7 Essential Microsoft 365 Features You Should Be Using For Your Business

One of the truly great things about Microsoft Office 365 is that it's malleable: it can be whatever you need it to be, whenever you need it to be. With so many different features spread out across a variety of applications, however, it's easy to overlook the most interesting features that may be valuable for  your businesses.

With that in mind, there are seven essential features present in Microsoft Office 365 that you should be using for your own business. They don't just go a long way towards increasing collaboration, communication and productivity. They may just be the key to long-term business growth and success. 

1. The Power of Real-Time Co-Authoring

Collaboration has always been a part of the foundation of business technology and now, thanks to Microsoft Office 365, you can take this idea to the next level.

Available in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, multiple users can work on the same document at the same time, all while viewing everyone's individual contributions as they happen. Thanks to the integrated sidebar, files can be shared directly from within these applications. Real-time co-authoring can also be unlocked by way of OneDrive or SharePoint integration, too.

2. Microsoft Office 365: The Next Level of Communication

Microsoft Teams allows you to seamlessly bring different apps together from conversations, content, and tools. With it, you can make calls, chat, join meetings, engage in private and group messages for projects, and share applications, calendars, files and emails.

Not only does this put a greater emphasis on teamwork, it gives you a great way to customise and personalise your workspace in a way that keeps all the information you need right where you need it. It supports Skype integration so you can easily do video conferences as needed and has the option for private conversations and discussions when needed.

You can customise it according to how your team works and provides you to access to shared documents and files. With Microsoft’s Teams, working on projects and following through on goals and objectives at work is easy.

3. From OneNote to Your Outlook Calendar in Seconds

In a business environment, it is common for users to keep comprehensive notes of things like client meetings within the OneNote application. Certain elements of those notes will then need to be added as calendar events in Outlook, but a lot of people fail to realise is that this is now something that can happen automatically.

From within OneNote, you can easily convert notes to tasks with just a few quick mouse clicks. You can even assign them to other employees as reminders of something discussed during a meeting, deadlines relating to important upcoming projects and deliverables, and more.

4. Putting the PDF Format to Work for You

In terms of business success, one of the major unsung features of Office 365 actually relates directly to the PDF format.

Any document that you've created, be it a text document, a spreadsheet, a presentation in PowerPoint, or something else entirely can be converted into a PDF in seconds. Just use the "Save as PDF" feature from the ribbon toolbar at the top of the screen. Existing PDFs can even be converted back into a Word document for easy editing by essentially just reversing this process.

5. Expanded Version Controls for Microsoft Office 365

Once you begin using features like co-authoring as outlined above, version controls become even more important than they already were. By using the "Version" option at the top of the screen, not only can you see when certain changes to a document were made (and who made them), but you can also revert back to a previous version of a document should the need arise.

6. Anytime, Anywhere Access

Microsoft Office 365 allows you to access your files anytime, and anywhere. All subscriptions come with access to the suite of Office Web Apps, which allows you to work on any type of file from any location on Earth with an active Internet connection. Truly, all you need is an up-to-date web browser, and you’re all set.

You don't have to download anything in order to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or even OneDrive. You simply navigate to the appropriate web app, open the file of your choosing, and pick up right where you left off without skipping a beat.

7. Cross-Device Security

Finally and perhaps most importantly, all business users need to be aware of one of the biggest benefits that Microsoft Office 365 now brings with it: digital cross-device security.

Stop dealing with multiple sign-ins as you switch between applications or even devices. Now, you can access the entirety of Office 365, including the web apps, using the same login information that you use on your primary machine. At that point, nearly all of the most important tools bundled with this powerful productivity solution can be accessed in just a single click. This allows you to focus less on security and more on being productive, which is how it should have been in the first place.

Powernet: Productivity Solutions to Empower Your Organisation

Truly, Microsoft Office 365 now represents the next step in the evolution of both technology and business growth for organisations of all shapes and sizes. But the best part of all is that the seven aforementioned features are truly just the beginning. There are many more baked into the DNA of Office 365 that are certainly worth exploring. More than anything, it allows you to put your technology to work for you instead of forcing you to bend to make up for the limitations of that which you're supposed to be relying on every day.

If you'd like to find out more information about the essential Office 365 features that you should be using for your business, or if you'd just like to find out more about what an MSP can do for your own organisation, contact Powernet today.