Following on from our recent look at the sheer range of applications for business within the Microsoft 365 environment, we will continue by looking at some of the household names. The apps that everyone will be familiar with, along with one or two of the fascinating supporting cast. The little-known ones you might not know as well but which can help your business perform at its best.
Office staple apps
Word and Excel combined to form the backbone of most people’s needs when it comes to Microsoft Office. They are familiar, comfortable and intuitive to use. However, they can still surprise us occasionally.
Many users don’t realise that Word can be a powerhouse tool for collaboration. The Co-Authoring feature allows users to work on documents stored in SharePoint or Onedrive with anyone, anywhere. Simply by clicking on the share icon and adding the email addresses of the people they want to work with, users can collaborate on documents in real time.
Without a doubt, Excel is the ‘go-to’ app for anyone working with spreadsheets.
The ‘smart lookup’ function is just one of Microsoft 365 features. Right-clicking on word and selecting the smart lookup function launches Bing. Bing then searchs the internet for information on whatever is highlighted.
Communication apps
Microsoft 365 has a range of inter-connecting communication apps; Teams, Outlook and Yammer to name the essentials.
Outlook has everything we need to do business. Most things can be done from your inbox simply by selecting the drop-down menu in the Outlook inbox. From there, contacts can be added, appointments scheduled, and emails assigned to specific days just by dragging them onto the calendar icon.
Yammer is, for many, the ideal way to add private, secure social media to their business. Users can connect, engage and share thoughts and ideas across their business. Therefore, staying informed and creating a sense of community and sharing resources or simply saying thanks.
Think of it as similar to your business’ own private Twitter network.
Discovery
Delve is accessed through a browser. It’s a cloud-based platform ideal for remote working across an array of devices and forms a valuable hub for users and colleagues. Invaluable for files, collaboration or even enterprise networking.
Delve can fill the user’s space with things they might find helpful. It also allows users to search and choose their content. Delve keeps those things private by default, only sharing the desired content and resources.
Tracking user data and overseeing efficiency and productivity are vital parts of a successful team. MyAnalytics gives a detailed overview of the time spent performing different tasks, hours worked, and things such as attending meetings or working late.
Reports and dashboards give essential insights into business processes, team configurations and business productivity with a powerful automation tool helping to place focus right where it’s needed.
Presentations
Teaching, making compelling proposals and pitching ideas are all possible with PowerPoint, with rich presentations that look great with little need for expertise or specialised knowledge. Users even have the potential to add audio to slides, such as voiceovers, effects or soundtracks.
Sway is a niche app for many, but it allows users to create content-rich, visually appealing designs for reports, web pages and newsletters. Content can be dragged in from various sources, and users can even add forms, slideshows or image stacks for viewers to click through like a retro photo pile.
Sharing video content safely and securely for learning, presenting, and meetings is easy with Stream. It has the potential to become an organisation’s very own video hub. At a time when so many rely on remote solutions, Stream is one of the most useful.
To discover how you could utilise Microsoft better in your business, why not book a slot for a free discussion with me here?
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