Anyone who owns a computer has made presentations, projects, spreadsheets at some point in their lives. The modern age requires everyone to have a reliable desktop to achieve targets and complete their work. Today, many software are available in the market to complete such work. One of the most famous software used worldwide to do day-to-day work is Office 365.
Businesses around the world use Office 365 services to create documents, communicate and balance their books.
In this article, we will take a look at the new Office 365 cloud and some of its features.
What is Office 365?
So you might be wondering, "what is office 365?". Office 365 is a cloud-based, subscription model version of Microsoft Office. It includes similar core applications as traditional versions of Office, including Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, and OneNote. Depending on which plan users choose to buy, it may also include apps and services like Planner, Publisher, Exchange, Onedrive, Access, SharePoint, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Yammer.
Different packages are available when licensing Windows Office 365, including versions for multi-user households, personal use, businesses, nonprofits, students, and education institutions. Office Online is an online- and mobile-only version of Office through which users can get free access to feature-limited versions of Office apps.
How is Office 365 different from previous versions of Office?
Office 365 enables users to purchase a monthly subscription fee to access the service at a level of their choosing rather than purchasing the service for a one-time, up-front cost. Previously, the users had to buy a new copy of the latest edition to be able to use new features. In the latest version, users always have access to the latest version as Microsoft updates the software.
Windows Office 365 Cloud is a built-in feature that comes with Office 365. Data generated and all applications services by Office 365 are hosted on Microsoft's servers.
It also has email hosting and Windows Office cloud storage space to host its files online. This helps to get access to the files from any device at any time.
As it is cloud-based, Office 365 also comes with a hosted feature that was not available in the previous versions.
How can Office 365 help businesses grow?
Office 365 has included some crucial apps and services which can help a business grow. Some of them are as follows-
- Microsoft Listings, a tool to help organizations manage their business information on platforms like Google, Bing, Facebook, and Yelp.
- Microsoft Connections, a basic customer engagement platform and email marketing tool is highly beneficial.
- Outlook Customer Manager, an intelligent and simple customer management add-on for businesses that don't yet need a full-blown CRM system.
- Microsoft Invoicing, an app to send and generate professional invoices to customers and accept payments on the go
- Microsoft Bookings, which allows users to manage schedules and customer appointments.
- Business Center, a central access point for all Office 365 business apps. With the help of Business Center users can track metrics like email subscriptions, bookings, and outstanding invoices.
- MileIQ, a mileage logging platform that automatically submits and classifies business travel.
Apart from everything mentioned above, Office 365 cloud storage is also an essential feature as it enables users to get access to their files and projects on the go.
What Plans are Available for Office 365 for Business?
Currently, there are 2 licensing plans-
Office 365 for Business pricing plans for SMBs
This plan includes-
- Office 365 Business Essentials
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 for Business pricing plans for enterprise
This plan includes-
- Office 365: ProPlus
- Office 365: Enterprise E1
- Office 365: Enterprise E3
- Office 365: Enterprise E5
What are the System Requirements for Office 365 for Business?
The system requirements for Office 365 are-
Computer and Processor
PC: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster x86-bit or x64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set.
Mac: Intel processor
Memory
PC: 2 GB RAM
Mac: 4 GB RAM
Hard Disk
PC: 3.0 GB of available disk space
Mac: 6 GB of available disk space. HFS+ hard disk format (also known as Mac OS Extended or HFS Plus)
Display
PC: 1024 x 768 1024 by 768 screen resolution
Mac: 1280 x 800 1280 by 800 screen resolution.
Graphics
Graphics hardware acceleration requires a DirectX 10 graphics card.
Operating System
PC: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2008 R2.
Mac: Mac OS X 10.10 or later.
Browser
An up-to-date version of Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Chrome, or Firefox.
.NET version
.NET 3.5 required. Some features may require .NET 4.0, 4.5, or 4.6 CLR also to be installed.
Price of Office 365
Business Plans
- Office 365 Business Essentials: $5.00
- Office 365 Business: $8.25
- Office 365 Business Premium: $12.50
Enterprise Plans
- Office 365 ProPlus: $12.00
- Office 365 Enterprise E1: $8.00
- Office 365 Enterprise E3: $20.00
- Office 365 Enterprise E5: $35.00
Can Office 365 be used with previous versions of Office?
Yes, existing Office customers who currently run a perpetually licensed, on-premise version can use all the features that cloud connectivity brings with it. Office 365 works best with Office 2016, the latest version of Office, but can also work without any problem on previous versions like Office 2013 and Office 2011 for Mac. Some other older versions of Office, like Office 2010 and Office 2007, can also work with Office 365 but might operate with reduced functionality.
Is Office 365 Secure?
While no cloud service can be guaranteed to be impenetrable, hosting infrastructure and business data, the company has invested large amounts of money in providing the best security. Office 365 data is held in Microsoft's global data centers where passionate threat detection teams actively anticipate, mitigate and prevent malicious access 24/7.
Office 365 comes with anti-spam, anti-malware, and native antivirus as standard. Emails are encrypted both at rest and in transit with SSL/TLS, and All communications are screened with Exchange Online Protection (EOP).
Conclusion
Currently, Office 365 is one of the best and safest cloud services available in the market. It is also is one of the best services provided by Microsoft and has the potential to be even better with time. It will be interesting to see how things develop in the future.
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