One of the most significant advantages of using Microsoft Office 365 is the fact you can work anywhere, on any device as long as you have a link to the internet.
This is a huge plus for people who still remember the days where you would have to go the rough a lot of different and cumbersome different tasks just to get all of your devices in sync. Gone are the days of having to carry around your files on a disk or CD when you needed to take work home with you. Moreover, when you did take work home with you, you had better have had the same type of computer at home as you do at work. If you were unfortunate enough not to have had the same type of computer at home, a whole ugly and untested world of reformatting disks was opened up to you. Thanks to the cloud and programs like Microsoft Office 365 life is a whole lot easier now. However, you will need to install Office 365 on your computer. That is why we are going to walk you through installation so you will download it quickly and correctly.
Install Microsoft Office 365 on a Windows PC
The first step to installing or reinstalling Office 365 on a PC with the Windows operating system is to log in to or open a Microsoft account. Microsoft allows Office 365 to be downloaded on to as many as 5 PCs with the Home subscription. To install Office 365:
- About your accounts like email address and password, do so.
- The action will install the 32-bit version of Office on your PC by default. If you want to install the 64-bit version, change your language, or choose other options, then you will need to select
- Go to My Office Account page, sign in and select install.
- Custom Install.
- You will receive an install pop up in your browser, that lets you Run, Setup, or Save. Select Yes to begin the installation.
When the installation is complete, you can begin using your Office 365 applications.
Microsoft Office 365 Quick Start Guide
Along with your download package for Office 365, you will receive the Microsoft Office 365 Quick Start Guide which includes:
- Change Management Guide for the Enterprise
- Office 365 Tips
- How To Videos
- Samples of Emails
- Policies and Best Practices Templates
Office 365 Posters- Office 365 Presentations
- End-User surveys
Also included in the guide is a list of their recommended links to articles which are believed to provide you with the help needed to troubleshoot any problems that may arise in the following areas:
- Office 365 Sign-in
- Office 365 Pro Plus Desktop Programs
- Lync and Web Conferencing
- Office 365 Email Calendar
- SharePoint and OneDrive for Businesses
- Advanced Office 365 Troubleshooting Tools
- Office 365 DIY Troubleshooter
A helpful post for beginners to Microsoft Office 365 is Office 365 Tools, Tips, Training, and Tricks. The post includes a welcome kit to Office 365 which includes:
- A welcome message
- A checklist of professionals and small business owners, who are just getting started to walk you through the Office 365 setup process from beginning to end.
- Tips and training resources created for end users, small business owners and enterprises, it includes videos. FAQs and other resources focused on helping you to use Office 365 to the most beneficial outcome for your company’s needs.
- Outlook Web App email message that can be used as a welcome message for new users, providing tips and suggestions on how to get started with Outlook Web App.
The Benefits of Using Office 365
Work Anywhere
One of the most significant benefits of using Microsoft Office 365 is your ability to work from anywhere if you have an internet connection available. Since Office 365 is entirely cloud-based, you can access all of your files, email and other Office programs including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more from any location and any device.You have the option of including up to 5 separate devices per user. This is extremely useful for companies that are made up of remote employees, located in multiple locations and also for companies that have employees who have to travel.
Easy Collaboration
Working with teams is made simple with Office 365 which offers secure collaboration between team members. With Office 365’s easy collaboration abilities you can get projects completed much quicker. You can work with team members on the same files, co-authoring the same data that are stored in the cloud in real-time. Office 365 allows you to sync your project files online with your PC, so you can access them even when you are not working online.You can easily invite other team members to share documents with you by just using the Office 365 one-click sharing. Office also allows you to attach files in Outlook, directly from OneDrive easily. You can also configure your permissions for all of your attachments without needing to switch apps.
Access to the latest version of the program – You will always have access to the newest version of Office 365 at no additional charge. Office 365 does away with the need to continuously reinstall the program on every device when there is a new version.
Choose the plan that works the best for your needs – Office 365 offers you a variety of different plan configurations so you can choose the one that works the best for your company’s needs and requirements without having applications you will never use, just to get the ones you need. You also save money by only paying for the programs you need
Available to the Office 365 subscribers are the core software applications that include Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel. There are also plans available that bundle apps that provide productivity, communications, business intelligence, security and more.Office 365 plans also come with a hefty amount of cloud storage. Additionally, Microsoft has kept their monthly and yearly pricing pretty reasonable, while offering plans that suit the needs of any business.
Subscription payment plan – Microsoft Office 365 offers you a subscription-based payment service. With this option, you can choose to pay a low monthly fee (per user) rather than having to pay a large sum up front. This payment option is helpful for your company’s cash flow perspective since you do not need to tie up your money all at one time, you can spread it out. Using only what you need when you need it.
Small to Medium Sized Businesses
Microsoft offers the following plans to small to medium-sized buildings:
Business Essentials – When choosing the low-priced plan, which is billed yearly, the cost is only $5 month per user. This plan is also available at the price of $6 a user, per month, when paid monthly, rather than for the entire year. This plan offers you online access to core software including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. You also receive, even though you don’t receive Outlook, a suitable amount of cloud storage for email and file storage. Additionally, with this plan, you receive productivity and communication software including Flow, SharePoint, Sway, Skype of Business as well as other communication software.Even though some of these applications will function all right on your mobile device, you aren’t provided mobile versions of them.
