The cloud backup software, Dropbox, is upgrading its systems to provide more features that cater to office and business needs.
Initially launched as a file sharing and cloud storage site, Dropbox has added a number of tools aimed to boost productivity in an enterprise setting, without the additional need to use third-party apps and software. Any, and even all, office related and collaborative tasks can soon be accomplished within the Dropbox platform.
The move is a product of the company's reported goal to further increase its paid enterprise subscribers who only make up 150,000 of its 500 million user database.
Through its rebranding from a basic cloud storage platform to a place where collaborative efforts can be performed, the company purportedly hopes that the new features will attract business establishments to consider its Dropbox Business subscription over its Basic and Pro accounts.
The paid subscription, which costs $15 per month for up to five users, gives enterprise systems "as much space as needed," which removes limitations on a wide range of file creation and storage tasks as compared to the Dropbox Basic's 16 GB cloud storage or Dropbox Pro's 1 TB space. If interested, businesses have the option to try the service out for one free month to see if it suits their workflow needs.
Simplified Workflows
Dropbox's new document scanning feature allows users on-the-go to easily capture notes as they come on "whiteboards, receipts, and sketches," which can then be organized and shared on the Dropbox platform. The tech uses optical character recognition (OCR), which easily identifies text in written forms to create an organized digital document. Users on the Business subscription service have the ability to search for particular text within the file.
In case an unfortunate accident happens to a current document or users simply need to revert to an earlier version of a file, Dropbox now periodically saves documents as they are edited to provide a history log. These old file versions can then be previewed and recovered as needed.
Users also have the ability to create Microsoft Office documents, that is, a Word document, PowerPoint presentation or Excel spreadsheet, within the app itself, which then automatically saves online. This is easily retrievable by other collaborators on the Dropbox engine depending on the permissions set by the original publisher.
"The new plus button in the Dropbox iOS app adds a convenient way to create and save Office documents on the go, helping people work better together, wherever they are," said Rob Howard, Director of Office Marketing at Microsoft.
Microsoft Office access is, however, currently limited to iOS devices and appears in the form of a "plus" sign on the Dropbox app. The company stated in no certain terms when the feature will arrive on Android devices but promised that it's "working on a timeline for when these features will be available."
The new Dropbox tools should be rolling out in the coming days and specific details can be retrieved through the Dropbox Productivity page. The announcement trailer can be viewed below:
