Collaboration, organization and usability are important for any business and Microsoft has been offering tools to help for nearly thirty years. Word, PowerPoint and Excel are programs that are essential for many organizations to function. So let’s take a look at some of the other great tools Microsoft offers and how they can be useful for your business.
A decade ago, installing new software on your computer involved transfer from a CD and validation with a product code or key. When tooling in Microsoft Office became outdated you’d have to spend considerable amounts to get access to the newest and most efficient tools. One licence for a few hundred dollars might not seem too excessive, but mass updating could cost a business thousands of dollars, just for updates. So where are we now, ten years on?
Licensing of software
We’ll talk about Office 365 shortly but let’s talk first about why it makes to make the most of all the solutions we’ll be discussing. In computers and business technology, things are constantly changing and systems and programs change too. One way that things have changed is in the shift towards subscription-based products. Paying a relatively small fee each month radically reduces startup costs and makes it much easier to expand as and when required. Updating is easier, so you don’t have to get rid of the old version and install a new one. For a set fee that’s easy to factor into your budget, you have the newest and best at your fingertips.
All around the Greater NY-NJ area there are businesses that are still using outdated and even insecure versions of Microsoft software. With Office 365 you don’t have to be one of them, so let’s take a look at what it has to offer.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Most people have used one or all of these classic Microsoft programs at some point. But have you ever had to work with these programs on a second computer, only discover that you don’t have access to it or it can open the file?
With Office 365, subscribers are provided with a login. This allows users to use any of the bundled programs, no matter where you are and from any compatible device. If you’re out of the office, whether that’s at the airport, on the road or at home, you can view and work with your files using a laptop, tablet or even a smartphone. The apps are also free to download, either from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. You don’t have to have the programs preinstalled on your device – it’s all done using your web browser.
OneDrive
Of course, this ease of access would be pointless if you didn’t also have access to the files you need work with. One Drive is the answer. It’s cloud-based storage where you can save files for easy retrieval. Every user gets 1 TB of storage, which you can use exactly as if it were a drive on your own computer. As with your standard drive, you can organize it as you wish, with folders and subfolders. All you need to get access to them is an internet connection.
As well as being a great way to store your documents, there are other advantages that OneDrive offers for your business. It makes collaboration really easy. If you set it up so that members of your staff have permission to access the same files, it provides new ways of reviewing documents. Imagine you’ve set up a to-do list for a new client. If one staff member starts it then another can take over seamlessly, because they have access to the same files.
Learning new processes can be challenging for staff, but Office 365 has features that make the adjustment a whole lot easier. For example, with the ‘Files on Demand’ function, files are visible just as they’ve always been.
If the standard 1TB storage space allocation isn’t enough for your business it can easily be upgraded. Using cloud-based storage frees up space on your office computers and is the best way to go if you regularly have to share large files.
Microsoft Teams
With Microsoft Teams it’s easy for staff to communicate with one another. It’s a modern instant messaging tool that can be used for group communications or for sending individual messages.
SharePoint Online
As the name suggests, this is a collaboration tool, with business needs in mind. It’s principally used for document management and storage, but is easy to configure. That means you can adapt it for the specific purposes you require.
Microsoft Outlook
You’re probably familiar with Microsoft Outlook, even if you don’t currently use it. It’s a useful email programme to use in conjunction with the other elements of the Office 365 suite that can be used from your desktop computer, or using a web browser, or on your smartphone. And it comes with basic malware and spam filtering, to keep you safer.
If you subscribe to Office 365 all these programs are included, and much more too. Trained technicians from Quikteks can help if you want a smooth transition to the newest software. Call us today at (973) 882-4644.