How to Get the Most Out of Microsoft 365 for Business

Microsoft continually improves its products, adding features designed to take your business to the next level. With so many options available, many businesses never use Microsoft 365 for Business to its full potential. Take a few minutes to learn how your business can make optimal use out of the tools available with your Microsoft 365 subscription.

Collaborate with Ease

The Microsoft Office suite of products have been powering business for decades. Users across the globe depend on Office applications to create documents and spreadsheets and prepare presentations. But the collaboration capabilities of Microsoft 365 go much further.

For instance, with OneDrive, users can easily share both individual files and whole folders. And by sharing a link instead of an attached file, they ensure that collaborators have the most recent version of the files. The owner can set file sharing permissions to view only or edit. They can also password-protect the file or set an expiration date.

SharePoint, on the other hand, provides the perfect location to store and collaborate on documents used by the whole team. Team members can view versioning history for documents. Also, if the organization allows sharing with external users, team members can share files with people outside the organization.

Keep Business Data Secure with Microsoft 365 for Business

Microsoft 365 for Business includes cloud-based email filtering, as well as over 1000 security and privacy controls. Additionally, organizations can create security groups to streamline permissions and define password policies to help enforce good password hygiene.

Further, organizations with Business Premium gain access to advanced security and device management features. For instance, Defender for Business delivers an endpoint security solution specifically designed for small to medium businesses. Default security policies and a wizard-driven interface make Defender easy to implement.

Increase Productivity with Additional Tools

• Teams – Teams creates an integrated workspace, pulling productivity apps, chat, meetings, and file sharing together into the same place.
• Planner – Billed as a to-do app for team collaboration, it allows workgroups to assign and manage tasks and facilitate team planning. Individuals can easily prioritize their own workload. And team leaders can review the current workload of all team members and track progress on assignments.
• Lists – Create customizable lists that can be fully embedded into Microsoft Teams, as well as Power Apps and Power Automate workflows. Ready-made templates make creating lists for common scenarios a snap. Use lists to manage assets, track projects and tasks and even schedule social media content posting.
• Forms – Easily create polls, surveys, and quizzes to share with others or embed into a website or email.
• Visio for web – Microsoft for Business includes a lightweight, web version of the popular Visio program. Users can visualize Microsoft 365 data by creating flowcharts, graphs, organizational charts and more.
• Bookings – Bookings simplifies the process of managing appointments. Customers can schedule appointments themselves through the online bookings page. Likewise, you can schedule and manage appointments yourself from anywhere with an internet connection. Automated appointment reminders reduce the chance of no-shows.

Choosing the Right Microsoft 365 for Business Package

As usual, Microsoft offers several possible Microsoft 365 subscription packages for businesses to choose from. Small businesses with up to 300 users will likely choose one of the Microsoft 365 for Business packages, which range from $6 to $22 per user per month. These packages include mainstream Office apps, as well as the business management tools described above.

For larger businesses with more significant security needs, Microsoft offers Microsoft 365 for Enterprise packages. Enterprise packages range from $36 to $57 per user per month and include unlimited document storage and user licenses. Perhaps more importantly, they include many additional security features.

The Microsoft 365 experts at Messaging Architects guide business leaders in determining the right subscription package for their business. They also help configure Microsoft 365 for optimal use. This includes setting security options to find the best balance between accessibility and protection. It also includes tapping into often-overlooked features that drive productivity and efficiency.

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