It’s no secret that many businesses worldwide are using Office 365. Many is an understatement, as Office 365 is globally the most widely deployed app for enterprise businesses. These businesses enjoy all the benefits of the Office products everyone is accustomed to, but with a plethora of added perks, the least of which being not having to worry about licensing or updates. With Microsoft Office 365 you get automatic updates, maintenance and 24/7 technical support as long as you keep your subscription from Microsoft up-to-date. If you haven’t made the switch to Office 365, here are some more reasons why you should consider the move:
Simple Administration: Your business will have predictable and known costs associated with Office 365 as it is based on a monthly subscription basis. The flexible, on-demand payment subscription model will ensure you only pay for what you use. Also consider the value of no longer having to worry about security updates, installing, managing, patching, and upgrading extremely complex software systems.
Disaster Recovery: with Office 365,, you never have to fear about losing your data. Your files are securely stored in the Microsoft cloud, guaranteeing that should a disaster strike, or simply your computer crashes, you have immediate access to your files. Simply use another computer from anywhere in the world to log on to your business profile and continue to work on your files stress-free. Plus, using Outlook 365 means your email won’t go down with the building the next time the power goes out.
Efficiency: A survey by Forrester found that the highly mobile “road warrior” employee can save 1 hour per day with Office 365 by year 3 of use. These sales people or work form home employees save a lot of time from not having to use VPNs to access systems, and having better collaboration tools with easier more extensive access to information. This increased productivity grows from a quarter hour per day in year 1 up to 1 hour per day in year 3 as more Office 365 solutions are rolled out and as the users become more comfortable using them.
Skype for Business: Subscribers of Office 365 Business plans have the option to use Skype for Business, formerly Lync, to enhance their Unified Communications. And, when it comes to a quick response, Skype for Business’s instant messaging is without comparison. You can see immediately when someone contacts you if you have Skype open, making responding to spur-of-the-moment questions fast and easy. You can also get answers quickly. The immediate nature of IM creates the feeling of being right there, especially ideal for businesses with remote employees or those that operate virtually.
Collaboration: With Skype for Business you also gain the ability to collaborate better with groups. It’s easy to conduct group chats in real time via Skype IM, and even keep the conversation going long-term with various people who work together. Need to chat regularly with a particular project team, or communicate more effectively with a group of remote workers? Create a Skype chat and use IM to ask and answer questions, share ideas, drop in links to articles, or talk through issues.
Extend your Contact Center’s Capabilities: If your business operates a call center, Office 365, along with it’s use of Skype for Business, can streamline your internal processes as well as improve the customer experience. AltiGen’s MaxACD is the industry’s first scalable, all software Automated Voice and IM Routing/Queuing solution specifically designed for Microsoft Skype for Business and Office 365. Delivering end-to-end Cloud PBX capabilities for all employees with advanced routing and queuing is just one of a long list of features this integration provides. Learn more here.
