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It’s been a while since we’ve fired up the Q&A section. We’ve received a bunch of great questions the past few weeks about what features will be available with Microsoft Office 365, and I wanted to share the answers broadly. For those of you with further questions or who want the nitty gritty details, check out our Office 365 Service Descriptions. These documents cover each of the services in Office 365 (Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online and Office Professional Plus) as well as information about our support and security. Enjoy!
1) I have several other personal e-mail addresses that I want to access from Office 365. Will I be able to sync these with my Inbox in Office 365?
2) Are contacts shared across the same domain with Office 365? Our company has a large number of contacts which they would like to share with each other with updates being reflected to everyone when they're made.
3) What about Calendars? Can we share these with our co-workers as well?
4) I run two small businesses that work closely together. They each have their own e-mail addresses and domains; will we be able to instant message, voice & video call and hold online meetings between our companies?
5) What about users outside of my organization who want to join our online meetings but don’t have Lync Online? Will they be able to join via the web?
6) Will I be able to connect my iPhone or Android device to Office 365?
7) I want to be able to setup e-mail lists (e.g. <something>@mydomain.com) and have that message sent to several people both inside and outside my company. Is this possible?
8) My small business is still in the startup phase, and it's easier for us to pay monthly than up front in a lump sum? Can we do this in Office 365?
9) I love the idea of using SharePoint to save and share my company’s documents from a centralized location. But do I always have to go to a browser to get to my documents? Do I lose access when I’m offline?
10) My company needs to understand how Office 365 complies with ISO 27001/27002 and other standards. Where can I find more information on your security and compliance?
Yes, it’s a pretty compelling set of features! I know many (many!) folks are on the waitlist for the limited beta, and I can now assure you that you will definitely get an invite to the beta. Thanks for your patience as we continue to gather feedback and test our service. Your beta invites are coming soon!
-Clint
Comments: (36) Collapse
Office 365 (Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online und Office Professional Plus) steht vor der
I administer three websites with domains purchased through Microsoft. I use Microsoft Office Live facilities to maintain these websites and for email. I also use Microsoft Office 2007 on a PC but do not wish to upgrade to 365.
1 will Microsoft be withdrawing the website maintenance facilty, and if so, when?
2 if the facility is to be withdrawn what facility will Microsoft provide to enable me to transfer the pages of my websites to another web server given that Microsoft's pages are proprietary and cannot be accessed by ftp?
3 will microsoft be withdrawing support for access to the email accounts associated with the domains and, if so, how can these be kept in operation?
Thankyou
As one of the people who put his name down for the Beta a long time ago but never got in I currently feel completely lost as to when the service will become available or when I might get a chance to join the Beta albeit at a very late stage. It's really been dragging on now and I have this distinct 'them and us' feeling as I look at all the blog and forum entries from those in the beta. Please do say something that I can hang my hat on Microsoft.
I think you left out a couple of questions, we all know that Exchange Online is certainly available on Windows Phone 7 (WP7), but...;
1. When will SharePoint Online come to WP7?
2. When will Lync Online come to WP7 (hence Hotmail IM/Presence)?
When will sharepoint online work with windows phone 7?
Seems odd that Microsoft claims that sharepoint is a "big deal", yet when I purchased my account with an online provider they could not get it to work. After stumbling around the internet, I now know that WP7 does not work with SP 2010, unless you own the server, then it is a pain, if you ever get it to work.
I'm the same as the other guys/gals.... trying to push this to my organization of a couple of thousand, but have no clue as to what is happening.
@mat - I really don't think MS has its priorities right. Instead of focusing primarily on WP7 and elevating its positioning with its server and cloud services to get into the enterprise, they are developing apps for other mobile devices. It really makes no sense at all. Imagine how much better Bing is on other mobile devices, even on WinMo 6.5, but its barely devlivering the bare minimum on WP7 with maps one can't even use for anything, certainly not GPS navigation without voice directions. Others have IM/presence but with all the business and personal IM/presence products from MS, not a single one is on WP7, considering that IM/presence is the main feature Blackberry users say they want before they jump ship from using BBPIN since WP7 offers so much better experience. They had better be bringing these features on "Mango" or whatever fruit it will be. Geez, already.
