps

Under Pinned apps, click Add apps again and pin Empuls to the Teams app bar and messaging extensions.
6

Save

Scroll down and click Save.
Install Empuls on Teams channels (Add to Team / Add to Chat) This installs Empuls as a message extension on specific channels or group chats, allowing recognition to be sent directly from those channels.
1

Log in to the Teams admin center

Log in to the Microsoft Teams admin center at admin.teams.microsoft.com.
2

Find Empuls in Manage apps

Go to Teams Apps and select Manage apps, then search for Empuls.
Manage apps page in the Teams admin center with Empuls selected
3

Select Add to Teams

Select Add to Teams.
4

Choose channels and save

Choose the required channels and click Save.
Permissions required Mandatory, SSO. The following permissions must be granted with admin consent to allow employees to access the Empuls Teams app via SSO:
  • User.Read
  • email
  • openid
  • profile
  • offline_access
To grant admin consent, go to Permissions and select Grant admin consent for the organisation.
Azure portal Permissions page with Grant admin consent for the organisation highlighted

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Empuls admin controls

HR admins have a dedicated set of controls inside Teams to manage and configure the Empuls platform for the organisation. These are accessible directly from the Empuls app inside Teams under Admin Settings. Configure messages Publish all awards, appreciations, and other automated messages by Em Bot to a selected Team or Group Chat. This ensures recognition moments are visible to the whole organisation in one dedicated channel.
1

Open Admin Settings

Open the Empuls app inside Teams and go to Admin Settings.
Admin Settings panel inside the Empuls Teams app
2

Select Team or Group Chat

Under Configure messages, click Select Team or Group Chat.
3

Choose where messages are published

Then select the Team or Group Chat where you want all Empuls messages published.
Edit Configuration screen choosing a group chat and message types to publish
4

Select message types and save

Select the types of messages to be published and save.
New user Add, update, or remove user accounts from the Empuls admin centre. HR admins can update an individual user or make bulk updates across the organisation. Clicking Add New User or Import All Users opens the Empuls admin centre directly from within Teams. Add new users individually To add an individual employee, click Add New User. Fill in the basic details (name, work email, and user access role) along with any relevant professional and personal details, then click Save.
Add new user form with basic, professional, and personal details
Import all users To add multiple employees at once, click Import All Users. This opens a 5-step bulk upload flow.
1

Pre-import data settings

Review the guidelines before proceeding. Upload a .csv file with a maximum of 1000 users at a time. Required fields are first name, last name, and email address. Download the sample template if needed.
Pre-import data settings dialog with upload guidelines
2

Upload employee data file

Upload your employee data file.
Upload Employee Data File step with a drag-and-drop area
3

Define your employee data

Map the columns from your file to the correct Empuls fields.
4

Data upload preview

Review the preview to confirm the records are valid.
5

Invite users to Empuls

Choose to send invites now or later, then complete the import.
Sync profile picture Enable automatic syncing of each employee’s Microsoft Teams profile photo to their Empuls profile. Once enabled, employee profiles stay consistent across both platforms without any manual effort from employees or HR.
1

Enable sync

Under Sync Profile Picture in Admin Settings, click Enable.
Admin Settings with the Sync Profile Picture option
2

Automatic sync

Once enabled, Teams profile pictures will automatically sync to Empuls for all users.
Reports and insights Access programme-level reports directly from within Teams. Clicking Reports and Insights opens the full reporting dashboard in the Empuls admin centre with the following report types available:
  • Recognition Report
  • Budget Report
  • Redemption Report
  • Gift Report
  • My Organisation Report
  • Raw Data
Each report can be filtered by date range, viewed by a specific person or role, and further refined using pivot and filter options. Reports live in the Empuls admin centre — Teams simply gives you a direct route in, so you never have to go looking for a separate login.
Reports & Insights dashboard with recognition report and filters

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5. FAQs

You won’t be able to find the Empuls app if your Microsoft Teams admin has blocked users from accessing public (third-party) apps from the store. Ask your admin to enable Empuls on the Microsoft Teams app store. Refer to the installation guide above for more information.
This appears when the Microsoft admins at your organisation have added controls to prevent users from installing or using apps from the Microsoft store. To resolve it:
  • In the input box, enter your reason for using the Empuls app and click Request Approval. This submits your request to your Microsoft admin.
  • Your Microsoft admin can see the request in the Azure portal under the Enterprise applications section.
  • The Microsoft admin can then allow the Empuls app so all users can sign in without additional permissions.
Once approved, all users can log in and start using the Empuls app.
Empuls requires the following permissions, granted with admin consent, to authenticate employees via SSO: User.Read, email, openid, profile, and offline_access. These allow employees to sign in to the Empuls Teams app securely without a separate login.
Yes. Once SSO permissions are granted, employees are authenticated automatically through Microsoft Teams and do not need to log into Empuls separately.
You can uninstall the app from a channel by navigating to the Apps section from the Manage Team option.
You can uninstall the Empuls bot from your account by following these steps:
  • Navigate to the chat section.
  • Hover on the Empuls app.
  • Right-click on the app and select Uninstall.
No. The Microsoft Teams integration is free to connect and takes under 10 minutes to set up from the Teams admin center.
Yes, when the IT admin uses the “Install for all employees (Add to Me)” method. Empuls is pre-installed and pinned in every employee’s Teams app bar and messaging extensions, with no action required from individual employees.
If the award requires approval, the recognition post is published after the approver reviews it.
Yes. Empuls works inside the Microsoft Teams mobile app, so employees can recognise teammates, redeem rewards, and respond to surveys on the go.
Bring recognition into the flow of work. Free to connect, live in under 10 minutes from the Teams admin center, with little to no training needed for employees.

Talk to our team

Get a walkthrough of Empuls inside Microsoft Teams.

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Learn more about the Empuls engagement platform.