These are the features that buyers and users of anonymous-question and employee-voice tools ask for, drawn from competitor listings (Abot, OpenSay, Anonymous Bot, Anony Botter, Polly, Slido) and the questions people post on Microsoft Q&A. Each is classified with the same honesty as the idea itself. Being asked for doesn't mean you should build it.
Legend: TS = Table stakes, D = Differentiator, X = Distraction, L = Liability. Priority: P0 = v1, P1 = next, P2 = later, — = don't build.
4.1 Core posting
| Feature | Demand signal | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Anonymous post in a Teams channel (message extension or bot command) | High. It's the question people ask Microsoft. | D | P0 | The core. Not native in Teams channels. |
| Anonymous reply in a thread | High | D | P0 | Teams town-hall Q&A replies aren't anonymous. This is a real gap. |
| Moderation queue (approve, edit, reject before posting) | High from buyers, low from users | TS | P0 | On by default. Protects the buyer and your reviews. |
| Filter for names, slurs and personal data | Medium | TS | P0 | A word list plus simple pattern checks. No third-party AI needed. |
| Upvotes on questions | High for all-hands | D | P0 | Adaptive Card buttons. One vote per person via the rotating hash. |
| Anonymous polls | High (Abot's second feature) | TS | P1 | Forms and Polly already do it. Include it; don't lead with it. |
| Anonymous DM to a named person (e.g. "to the CEO") | Medium | D / L | P2 | Useful, but it's one step from a harassment channel. Moderated only. |
| Rich attachments and images | Low | X / L | — | Screenshots can identify people. Text only. |
4.2 The all-hands cycle
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Question window (opens before an all-hands, closes at a set time, reminders) | D | P0 | The ritual that makes it a monthly habit. |
| Ranked host view (top questions, grouped, marked answered) | D | P0 | A Teams tab or card the host opens during the meeting. |
| Answer posted back to the channel | D | P0 | "Answered in the open" is the promise. |
| Answer archive tab (searchable past questions and answers) | D | P1 | Builds switching cost over time. |
| Duplicate grouping | D | P1 | Start with simple text similarity. An LLM only with a no-retention agreement and disclosure. |
| Export to Excel or PowerPoint for the all-hands deck | TS | P1 | Hosts ask for it. Cheap to build. |
| Side panel inside Teams meetings | X | — | Town-hall Q&A is native there. Don't compete inside the meeting. |
| Recurring schedule (every first Monday) | TS | P1 | Automation-first. |
4.3 Admin, trust and IT approval
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| No identity stored, with a published design | D | P0 | The product's promise. Rotating per-tenant salted hash for rate limits only. |
| Security and privacy one-pager for IT | TS | P0 | Speeds up approval. |
| "Request this app" message template | D | P0 | Teams lets users request blocked apps. Make the request persuasive. |
| Publisher verification and publisher attestation | TS | P1 | Admins see attested apps first. Attest by month 6. |
| Microsoft 365 Certification | TS for enterprise | P2 | Only when a paying 2,000+ organisation asks. |
| Minimum anonymity threshold (hide posts from channels with fewer than ~5 members) | D | P1 | In a team of 3, anonymity is fake. Say so in the product. |
| Data retention settings (auto-delete after N days) | TS | P1 | Buyers and works councils will ask. |
| Admin analytics (volume, topics, answer rate, no identities) | D | P1 | Gives the buyer a renewal reason. |
| Admin "reveal author" for abuse | L | — | Destroys the promise and invites legal demands. Never. |
| Data residency choice (EU/US) | TS for EU | P2 | EU buyers will ask. Start with one EU-hosted region if selling in Europe. |
| SSO settings page, SCIM | X | — | Teams already authenticates the user. |
4.4 Billing and plans
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Microsoft SaaS offer linked to the Teams app | D | P0 | 3% fee, paid on the Microsoft invoice. |
| Stripe checkout for organisations that won't use the marketplace | TS | P0 | Some buyers pay by card directly. |
| 14-day trial | TS | P0 | Marketplace SaaS trials can run 1–180 days. |
| Free forever plan | X | — | Abot's free installs outnumbered paid ~50 to 1. |
| Per-event pricing ($49 per all-hands) | D | P2 | A pivot option if subscriptions churn after one use. |
| Lifetime deals | X / L | — | Caps revenue and brings support load. |
4.5 Adjacent requests (mostly say no)
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Slack version | D later | P2 | After the month-12 gate. Same backend, second listing. Plan for the 10-install minimum and a review of up to 10 weeks. |
| Google Chat, Zoom, Webex versions | X | — | Not before $5k MRR. |
| Pulse surveys and engagement scores | X | — | HR-suite territory (Officevibe, Culture Amp). Per-user priced by incumbents. |
| Whistleblowing or harassment reporting flows | L | — | Statutory duties and a different buyer. |
| AI sentiment dashboard | X / L | — | Low trust value, disclosure duties, and it looks like surveillance. |
| Kudos, birthdays, icebreakers | X | — | Other rituals. See 03. |
| Translation of questions | D | P2 | Useful for multinational Teams tenants. Use Microsoft's own translation service to avoid a new data processor. |
| Mobile-specific UI | TS | P1 | Adaptive Cards already render in Teams mobile. Test them. |
4.6 Net effect
Of about 35 features, about 11 belong in v1 (the P0 rows), and about 8 are real differentiators. The rest is table stakes to add slowly, or other products' jobs. The strongest differentiators are not features at all: provable anonymity and an easy IT approval.