The primary reason why most firms choose Microsoft 365 is to benefit from its core applications. These are a key component of the Microsoft 365 experience and include Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
The variety of supplementary apps and services that support these central platforms, frequently offering new features aimed to increase workplace productivity and further aid collaboration, is something that many users overlook. Some (or all) of these extra applications may already be available to 365 customers; some may be free for anybody with a Microsoft account, and others may be offered to you for a modest fee.
The five lesser-known Microsoft 365 tools you should be aware of are included in the following succinct tutorial.
Microsoft Bookings
Microsoft Bookings is a straightforward scheduling tool that makes organising meetings and appointments easier. This is accomplished by giving participants more control over scheduling by letting them select from a list of available times via an online booking page or the Bookings app for Teams.
Attendees can reschedule events through Bookings, which also has automated reminders to help you keep your engagements. Additionally, the programme incorporates an Outlook calendar integration capability to guarantee that appointments won’t conflict with current obligations.
The majority of Business and Enterprise subscriptions include Microsoft Bookings, so why not see whether this practical tool could make planning your meetings and appointments easier.
Microsoft Visio
Users can create flowcharts, diagrams, and other types of visuals with the Microsoft application. With drag-and-drop capabilities, Visio makes it simple to build diagrams that the entire team will be able to grasp, making it a wonderful tool for communicating processes, concepts, and ideas that might otherwise be challenging to visualise.
Uses for Visio include:
•Business process mapping
•Creating network diagrams
•Website Mapping
•Drawing up floorplans
•Creating timeline representations
The platform offers a variety of prebuilt templates that are intended to speed up the process of building precise, eye-catching diagrams, and interaction with Microsoft Excel enables the creation of data-driven charts inside of spreadsheets. Visio’s online app also supports real-time co-authoring, and it can even be launched as a tab within Microsoft Teams to maximise the collaborative capabilities of the platform.
Microsoft Visio is not a part of any Microsoft 365 subscription, but is instead made available to 365 users for a one-time fee or an additional monthly premium.
Microsoft Planner
The centrepiece of Microsoft 365’s task management solution, which consists of a number of platforms and capabilities to support collaborative workflow management, is Microsoft Planner.
Planner makes it simple to organise and assign tasks, start new projects, track task-related documents, and keep track of task progress thanks to its intuitive “Kanban Board” structure. Several perspectives in Planner enable task advancement to be seen in the context of the wider picture and the ability to hold discussions within the app itself, maintaining task management and task-relevant discussion on the same platform.
You might already have this useful software at your disposal because Microsoft Planner is a part of all of the 365 Enterprise subscription plans, including business essentials, business premium, education, and all others. Planner is a vital task management tool with strong interaction with the rest of the Microsoft 365 product line. It is available as an Android and iOS app, as a web app, and as a launchable within Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Whiteboard
Microsoft Whiteboard performs (unsurprisingly) as a virtual whiteboard, much how OneNote serves as a digital notebook. OneNote can be used for individual brainstorming and note-taking, whereas Whiteboard is focused entirely on group collaboration in the moment. Whiteboard, which can be launched within Microsoft Teams, may make meetings more lively and interactive by enabling participants to make real-time contributions to a shared board. Users can construct visually appealing and engaging boards that promote engagement by drawing, typing, inserting photographs, adding “sticky notes,” and adding stickers.
Why not try using Microsoft Whiteboard at your next meeting? It is a free tool that is available on the web, as a standalone programme, or as a component within Microsoft Teams.
OneNote
Despite being almost two decades old at this time, OneNote is a platform that a sizable part of Microsoft users have disregarded. What then is it?
OneNote is a digital notepad that can be used for both solo and group work, in essence. It offers an intuitive search feature that makes it simple to identify particular subjects and notes, and it enables recorded material to be organised into categories (similar to a typical paper notebook).
Users can add files, videos, and audio recordings to their notes in addition to textual notes. They can also annotate and draw on their notes, making note-taking quick and simple. Important Notes can also be “tagged” so that important information is followed up, and the cloud makes it incredibly easy to share notes with coworkers.
There is no excuse not to give OneNote a try since it is included in every Microsoft 365 subscription and is also accessible for free as a stand-alone programme.
With such a wide selection of apps and services, Microsoft 365 probably has a tool to address your most urgent professional difficulties. So why not look into your alternatives and find solutions that will make it easier for your staff to collaborate successfully, communicate more effectively, and manage their workloads?
Need Help with your Microsoft 365
If you need help with setting up any of these applications, with your Microsoft 365 or with anything else to do with your technology please get in contact. Here at Armco our team of IT professionals can help with any of your IT needs.
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