Office 365: Features of Office 365 and How It Will Improve Productivity in Small Businesses

Microsoft Office is the commonly used productivity software that has allowed every business to meet the challenge of keeping their information up-to-date and easy to share. Office 365 is among the latest products that take productivity up a notch by bringing it to the cloud and ensuring a system that can be scaled up or down to the needs of small business. The software comes with familiar Microsoft apps like Office productivity applications, but they are now in a cloud service package, which includes the document management functions of SharePoint, email, contact, and calendar from Exchange Online, and the enterprise IM, voice, audio, and video conferencing of Lync Online. Here is a more detailed look at some of the features of Office 365 and how each will improve the productivity in a small business:

• SharePoint Online – Instead of internally managing and deploying SharePoint, Office 365 lets you access it online to allow you and your staff to access or management data and business intelligence or manage information from anywhere. SharePoint Online lets you access sites for sharing and managing critical documents and files, and keeping your teams in sync to efficiently manage projects. There are sites that can help you stay up-to-date with company news and information, securely share documents with partners and customers, and market or promote your business through a public website.
• LyncOnline and Exchange Online – Office 365 comes with a hosted and versatile communications infrastructure that allows real-time communication. Lync Online enables access to a hosted version of the Microsoft Lync Server for secure and reliable communication in real-time. It comes with next-generation capabilities, too, such as video and audio calling, web conferences, and instant messaging. It lets you host ad hoc online meetings and move seamlessly between that and IMs, too.
• Exchange Online offers contacts, calendar, email, and a task infrastructure, and you can access it through various ways, like the Outlook desktop client, mobile devices, or Outlook Web App. It supports mobile devices, too, including Apple, Android, and Nokia phones and tablets.
  Migrating your email to Exchange Online may help reduce costs, boost productivity, and scalability, since it lets you have domain-based emails while letting you make the most of an enterprise email server while avoiding associated maintenance costs and capital expenditures associated with typical on-site email servers. It ensures spam-free and secure emails, too.

• Pay for what you need – Office 365 lets you pay for only what you need, and it has a subscription option designed specifically for small businesses.

About the Author:           

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24×7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.