Office 365 is Microsoft's subscription package. An introduction to Office 365:Should you buy the new Office business model? An introduction to Office 365:Should you buy the new Office business model? Office 365 is a subscription-based suite that offers access to the latest Office desktop suite, Office Online, cloud storage, and premium mobile apps. Does Office 365 provide enough value to be worth the money? Read more designed for productivity and collaboration. Therefore, the Office tools you get depend on the level you choose.
You are already familiar with Word or PowerPoint. So let's explore five other Office 365 business tools that make team collaboration easy.
Skype for Business was previously known as Lync. Today, Lync is a stand-alone program for Skype, which is Microsoft's leading business messaging and meeting solution. With it, you can communicate through text, audio and video.
You can even receive a call with up to 250 people, regardless of whether they are in your organization.
There are many Skype alternatives. Are you fed up with Skype? Here are 6 of the best free Skype alternatives? Here are 6 of the best free alternatives. Are you frustrated with Skype and looking for alternatives? One of these great video chat and calling apps available on almost every platform can help you make the switch. Read more . But Skype for Business integrates so well with the rest of the Office 365 suite that it doesn't make sense not to use it.
An idea to use Skype for Business effectively:
When scheduling a meeting in Outlook, go to Appointment> Skype Meeting to automatically embed a link that people can click to connect.
Once in the meeting, you can click the Present to show off your desktop, a PowerPoint presentation, or even start a poll. You can also click the Ellipsis icon> Start recording To save all audio and video of the meeting.
For more top tips, check out our guide to having the best meetings with Skype for Business 7 Skype for Business Tips and Tricks for Large Meetings 7 Skype for Business Tips and Tricks for Large Meetings Skype for Business, formerly Lync, lets you host 250 people in one virtual meeting or webinar. You can use a combination of audio, images, and chat to engage your audience. We show you… Read more .
If you want to improve your note taking, OneNote is the perfect solution for you. You can write notes, draw, capture screenshots, record audio, and much more. It is different from a word processor like Word. OneNote works more like a filing cabinet, allowing you to collect your notes across apps.
We've previously listed how to use OneNote for work, so check out this guide for some final productivity tips.
For example, press Windows Key + N at any time to quickly write a note. Or highlight something you've typed and press Ctrl + 1 to turn it into a checkbox, the perfect start to a to-do list.
An idea to use Microsoft OneNote effectively:
Use the Draw tab for some visual recording, or the Insert>Record Audio/Video options It will even help you transcribe the stored text into an image. Simply right mouse button the image and click Copy text from image .
Hopefully, it's clear that OneNote is much more than just a note-taking app. For complete information, be sure to read the only OneNote guide you'll ever need.
If you've been emailing files to colleagues or uploading them to file-sharing sites, it's time to stop and use OneDrive. It is a cloud storage service like Dropbox and Google Drive that allows you to upload files and access them from anywhere.
To put an individual file or a group of files on OneDrive, it's as simple as Upload> Files or Folder respectively. Alternatively, go to the New dropdown to immediately create things like a Word Document or Excel Workbook .
While it doesn't work as a full backup solution, OneDrive does have version history. Right click on a file and click on Version history to see recent changes to your file, from which you can revert to a previous iteration.
An idea to use Microsoft OneDrive effectively:
For an organization, perhaps the most useful feature is being able to share a file with the click of a button. Right mouse button a file and click Share .
From here you can use the dropdown menu to share the file with anyone, people in your organization, or specific people via email address. You can also create a shareable link or embed it directly into Outlook.
For more tips, check out our quick guide to using OneDrive in Windows 10 A quick guide to OneDrive in Windows 10 A quick guide to OneDrive in Windows 10 Can OneDrive replace Google Drive or Dopbox? Depends. To help you decide, we'll tell you all about OneDrive's best features and how to set it up. Read more.
SharePoint is a beast. There is no polite way to say it. If you've ever encountered it in your organization, you may have preconceived ideas about what it is and whether it's good or not. Generally speaking, SharePoint is a cloud intranet that allows teams to create pages for themselves and the company as a whole.
SharePoint is capable of many things and has a strong IT team to implement it well and give it a decent structure. It's not as easy to use as some of Microsoft's new tools, but it can be just as powerful, especially when you're in a large organization that has trouble sharing information.
An idea to use Microsoft SharePoint effectively:
Sharepoint is a complete content management system. Use it like a wiki, perhaps as an informative microsite about your team or what you're working on. These can be set up with integrations like surveys or contact forms, along with file storage and sharing.
You can create your organization's intranet home page that brings together documents, emails, feeds (news, Yammer, or whatever), videos, and more. Upload training materials, tag your files with metadata, and keep everyone engaged with notifications on PC and mobile.
Slack has taken the world by storm Slack makes group communication faster and easier Slack makes group communication faster and easier Group emails can kill productivity. It's time to put email clients to sleep and use collaboration services like the recently launched Slack. Read More Instead, they fought back by throwing teams. While Teams looks a lot like Slack on the surface, it's actually more than that. Combine chat and Office 365 business apps to create a hub for collaboration.
Channels can be created for different discussion topics and your team members can quickly and simply chat with each other. Conversations can be linked to prevent people from talking to each other. Custom emojis, gifs, and memes can be sent to keep things fun.
An idea for using Microsoft Teams effectively:
Microsoft Teams integrates everything from Word to OneNote to Power BI. For example, you can upload a document to teams and have people comment and collaborate on it without leaving the platform. Or you can use Planner to keep up with all your team's work, assign tasks, and clear to-do lists as you go.
Perhaps even better is the ability to use third party APIs or use their platforms. You could have a Twitter update automatically in your team area, for example, which is the kind of bot that Slack users might be familiar with. Teams can also integrate with things like Trello, meaning you can use the service without leaving the Teams environment.
Use these Office 365 business tools together, and you can make your organization more effective and collaborative. Of course, the best tools in the world alone won't get you there. See our tips for effective real-time online collaboration. Teamwork:10 tips for effective real-time online collaboration. Teamwork:10 tips for effective real-time online collaboration. Read More