Business – The straight Business plan costs a little more than the Business Essentials plan at $8.25 a month, annually for each user. This plan allows you the advantage of being able to download the core software to your PC. This plan also includes Outlook, which is not available in the Business Essentials plan, along with OneDrive storage and mobile applications. However, you only can access two of the extra productivity apps.
Business Premium – The Business Premium plan provides you with a combination of the features you can receive in the Business Essentials plan and the Business plan.
You get all of the productivity, communication, and mobile software. Outlook is provided for email management. You can also download the core software to your PC. The cost for this plan is $12.50 annually for each user.
Enterprise Microsoft Office Plans
If your company is larger, with more sophisticated requirements, you may decide on using one of the Enterprise plans to fulfill a lot of the needs of a more significant business. These plans include:
ProPlus Plan – The ProPlus plan resembles the Business Premium plan. However, it also comes with additional sophisticated business intelligence tools that can be used with MS Excel. This plan costs approximately $12.50 per user, per month.
Enterprise E1 – This plan is thought of as an upgrade of the Business Essentials plan. This option 
offers online-only access to core programs. However, you can also receive a portal that offers corporate videos and the ability to broadcast meetings to a large group.
The cost for this plan is $8 a month for each user.
Enterprise E3 – The Enterprise E3 plan offers a combination of features available with the ProPlus and E1. You receive the downloadable software and access to the video and meeting software.
The cost for the Enterprise E3 plan is about $20 a month for each of the users in your in your organization.
Enterprise E5 – Enterprise E5 is the high-end version of Office 365 which offers all of the features of Enterprise E3 combined with the use of Office PBX. Office PBX is a cloud solution that manages your phone calls. The estimated cost for this plan is $35 per user once a month.
Microsoft Office 365 for Home and Student
If you don’t have a business at all, but want to use the Office 365 for use at home or for the use of a student you may want to consider Microsoft Office 365 Home.
Some of the best security features – Many people think the cloud is not as safe. In reality, the cloud is not any more safe or less safe than a system that is strictly on your premises. As with anything else, it is as safe as the security measures you are offered and how you use them.
Microsoft Office 365 offers several built-in security features to keep your data safe and secure. Some of the security features offered by Office 365 include:
- Encrypted email that keeps your emails out of the hands of everyone except the person you intended to receive it.
- Data loss prevention which is a set of policies that check and prevent your most sensitive information from being intercepted by outside sources.
- Mobile device management, which allows you to control the program on your team members’ devices to protect sensitive company information. In the case of a lost or stolen phone, you can remotely wipe the device clean to prevent your company’s information from falling into the wrong hands.
- Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA) uses analytics and machine learning to detect and alert you to suspicious behavior on your network. This app scans emails when they arrive to detect anything unusual like phishing programs or a malicious attachment from getting into your system. The email will still come through. However, the recipient will receive a message explaining why the attachment is missing.
Complete Microsoft Office 365 Plans
When it comes to choices, Microsoft certainly does offer their customers many different options to choose from. In addition to the plans that appear in this article, Microsoft also offers plans for nonprofits, government agencies, and first line workers. Microsoft Office 365 offers small businesses a whole suite of impressive programs to handle any project as if it with the professionalism of a large corporation with a whole host of expensive programs at its disposal. All of these options ensure you will be able to find a plan that will work best for your business. The subscription prices stated for each plan also makes it easy for you to afford the applications your business needs. Microsoft’s subscription prices are considered extremely low when taking into consideration the number of professional grade apps you are able to afford. This makes it possible for you to compete with businesses larger than yours at an affordable price. 
One drawback to the Microsoft Office 365 suite of applications is the fact they do not allow substitutions. If you require a feature that isn’t available with the plan you choose, Microsoft will not let you add the app to your chosen plan while substituting it for a feature you do not need.To receive the feature you require, that is not included in the package you chose, you will need to purchase the upgrade. This may also mean you will be adding more features you do not need just to get the ones you do need. You would think a suite of programs this in depth would be a headache to install. However, Microsoft has made it extremely easy to understand and install this collection of applications. You can install the program in a matter of minutes to ensure you are quickly on your way to creating professional products like a major corporation.
The Affordable Prices Make the Difference
Even if you may need to choose an upgrade to receive the features you need, the overall cost of each plan is significantly lower than most other application to ensure the added cost of upgrades doesn’t break your budget. If you attempted to buy the different types of software you needed to all of the general tasks that the simple small to medium sized business requirements, you would easily find yourself spending much more then even the most expensive of the plan subscriptions. Spending more doesn’t necessarily mean you will get more. Microsoft applications are considered the gold standard for businesses, regardless of the size. Considering all of these benefits in addition to the ease in downloading the suite of apps all proves that Microsoft Office 365 may very well be your best option for the business applications to help you run your business more smoothly.
