Get more out of Microsoft Office with Office Live Workspace

Guest blog from Tim Kimber, UK Office Live Lead & OfficeLiveGuy

Without a doubt, Office Live Workspace on it’s own can be a very powerful tool, the 5GB of free storage space is ideal for backing-up important files. The ability to preview Office documents in a browser allows full fidelity viewing of those files from any internet connected computer, even if Microsoft Office is not installed. This can be very useful for viewing content whilst travelling for business or pleasure, reducing the need to carry a laptop everywhere.

However, Office Live Workspace really comes to life when the add-in for Office is installed. This small download facilitates the opening, editing and saving of documents directly from Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The add-in works with Office 2007, 2003 and XP, effectively utilising Office Live Workspace as an extra 5GB of disk space that is accessible from anywhere, with the ability to invite others in to view and comment on files.

Office Live Workspace is being used by all sorts of businesses; here are a few real-life examples :

· Wedding planners – all the project files are produced on a PC and saved to a Workspace, which is then used collaborate with others involved in the wedding organisation.

· Travel company – a custom holiday is designed with all the documents stored centrally in a Workspace and kept updated for relevant parties to see.

· Rugby club avoids the need to email around lots of attachments by uploading them into a Workspace and sending out a pointer after each meeting.

· External supplier to a small business sets up a WorkSpace to store contracts, invoices, parts lists, minutes of meetings, and so on, reducing email traffic and maintaining an audit trail.

· Charitable organisations use Workspaces to store minutes of meetings, lists of donors, plan future events, store materials used to promote the charity.

Source: Microsoft Small Business