Set guest data and display name

Consistent display names make guests instantly recognisable in Microsoft Teams, Outlook and Entra ID, e.g. Anna Muster (Fabrikam).

Define fields for the invitation form

Define which information is requested when inviting a guest. The collected values are stored as properties of the guest in Microsoft Entra ID, e.g. first name, last name, company, job title or manager. The manager can differ from the primary contact.

1. Open Guests → Templates → template → Naming.

2. Under Collected fields, add the details users enter when inviting with Select a field and the plus icon, e.g. Company, Job title or Department.

   The Email is always required.

3. Use Required to define which details are mandatory and Sort order to set the order in the form.

4. Save the template.

Define the display name

A clear display name helps distinguish guest accounts from external identities. This prevents users from accidentally sending messages to the guest account instead of the external identity. A company suffix such as Anna Muster (Fabrikam) improves recognition.

1. Open Guests → Templates → template → Naming.

2. Under Display name format, enter the structure of the display name, e.g. (!givenName!) (!surname!) ((!companyName!)).

   Only the fields you selected for the invitation form are shown below the field as placeholders.

3. Save the template.

How Seamless ensures this

The Properties and display name format background job runs every few minutes:

• Display name: It checks whether the display name matches the naming convention and resets it otherwise. This is necessary because the guest’s home tenant can overwrite the details at the first sign-in.
• Details: It checks whether all details are complete and flags the guest otherwise.

Caution

Before enabling the job, make sure all guest data is complete. Otherwise, broken display names are created and existing names are overwritten. Use the Generate user properties bulk action for this.

Recommendations

• Collect the company and show it in the display name. This lets users recognise external people immediately.
• Only collect details you really need.
• If guests are often confused, add «Guest» to the display name, e.g. (!givenName!) (!surname!) ((!companyName!), Guest).

Next steps

ApprovalHave invitations approved

Learn more

InvitationInvitation email and redirectionBackground jobsGovernance checks in the backgroundComplete guest dataAdd missing guest details