What is Office 365?

Office 365 Suite for Business comes in one of two main packages, Business and Business Premium. For both packages, you receive the applications in web version and desktop form, meaning that you get the hard-copy versions to load onto your computer to use even if you’re offline.

Office 365 Business

At $8.25 per user per month for an annual contract, Business is perfect for teams that need cloud storage and collaboration, as well as Office applications. It does not, however, include business email. The base Business level gives you the following:

• Outlook – Microsoft’s web-based all-in-one suite of email, tasks, calendar, and contacts lets you work productively and share attachments directly from OneDrive. It also allows you to schedule meetings, block out time to work on a project, or book a conference room directly from your Outlook calendar.
• Word – Microsoft’s most famous application is its word processor. Word gives you the tools to write confidently and intelligently. With Suite, you can work with a teammate in real-time, collaborating on the same project.
• Excel – The original spreadsheet processor, Excel has been refined over the years thanks to new tools, charts, formulas, and templates that all improve data organization and output.
• PowerPoint – A presentation program that lets you create vivid and powerful pitches and presentations. With 365 collaboration, you can have several people working on the same PowerPoint at one time.
• OneNote – A digital notebook that helps you and your team take notes and get organized. Notes is especially great for tablets where you can write notes, doodle, underline or highlight sections.
• OneDrive – A file hosting service that lets users save files and photos to OneDrive and then access them on any device from wherever that person is.

You receive 1TB of OneDrive storage and a license that covers fully-installed Office apps on five PCs or Macs, five tablets, and five phones. This may be a good option for small businesses.

Office 365 Business Premium

Business Premium costs $12.50 a month per user with an annual contract. This is perfect for businesses that require a business email,
Office suite, and other Microsoft business services including:

• Exchange – Microsoft’s business version of Outlook is more powerful and comes with tools businesses need for their email services and calendaring. With an adaptive, intelligent inbox and a smart calendar, your ability to communicate and organize improves dramatically.
• Sharepoint – A browser-based document management and collaboration platform, this content management system and information portal can run via Internet, Intranet, or Extranet.
• Microsoft Teams – A platform that organizes chats, notes, meetings, and attachments whether in Office or on Skype.
• Business Email Hosting – Create a custom email domain address. Each user has a 50 GB inbox.
• Skype Call – Video conferencing for up to 250 users.
• Support – 24/7 phone and web support