In 2015, there were more than 1.2 billion users of Microsoft Office worldwide.
And at the end of that year, Microsoft introduced an updated version of the software suite: Microsoft Office 2016.
Microsoft Office 2016 offered a whole host of improvements. These improvements make using the software for business a real breeze. And this is still the only non-subscription version of the Microsoft Office suite that will run on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.
So read on as we take a look at 9 ways that the features of Microsoft Office 2016 can help your business.
1. Real-Time Collaboration
A key part of using any office suite for business is being able to collaborate on documents.
Office 2016 makes this incredibly easy. Unlike previous versions, that collaboration is able to take place in real time. It means that if you and your team are working on a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation, the changes that each of you makes will appear to everybody the instant that they are made.
It means that everybody is literally on the same page no matter how many people are making edits.
2. Skype from Your Documents
When several people are working on a document together, it can be difficult to coordinate without clear communication.
Thankfully, with Office 2016, you can access Skype directly from the document you’re working on. It means that you can IM your collaborators from within Word, whilst watching their edits appear in real time. And there’s no need for you to have to launch Skype from the standalone app.
It makes collaboration an absolute breeze.
3. Share More Easily
Sharing documents is a key part of any team project.
Microsoft Office 2016 makes this easier than ever, with a handy share button in the top-right corner of each application. One click and you can share the document with anybody in your contacts list, without even leaving the page.
You can also control whether the recipients are able to edit the document or view it in read-only mode.
4. Go Back in Time
When you have a large number of people working on a document together, things can sometimes go wrong.
That’s why Office 2016 keeps copies of past versions of your documents. You can access these in the History section of the File menu and revert to any of the previous states. This is useful when you want to take a quick look at previous drafts of a document.
You will also be able to see key information such as when a version was saved, and by whom.
5. Declutter Your Email
For personal email, having folders for useful email and junk is usually enough.
But for business, keeping on top of your work emails can be challenging. That’s where Clutter for Outlook comes in. You are able to tag certain emails as being low priority, and they are deposited in a folder called Clutter.
Outlook will also then automatically put any future emails of a similar kind into the same folder. This allows you to focus on the emails that matter, and get back to the less important ones when it’s more convenient.
6. Improved Data Visualization
Every business these days will have data that it needs to analyze.
And in Office 2016, visualizing this data gets a whole lot smarter. There are new chart types that can be used in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel that can make your data easier to digest.
These include histograms, box and whisker diagrams, and treemap, waterfall, and Pareto charts. With such a wide choice included as standard in Office 2016, you should have all your data visualization needs covered.
You can even use Quick Analysis in Excel to recommend the best type of chart for displaying your data.
7. Ink Equations
Including mathematical equations in documents has always been notoriously difficult.
But Office 2016 makes it a piece of cake, thanks to Ink Equations. In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint simply insert an equation into your document and you are able to use your touch-enabled device to write out the symbols by hand. If you’re not using a touch device, you can use the mouse instead.
The software then converts your handwritten equation into text. Most of the time it will work perfectly, but if your handwriting is a bit off, it’s easy to correct the equation in a couple of clicks.
8. Tell Me
Microsoft Office has still never lived down the horror that was Clippy. That’s despite him being retired in Windows XP and never appearing in any subsequent versions of Windows.
This supposedly helpful paper clip would pop up at the worst times telling you that it looked like you were writing a letter, and offering to help. It was far more of a hindrance than a help. But in Office 2016, a new feature called Tell Me is genuinely useful.
You can type anything in the Tell Me box and you get impressively helpful responses. For example, if you’re looking for a feature that you can’t find, type it in the Tell Me box and you’ll get a list of options related to your request. All without any annoying pop-ups.
9. Send Large Files
Very often you will need to send large files to other members of your team.
Standard email clients usually have a limit of how large your attachments can be. But Outlook can convert large files into links that the recipients can follow to download the file from OneDrive. You can also decide whether the attachments can be edited too.
In addition, you no longer have to go hunting for your files when adding an attachment. Outlook will bring up a list of recently edited documents so that you can find the right file almost instantly.
Are You Looking to Upgrade to Office 2016?
If you’re looking to upgrade to Office 2016 then we’re here to help.
We offer licenses for Microsoft Office 2010, 2013, and 2016 at incredible prices. And if you’re looking for licenses for Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 we can provide those too.
All our prices are inclusive of VAT and represent huge savings on the retail price. Feel free to take a good look around.
