Techblog
3 ways how Office 365 can increase work efficiency in a virtual office
Communicating and collaborating across offices used to be a costly process, but solutions like Office 365 have helped shape the way business communications now take place.
The internet is now an integral part of doing business and many companies depend on co-workers and team members who may not always be available on-site. Maintaining essential communication lines previously meant using a variety of costly methods from having multiple conferencing accounts to fax lines. Now the easy-to-use Office 365 suite of solutions can help SMEs handle their office needs virtually, whether it is with scheduling, communication, or real-time collaboration.
Here are three ways SMEs can use Office 365 to create a more virtualised office environment.
1. Sync up and stay in touch with Outlook
In today’s unrestricted office where teams are no longer required to stay within four walls, employees can make use of Outlook as a rich productivity tool, not just a simple email client.
Outlook integrates with contacts, calendars, and other tools within Office 365 to give team members easy access to information right from their emails, and integrates with other Office apps such as Word and Skype for Business, allowing quick access to other applications with just a click from their email.
Additionally, Outlook is fully cross-platform compatible with both Mac OS or Windows, simpifying complicated workflows and improving the working experience for teams that have members working on different operating systems.
Tip: Users can create email templates in Outlook when sending similar emails on a frequent basis, such as weekly requests for information or monthly reminders. Simply save a template by going to File > Save As… > Outlook template.
2. Replace conference calls and communication with Skype for Business
Traditional conference calling can be expensive and complicated, depending on where a company’s executives are located and what communication systems are currently in place. A business usually has to spend money on third-party conferencing systems, and in today’s mobile business landscape, this often means extra costs spent on overseas calling functions and data roaming plans for mobile devices. This can also translate to an additional strain on resources in administrative departments.
Instead of managing all those different phone systems, Office 365 includes Skype for Business to provide advanced calling and conferencing features, which provides co-workers with access to unlimited high-quality video and audio conferencing services, regardless of their location.
As a bonus, a single billing service means that all costs are bundled as a single communication service within Office 365, making administrative processes easier to manage as businesses grow.
Tip: It can get frustrating when messages are posted in chats with typos, grammatical errors or unintended meanings. With Skype for Business, users can edit their sent messages by using the up arrow on the keyboard to place sent texts back into the editing window, allowing for the chance to re-edit and re-send.
3. Collaborate and author in real time
With Office 365’s collaboration tools, managing and editing content is effortless. Rather than emailing content back and forth between team members, for example, business teams can now edit in real time across Microsoft’s online editing environment, powered by Microsoft Word, Excel and other popular productivity apps.
Changes are tracked and logged as well, ensuring easy rollbacks if unwanted changes are made. Personnel can also use their accounts to identify themselves when making changes if necessary, which helps add clarity to the workflow process. This also allows real-time editing on numerous platforms, such as PCs, Macs, tablets and even smartphones. A virtual office can edit more effectively than traditional spaces with the help of these tools.
Tip: Notes created on OneNote can be seamlessly added and synced to OneDrive with the Microsoft OneNote Mobile app, available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Teams on the go can collaborate more efficiently in real time with colleagues who are sitting in the office.
Get started on Office 365 with Singtel
Cloud technology offers SMEs a wide range of collaboration tools that can help small businesses achieve a higher level of productivity. Singtel makes the user adoption easier with setup services and hands-on training workshops. With a dedicated technical helpdesk, businesses can move to Office 365 with ease. Click here to find out more.