Microsoft Office 365 has rolled out an impressive array of new features that business owners will appreciate. These range from handy mobile-to-PC interactions to intuitive, behind-the-scenes IT integrations to keep a business running smoothly. Here are some of the standout new additions to Office 365 that were specifically created with business managers in mind.
1. New Digital Pen Features
The Microsoft digital pen has some new tricks up its sleeve that make it easier than ever to edit your important documents. It’s like having an entire editing suite rolled into a single device, and it all but eliminates the need to type or use the mouse while editing. The digital pen lets you insert words or line breaks, split or change words, cross out paragraphs, circle text and leave detailed comments.
2. Embedded 3D Animations
3D animations can now be embedded directly into Word documents and PowerPoint slides with no coding required. Microsoft made this extremely easy to use: Insert a 3D model into the slide, select from a list of pre-built animations, click ‘Apply’ and the animation does its thing.
3. Blurred Background on Video Calls
Business managers who use a remote workforce will appreciate this feature. Video callers can now automatically blur out their backgrounds to minimize distractions and increase meeting productivity. No more worrying about video calls from the home office or a busy workplace — just blur it out.
4. Powerful PowerPoint Upgrades
This is a really cool feature for managers. Need a PowerPoint slide in a hurry? Office 365 now lets you draw your slides by hand on a tablet and convert your “chicken scratches” into a professionally-designed PowerPoint presentation in just a few minutes. PowerPoint now has digital design recommendations that it will make to recreate your sketches. This includes layouts, text suggestions and icons. The end result will look like you had the graphic design department laboring over it for hours.
5. Publish-to-Web Upgrades
Microsoft Office has allowed users to publish documents as web pages for years, but this feature just keeps getting better. Office 365 now allows users to publish docs as Sway websites by clicking ‘File’ and ‘Transform.’ It’s a big time-saving feature. It can also be used for publishing training documents, newsletters, pitch decks and product pages.
6. Compatibility Checks
This Office 365 addition allows you to make system upgrades without suffering any downtime from incompatibility issues. Microsoft’s most recent desktop application lets you check compatibility of apps before you run a system upgrade. Managers can save time and money, and keep things running smoothly by using this upgrade.
7. Robust Data Compliance
Office 365 has a long list of compliance certifications that are now directly integrated with the software. This is an incredibly helpful feature for public-private businesses, government organizations and non-profits that deal with a lot of regulatory compliance issues. For example, Office 365 now offers HIPAA and HITRUST CSF Certification for medical organizations, which allows them to remain security- and privacy-compliant in their documentation. Other certifications include AICPA Service Organization Control Reports, FedRAMP authorizations, FIPS 140-2 Cryptography, and much more. Microsoft also maintains a dedicated compliance team that monitors regulatory changes and quickly recommends changes to keep data compliance up-to-date.
8. Increased IT Management and Resolutions
Microsoft’s SharePoint Admin Center has some upgrades that IT departments will truly appreciate. The system now allows easier management of Office 365 group-connected sites and hubs. IT admins can now restrict access from non-compliant devices, automatically kick idle users out, and restrict or allow access from known IP addresses. The latest iteration also has a number of security upgrades and compliance upgrades.
These Office 365 upgrades were clearly designed from a business manager’s perspective. Microsoft has made the latest additions intuitive and simple to integrate in order to keep your business running as smoothly and efficiently as possible.