This is a brief introduction to the various programs and features available to Trustees employees through Office 365. Office 365 leverages the cloud to drive productivity and collaboration. There are two license tiers; one that uses web versions of the Office suite of applications and the other uses local installations of the Office 2016. When you log into the new Trustees365 environment you will have access to applications based on what licensing you have been assigned. License assignments were made based on role and usage needs.
The locally installed version Office 365 uses is Office 2016 so it is an updated version of all the programs in the traditional office suite. This an upgrade from 2010 version of Office that was utilized on the SourceOne cloud. It looks different but is still Office, it just has more features than previous versions. Microsoft some nice resources on Office 2016 available here. For some more in depth information on Office 2016 you can also check out learnfree.org, they also have information on Office Online here.
In addition to new useful programs such as OneDrive, Yammer, Sway, SharePoint, Delve and Skype for Business. These programs will make it easier for staff to communicate between each other and between Trustees sites across Massachusetts.
OneDrive
This app is the central point for hosting and sharing files online when using Microsoft's services and applications. You can upload and share a nearly unlimited number of files and share them with coworkers and outside contacts. One of the greatest features offered by OneDrive is that it allows you to collaborate on documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote) with others. You can easily create documents straight from your web browser where you have access to Microsoft Office Online a web-based version of your Office programs. You can also create documents in Microsoft Office 2010, 2013 or 2016 and save them directly to OneDrive. OneDrive is accessible in any location including at home or on your phone. If you are using Windows 10 you can alternatively use the OneDrive native app for faster access to your folders and files. Find out more here: Store, sync, and share your work files and OneDrive Quick Start
Skype for Business
With Skype for Business you can call or video conference anyone using Skype. You can find Skype contacts by searching by name or phone number. It's easy to call, video chat, instant message or schedule a meeting with a Skype contact. In IMs you can add audio or share your screen. Visit this link to learn more about what Skype for Business can do for the Trustees:
Video: What is Skype for Business?
Skype for Business Quick Start Guide
Sway
With Sway you can create and share interactive reports, newsletters and presentations. You can add pictures, text and links to the storyline to make a story that you can share with coworkers and those you are presenting to. This is a great alternative to Powerpoint when you are working with lots of pictures or video and you'd like to tell a narrative. This is also a great way of creating tutorials where you walk people through a step-by-step process. You can also add content from sources like YouTube, Twitter and Google Maps. Here is a video describing Sway: What is Sway - Microsoft Sway Tutorials and Sway Quick Start
SharePoint
SharePoint allows you to share content, organize into teams, discover answers, build websites and manage risk. It's a central portal where documents that are jointly worked on can live. It is not an application, it is a platform to create powerful websites with lots of collaboration and storage tools. It lives on a server and we use it with a browser or integrate it with our Office Applications. It allows you create websites, control content, perform searches and create specific communities. Click here for quick informative video explaining what SharePoint is all about: SharePoint in Plain English Video and Get started with SharePoint
Yammer
Discuss ideas, share updates, and crowdsource answers from coworkers. Yammer gives your team a faster, smarter way to connect and collaborate across your company. Yammer is Similar to Slack and Facebook's Workplace Yammer is a private social network that helps you get connected to the right people, share information across teams, and organize around projects. Only your coworkers can join, so your communications on Yammer are secure and visible only to people within your organization.
Delve
Office Delve helps you discover the information that's likely to be most interesting to you right now - across Office 365. Find information about people - and through people - and help others find you. You don't have to remember the title of a document or where it's stored. Delve shows you documents no matter where they're stored in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint in Office 365.
With Delve on your PC, Mac, or mobile device, you can:
Connect and collaborate with other people.
Search for people, documents, or boards. Select someone’s name or picture anywhere in Delve to see documents they’re working on or to learn more about them.Discover and organize information from across Office 365.
When you find a document you’re interested in, add it as a favorite or to a board to easily get back to it later.Stay connected and productive wherever you are.
Delve never changes any permissions, so you'll see only documents that you already have access to. Other people will not see your private documents.
Power Apps
Use PowerApps to create, use, and share custom business apps with your team and organization. Install PowerApps for Windows to: Use apps that were shared with you or create custom-built apps. Create apps that: Help coworkers automate tasks and get more done; empower your team to get work done from anywhere—on any device; connect to business data, whether on the web, on-premises, or on the Microsoft Common Data Mode. Check out Guided Learning for Powerapps.
Flow
Microsoft Flow is a product to help you set up automated workflows between your favorite apps and services to synchronize files, get notifications, collect data, and more. Turn repetitive tasks into multistep workflows. Check out Guided Learning for Microsoft Flow and Microsoft Flow: Getting Started.
Office Online
While most users will have access to preinstalled versions of Office on the new servers in the remote desktop and their local system, all users will be able to create and edit documents online and collaborate on individual documents simultaneously. The web-based versions of Office works seamlessly with OneDrive.
More about Office 2016 Online
Need to know more about Office? Visit this list of Office guides to learn more about the 2016 versions: Office Quick Starts
Want to know more? Email us at helpdesk@thetrustees.org and we'd be happy to describe these tools and help you find what you need.