Table of Contents

External Users in Altus

Note

We do not recommend using external users in Altus unless it is absolutely required. This functionality relies solely on Microsoft 365’s native guest access capabilities and is not directly supported by the Altus platform. As a result, behaviours may vary depending on Microsoft tenancy settings and permissions, and Altus cannot offer support or guarantee functionality for these users. If external access is unavoidable, we advise using it with caution and only for trusted collaborators under closely managed conditions.

Altus makes it easy to collaborate with people outside your organisation, such as partners, contractors, or clients—by securely inviting them as external users.

Who Counts as an External User?

External users are individuals who don’t have a standard user account within Altus. Instead, they’re granted access using their own email addresses, such as Gmail or an address from another company.

How Do External Users Access Altus?

  1. Invitation:
    Someone from your organisation sends an invite to the external user’s email address.

  2. Joining:
    The external user receives the invitation and follows it to join Altus.

  3. Access:
    Once accepted, they can log in and participate in projects, limited to the permissions you've set.

Things to Remember

  • External users can’t see everything—only what you share with them.
  • You can remove or change their access at any time.
  • External users may need to use a Microsoft account or another supported login, depending on your organisation’s settings.

What Can External Users Do?

  • Collaborate on shared projects, tasks, and documents.
  • Interact with your internal team in Altus.
  • View only the information and sections you explicitly provide access to.

What External Users Can’t Access

Some Altus features are limited or unavailable to external users:

❌ Restricted Features

  • Profile pictures from Microsoft Graph (won’t display)

  • M365 Group features:

    • Creation of new groups (returns a permission error)
    • Adding or removing members from a group, which also includes:
      • Adding Assignments to Tasks that are not already a member of the group
      • Adding users to the Resource Plan that are not already a member of the group
      • Adding a user to the Resource Plan that is not already a Bookable Resource (requires Microsoft Graph acceess)

  • Microsoft Teams & SharePoint features:

    • Open in Teams
    • Project documents
    • Altus Teams app functionality

  • Planner integration:

    • External users can’t link Planner schedules to projects

🔗 Connections to Other Altus Tools

External users cannot connect to Altus through:

  • Altus for Project
  • Altus for Word

🔕 No Notification Access External users do not receive alerts for:

  • Resourcing Requests (submitted, approved, or fulfilled)
  • Timesheets (submitted, approved, or rejected)

Security & Best Practices

  • Invite only trusted individuals as external users
  • Regularly review and update external user access
  • Access is governed by your organisation’s Microsoft 365 policies, including data protection and content sharing restrictions
  • External users may be required to sign in with a supported identity provider depending on your configuration

Need More Info?

Check out Microsoft’s official documentation to learn more about how external user access works in Microsoft 365 environments.

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