Get started with Office 365

How can I get started on Office 365?

For this guide, we’ll be creating a tenant which will license users using the Office 365 Business Premium product. This not only allows online collaboration, but will also give you access to the continually updated Office suite for your PC’s and mobiles.

Go to the product here on Microsoft’s website and click “Free Trial with Office 365 Business Premium" or you can opt to purchase the service which is charged per user per month.

You’ll then be presented with the wizard to setup a new account. You’ll need to register an email address that can be used as the “master account” – keep the password for this safe!

Once you have provided your company details, you’ll then be needed to create a business identity. A business identity will be the name of the tenant and cannot be changed once set (so it's important to pick a name that suits your business).

Once that’s done, specify the number of licenses you’ll need and then you’ll be ready for the next steps!

How do I get working?

If you weren’t redirected to the Office 365 admin portal, you can reach it here. You’ll then be redirected to this dashboard:

Next, click "Users" from the left hand side, "Active Users" and "Add a user".

From here, you create accounts for your colleagues and assign them the licenses you trialed or purchased earlier. You can also opt for to auto generate a password, that users will be required to change on first login.

Once you've done that, it is highly recommended to enable multi factor authentication (or MFA). This requires users to enter in a code from a text message, phone call or using an authentication app on their phone when they login to improve security.

To enable MFA go to users on the left hand side of the admin portal, then "Active Users", then click "Multi-Factor authentication" . You can then select the users you created and then click enable. All users selected will be required to set this up on their next sign in.

My users are setup, how do I get them installed?

Have your users login to the office portal which can be reached here.

This is the Office Portal, the apps you see in the centre are online versions of the office suite as well as access to other services. To download the Office suite included with your license, click “Install Office” on the top right. The succeeding wizard will then walk you through installing the software.

How can I get our company documents up there?

Once you’re all setup, download Microsoft Teams if it’s not there already. This is an instant messaging and work collaborative platform that also allows you to communicate and share files.

Once it’s downloaded, open it and login with the details set when you created your accounts. Next, click the "Teams" icon on the left hand side and then click "Create a Team" and then "Build a team from Scratch."

You can then select if you want all company users to be members, ones you invite or make it optional for them to join and contribute.

Once its created, you’ll see the team appear. You and your users can then click "Files" and from there - upload what you would like to share. You can also click “Sync” to have a local copy maintained on your PC.

This platform also has an advantage of allowing live collaboration when multiple users have opened the same Office file.

There seems to be a lot more we can do here.

There is! Office 365 and Azure has many more features not covered here.

For example:

· Setting up links to your Active Directory to save you having to create users again.

· Using Office 365 for your company email, phone and instant messaging platforms.

· Managing your mobile devices, be it PCs or mobiles and enforcing policies to help keep your information protected.

· Classifying and enforcing encryption on company sensitive documents to reduce the risk of leaks.

· And it goes further than that..

If you’d like to find out more or get help on taking advantage of Office 365, you can email us on:

hello@sense-solutions.com or call +44 118 2066810