Microsoft has introduced two changes to its Office 365 service, beginning with new Office 365 plans for small to medium-sized businesses.
According to Microsoft, the difference between a successful business and a struggling business could very well be in the technology being used. Microsoft looks to help SMBs out in this regard with the introduction of three new Office 365 plans designed for companies that have up to 250 employees.
The first new plan is Office 365 Business, which provides companies with the complete lineup of Office applications. This includes Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote and Publisher. Also included in the plan is OneDrive for Business, which is a cloud storage system that allows users to easily access, modify and share documents across multiple devices.
The second plan is Office 365 Business Essentials, which provides companies with the core cloud-based services required to run a business. This includes business class email services and calendaring, IM, online meetings, video conferencing, Office Online, file sharing and cloud storage services.
The third plan is Office 365 Business Premium, which combines the first two plans into a comprehensive enterprise package.
Office 365 Business costs $8.25 per user monthly, Office 365 Business Essentials costs $5.00 per user monthly, while the combined Office 365 Business Premium costs $12.50 per user monthly.
Microsoft also said that the new Office 365 plans will, over time, replace the current plans being offered for SMBs. Companies using the old SMB plans, which include Small Business, Small Business Premium and Midsize Business, should visit the Message Center located in the Office 365 administration center to find out more details on how the changes will affect the client company.
The second change that Microsoft announced is the One-Time Passcode for the Office 365 Message Encryption feature.
Office 365 Message Encryption allows users to send out email messages with encryption. The service has enjoyed great success, with over a million messages with encryption already sent. However, to view the encrypted messages, users need to first sign in with their Microsoft accounts.
With the introduction of the One-Time Passcode feature, users that receive an encrypted message are given two options. The first option allows users to sign up or log-in with their Microsoft account to open the message, while the second option provides users with a one-time passcode.
Selecting the second option would prompt Microsoft to send a passcode to the email that received the message so that the encrypted email could be opened normally. Replies to the email would also be encrypted once sent out.
These two changes provide users with a more comprehensive and secure experience with Office 365.
