If you or your team uses Office 365, we want to let you in on eight hidden features that can maximize your work, plus save you time and money.

1. PowerPoint Designer
   Have you ever been stuck while composing a PowerPoint presentation? If you’re not a designer, you probably answered Yes. PowerPoint Designer recommends design ideas and can transform text into a cool SmartArt graphic. It can even suggest photos when you’re online and integrate them into a slide’s text.
2. Awesome Add-Ins
   Enhance productivity by deploying Office 365 Add-Ins like Translator, DocuSign, or Grammarly. Basically, these are XML files plus websites that function similar to an app. It’s easy to organize your add-ins since you can add, hide, or retrieve them with a couple of clicks. You can even build your own Office Add-In if you’re a bit of an IT DIYer.
3. Skype While Working Together on a Doc
   You can link your Skype and Microsoft accounts together to earn some whiz-bang benefits if you are using Office 365 Business or Personal. Most important for your productivity, however, the Skype/Microsoft connection lets you talk to an offsite colleague on Skype while simultaneously editing the same document in Word.
4. Use Bing to find images automatically
   Microsoft Office 365 lets you search for images online and insert them directly into your document using Bing Image Search. This simple process is a huge timesaver. Choose Online Pictures in the Insert tab, type in your keywords, and scroll through the results. When you land on an image you like, right click it, and choose Insert.
5. Let Your Mouse Do the Pointing
   It’s not just cats that love those trusty laser pointers. Anyone giving a business presentation knows how useful they can be. But what if you’ve forgotten yours or it isn’t working? Office 365’s PowerPoint lets you turn your cursor into a bright red dot. Simply use your mouse to move the dot on the screen.
6. Create and Edit Your PDFs
   Office 365 makes it super easy to turn a Word document into a PDF. Even better, you can edit the text of an existing PDF right there in Word. How many times would that ability have come in handy, right?
7. Create Instant Charts
   Do you use Excel to make charts for your business? If not, you’re missing out on a wonderful tool that can transform data-heavy spreadsheets into functional, easy-to-read graphics. Print these charts or merge them into a PowerPoint to show or interpret data for your readers. You can create your spreadsheet, and then let Excel do the hard work for you.
8. Morph OneNote Handwriting into Text
   Microsoft’s OneNote program lets you take notes on your computer without having to type them provided you have a touch screen. OneNote is great for meetings and interviews where typing might be a distraction. It’s also good for annotating a document or adding illustrations. Did you know there’s a way to turn all that handwriting into neatly typed text thanks to Office 365? It’s simple, efficient, and fast.

What hidden features have you discovered in Office 365 that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments.

Learn more about Office 365 and how it can streamline your business — and your budget — by calling us today at (833) 482-6435 or contacting us online to schedule your network assessment.