@Gavin: Office 365 is not directly an update of Office 2007, although it does come with Office 2010. But you are not required to purchase it. As for your questions:
1) Eventually, but that date is not confirmed yet. Sometime around sring/summer 2012.
2) In the coming months we will provide transition details for Office Live websites. Make sure you have enabled emails from us in your settings and stay tuned here and ask.officelive.com/.../default.aspx for more details. You do not need to do anything in the meantime.
3) While the service will end, you will have time and details on how to migrate your email to another account. Regular Hotmail offers domain email as well, so you could just move to that service and point your domain to that account.
@NickT: Thanks for the comment. We realize the limited beta has tested the patience of many, but as we noted above, we plan to add more folks to the beta, and everyone who signed up will get a chance to test. That is all i can promise you.
@techieg:Sharepoint is already on WP7! Just go to the Office Hub and slide over to the SharePoint area. If you have a SP site today, you will have to be authenticated (e.g. on your wifi network) in order to access you files). With office 365, you have the ability to access your document libraries on the go!
As for Lync, I do not know the timeframe. It is being built though.
@Mat: See my reply to techieg above, you are correct though you have to own the server. With Office 365, this is no longer an issue. As for your second point, we are still prior to an expanded beta, much less availability for purchase. You will get a chance to beta test and trial, and more information when the product reaches that point in its life cycle.
For #4 the question pertains to small businesses and you mention that you can federate Lync with other sources including Live Messenger but this post mentions that this is an enterprise only feature: onlinehelp.microsoft.com/.../ff637586.aspx Is this possible in Office 365 small business version?
I use WP7 everyday to access SharePoint and this works like a champ! As for developing for other platforms, this is commonly done in order of marketshare in each segment from what I can tell....so while Window 7 is always first, Windows Phone may/may not be the first to receive an app.
I would like to have Excel VBA Macros available for use on my Nokia N series phone. To get that functionality, would I have to pay for the entire Office 365 package ($27/mo.), or could I get only that piece of Office for a lesser monthly fee?
@Cory: You should be able to, you are looking at the enterprise help area instead of the small business one (notice difference in URL). Check out this article. onlinehelp.microsoft.com/.../ff652563.aspx. That being said, i can't get it to work so it might be disabled right now in the beta.
Online Contact Manager will not be available anymore in MS Office 365. Such a petty since it was the most exciting feature of MS Office Live for customers. Are there any partners who have built or are building the same Online Contact Manager Application in MS Sharepoint Online? Can't Microsoft just port the old Online Contact Manager to MS Sharepoint Online since it is built in MS Sharepoint anyway?
What can I offer to my current MS Office LIve customers who need the Online Contact Manager? Thanks for your help.
If I have a prospect who loves the features of MS Office LIve including the Online Contact Manager, what can I offer now? Signing up for the MS Office 365 Beta is not an option since it seems that signups have to wait till Mid 2011. Am I correct? Why did Microsoft cut off the sign up for MS Office Live, instead of making it availab le till the GA of MS Office 365? It looks like the whole development team of MS Office Live was stopped in their tracks, and had to work on only BPOS features or MS Office 365. MS Office 365 Lync is really not needed by small businesses. Only Sharepoint Online and Exchange Online is needed by small businesses. But, even with Sharepoint Online, small businesses are looking for ease of use as they had with MS Office Live. Anything more complex will be pushed aside. Please, people, go to small businesses, and present MS Office Live, and then Sharepoint Online (website and teamsite), and ask them what they prefer. Their answer will be clear and loud.
Thanks for your cooperation.
@Allen_MSFT - I know SharePoint is already on WP7 if you have it on-premise. I was talking about "SharePoint Online"; when is that coming to WP7 because as it is one cannot link it to WP7.
Can you please confirm that Office 365 does not have a minimum license requirement? Our office only has 2 people, and we really want to upgrade to 365, but do not want to purchase the 5 license minimum.
Thank you,
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