Sending OOB Email with Power Automate Using Custom Table Records as Recipients

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In today's fast-paced world, automated processes can be a lifesaver. Microsoft Power Automate offers a powerful toolset for streamlining various tasks. In this blog, we'll guide you through the process of sending out-of-box (OOB) emails using Power Automate. What makes this process even more interesting is our use of a custom table to manage email recipients. We'll take you through the necessary steps to set up this efficient and automated email communication system.

Step 1: Creating a Custom Table

Our journey begins with the creation of a custom table. This table will serve as the repository for email recipients, offering a structured approach to email management within Power Automate.

  1. Access Power Automate:
    Log in to your Power Automate account and navigate to the environment where you want to create the custom table.
  2. Create a Custom Table:
    Go to "Data" and select "Tables."
  3. New Table:
    Click "New Table" to create a new custom table.
  4. Table Properties:
    Configure the table properties, making sure to select the checkbox designating this table as an option when creating a new activity. and the records of this table can have a email contact.

Step 2: Adding an Email Column

With your custom table created, you'll need to add an email column. This column will house the email addresses of your recipients.

  1. Edit the Table:
    Select your newly created custom table, then click "Edit Table."
  2. Add a Column:
    Click "Add Column" and name it "Email" with the data type set to "Email."
  3. Save Changes:
    Be sure to save your changes.



Step 3: Populating the Custom Table

Now that your custom table and email column are in place, you can begin populating it with email addresses. Each row in this table represents an email recipient, and we will use a checkbox to identify rows with valid email contacts.

  1. Add Rows: Click on "Add Rows" to start filling in the table with email addresses.


Step 4: Creating the Power Automate Flow

With your custom table set up and populated with email contacts, it's time to create the Power Automate flow that will send emails to these recipients. Here's a more detailed outline of the steps you mentioned:

  1. Compose Email:
    Add a "Compose" action for your email body.



  2. Get Sending User:
    Add a "List rows" action for your custom table to fetch the user who will be sending the email. You can apply a filter to get the desired user.


  3. Condition:
    Add a "Condition Action" to check if length of users returned is greater than 0.



  4. List Custom Table Records:
    Add another action to list the custom table records using the "List rows" action.



  5. Apply to Each:
    Wrap the subsequent actions within an "Apply to Each" loop to iterate through each record in the custom table.



  6. Add New Row:
    Inside the loop, add an action to add a new row in the "Email Messages Table." Configure the activity parties, subject, and description of the email message.


    Here's the JSON:

    [
      {
        "participationtypemask": 1,
        "partyid@odata.bind": "systemusers(GUID)"
      },
      {
        "participationtypemask": 2,
        "partyid@odata.bind": "CustomTableLogicalName(GUID)"
      }
    ]

  7. Perform a Bound Action:
    Add another action to perform a bound action. Choose "Email Messages" and "SendEmail" in the action. Set "IssueSent" to "Yes" to mark the email as sent.



Step 5: Save and Test

Once you have set up your Power Automate flow, save it and test it with some sample data to ensure it's functioning as expected. If everything checks out, you're ready to use this automation to send out-of-box emails using a custom table as your recipient list.

This Power Automate solution simplifies the process of sending emails to multiple recipients by leveraging a custom table to manage and store email addresses. By following these steps, you can ensure that your communications reach the right people efficiently and with minimal manual effort, saving you time and reducing the chances of errors in your email outreach.

 


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