Microsoft Office 365 is used by thousands of people worldwide, professionally and personally. However, a lot of the users only touch the tip of the iceberg when using Office 365. In this blog post, ESP Projects will walk you through some of the additional applications available, covering some of the best products in the software, including:
- Outlook
- Planner
- To do
- Staff Hub
- SharePoint
Let’s dig a little deeper and get started!
Microsoft Outlook
Perhaps the most recognised program to be featured in our guide is Microsoft Outlook. The online emailing platform that is a staple in thousands of offices around the world. Since its creation back in 1996, Microsoft Outlook has had many face lifts, but the core program, has always been there. In keeping with the purpose of this series “Beyond Email” we should take this opportunity to explore some of the features Outlook holds beyond its powerful email features.
From simply sending emails, to forecasting your work week with the Calendar feature, viewing colleages calendars, storing contacts information Microsoft Outlook covers all bases. Integrating with Microsoft Office 365 other programs such as Word (to write messages in Word and then send it from Word) as well as using Skype straight from Outlook, without the need to use the Skype downloadable client.
Outlook also offers a convenient platform to see updates to your office 365 groups, keep track of your tasks, schedule meetings with colleagues and book resources such as rooms and display equipment.
Added to all this, the power of outlook can be extended through plugins to a myraid of plugins to integrate both with Microsoft applications and services, such as sharepoint and 3rd party services.
Microsoft Planner
If the inbuilt Calendar and Task list for Microsoft Outlook isn’t enough, Microsoft Planner offers the same incentive and then some! Get organised with Planner, featuring a “Board” of tasks that you can set up to stay in control of and have an overview of your tasks throughout the week. Stay on top of these easily to see what work has been completed, what work needs to be done and any other areas of business.
Use the “Schedule” to keep up to date with you telephone calls, meetings and appointments. Get notifications and alerts to stay ahead of your schedule. Add members to your plan so they can interact with you and see your upcoming appointments. Built for collaborations, attach files and work on them together with your colleagues and work across numerous devices, picking up where you left off. For productivity, Microsoft Planner is the perfect tool to stay on top of your projects and schedule.
Microsoft To Do
Get stuff done with Microsoft Office 365’s To Do, the simple, easy way to arrange your task items. Highly visual and thoroughly interactive, don’t just have a boring to do list, use Microsoft To Do to make your lists stand out. You’ll enjoy getting stuff done and crossing it out on your lists! Separate your work tasks from your personal life using Microsoft To Do.
Sync items to your phone so that you remember to pick up your groceries, book flights for a holiday, or reserve a meeting room for that Monday morning meeting at work.
Microsoft StaffHub
Stay on top of the work rota with StaffHub. This cloud-based app allows employees who work on their feet to manage the workplace rota. Whether you’re a barista or a hairdresser, StaffHub keeps all the working hours, holidays, sickness and more all in one place for the manager to easily, well, manage!
But it’s not just for rotas, managers can share important information with the staff, share files and more. It’s not just for the manager either, employees can log in, view their rota, request time off, ask to swap shifts and even communicate with other team members. StaffHub really is the hub for all things work related in the “on your feet” industry.
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint is used primarily as a document management platform and storage system. It is used to create websites allowing you and your team to work together on the same project. The main feature though is probably collaboration and sharing of documents, allowing you to stay on top of workflows and more. SharePoint is also fully integrational with it’s Microsoft counterparts, you can create and save documents straight into SharePoint through Word, PowerPoint and Excel. And they’re all fully accessible from anywhere to a mobile phone to a tablet.
With there being a lot of files on SharePoint the ability to search for what you need is definitely a huge time saver and makes finding your files easy.
Finally with the ability to invite others and create a community to discuss work projects and manage those work projects, it makes it seamless to continue to create, manage and discuss projects and websites you’re working on.
Need IT Support?
Whether it’s Microsoft Outlook or StaffHub you’re interested in and wanting to hear more, ESP Projects can help you go through the Microsoft Office 365 products you’d like to hear more about. Alternatively, if you’re interested in general IT Support, why not get in touch today and find out how we can help you.
