Action Required for Microsoft Exchange Web Services Retirement

Impact on Manitou Publisher and MediaGateway

Action required before October 1, 2026. If your Manitou system’s Publisher or MediaGateway Email Connector uses Exchange Web Services to connect to Exchange Online, your Microsoft 365 administrator must configure and validate continued EWS access.

Overview

Microsoft will begin disabling Exchange Web Services (EWS) in Exchange Online in October 2026 and plans to fully disable EWS in April 2027. Microsoft is rolling out the change by cloud, so the exact enforcement date may vary by organization.

EWSAllowedAppIDs provides a temporary way for approved applications to continue using EWS during the retirement period. Without the required Exchange Online configuration, email-based alarm notifications, signal intake, or report delivery, may be interrupted.

Who Needs to Take Action

Your organization should review its configuration if either of the following applies:

•  Publisher sends reports or alarm notifications through an Exchange Online mailbox using EWS.

•  MediaGateway reads messages from an Exchange Online mailbox using EWS.

Who Is Not Affected

This notice does not apply when Manitou is using email providers other than Exchange Online/Microsoft 365. See below for more details to know if your Manitou system is setup to use EWS.

Information for Hosted Services Customers

If your Manitou system is hosted by Bold Group, your organization remains responsible for its Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online settings, including EWSEnabled and EWSAllowedAppIDs.

•  Publisher: Your Manitou system administrator can use the instructions in this notice to determine whether Publisher uses EWS.

•  MediaGateway: The Bold Group Hosted Services team is reviewing hosted environments that use MediaGateway and will contact affected customers if action is needed.

If Bold Group contacts you, your Microsoft 365 administrator will still need to make the required changes in your Exchange Online tenant. Bold Group cannot make those changes on your behalf. If you use Publisher, do not wait for outreach from Bold Group before reviewing its configuration.

How Microsoft Will Apply the Change

Beginning October 1, 2026, Microsoft will start enabling updated EWS access behavior by cloud. When EWSEnabled is set to True, continued EWS access requires a configured EWSAllowedAppIDs list.

To reduce the risk of interruption, configure and validate your list, confirm that EWSEnabled is set to True, and test the affected Manitou functions before October 1, 2026.

Check MediaGateway for EWS Use

Open MediaGateway, select Connector, and review each entry in the Connector Driver Name list.

Action is required when the connector displays the Email page and the Format Type is O365OAUTH or EXCHANGE. 

Check Publisher for EWS Use

In Supervisor Workstation, go to Maintenance > Setup > Service Provider Devices. Review each service provider and look for an ID of AUTH_O365.

Action is required when AUTH_O365 appears as the service provider ID. This means Publisher is configured to use EWS to access Exchange Online.

Required Actions

The following actions include tenant-wide Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online configuration changes. Your Microsoft 365 administrator should identify the appropriate application IDs and complete the Exchange Online configuration using current Microsoft documentation. 

1. Confirm your Manitou configuration. Determine whether Publisher or MediaGateway uses Exchange Web Services (EWS).

1. Have your Microsoft 365 administrator identify every required application ID. Your administrator must identify the Microsoft application (client) ID associated with each Manitou Publisher or MediaGateway connection that uses EWS. They should use your organization’s Microsoft 365 configuration and Microsoft’s guidance for viewing enterprise applications. 

1. Optional: Review the Exchange Online EWS usage report. Your Microsoft 365 administrator can use Microsoft’s Exchange Web Services usage report as an additional resource for identifying applications that have recently used EWS. Do not rely on this report as the only method of identifying required applications. Microsoft states that the data is aggregated weekly and can take up to 10 days to appear. 

1. Have your Microsoft 365 administrator configure Exchange Online. The administrator must set EwsEnabled to $true and ensure that EwsAllowedAppIDs contains every application ID that must continue using EWS—including required applications unrelated to Manitou. They should follow Microsoft’s current EWS access-control guidance and Set-OrganizationConfig documentation. 

1. Verify the configuration and test Manitou functions. Your Microsoft 365 administrator should verify the completed Exchange Online configuration using Microsoft’s instructions. After the configuration is applied, test all applicable Manitou functions, including report delivery, email-based alarm notifications, and email-based alarm signal intake.

What Comes Next - Permanent Replacement for EWS

The EWSAllowedAppIDs configuration is a temporary measure that keeps Manitou working through Microsoft's retirement period. Bold Group will provide a permanent replacement for EWS in a future Manitou product release, available before April 1, 2027. To avoid interruption after Microsoft fully disables EWS, plan to update your Manitou software to the latest version once that release is available. We will share release details and upgrade guidance in a separate communication.

Timeline

Microsoft Technical Resources

• Deprecation of Exchange Web Services in Exchange Online
• Exchange Web Services Usage Report
• Introducing EWSAllowedAppIDs
• Finding and Remediating EWS App Usage Before Retirement
• Exchange Online EWS Your Time Is Almost Up

Questions and Support

For questions about your Publisher or MediaGateway configuration, you may contact Bold Group Technical Support through the support portal or by calling (800) 255-BOLD.

For questions about your Exchange Online configuration, please contact Microsoft support.