[Updated Guide] Microsoft 365 Business Basic/Standard/Premium

Looking for a way to cut down time spent trying to communicate with your team? Look no further than Microsoft 365 Business, a suite of tools offering a convenient way to collaborate and communicate effectively.

But which plan from Basic, Standard and Premium packages suits your business best? How do you set this up and manage your staff account?

We will guide you through these challenges in this detailed article. Read on for a seamless collaboration with Microsoft 365 Business!

What is Microsoft 365 Business?

Microsoft 365 Business combines the top-tier productivity tools of Office 365 with security and device management features.

Large enterprises widely favour it.

While many clients prefer Google Docs or software, some require an offline solution. This is where Microsoft software comes in. It can easily synchronize with the cloud.

With Microsoft 365 Business, users can access Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, and Exchange, making collaboration seamless.

The most significant advantage of Microsoft 365 Business today is its integration with Teams, which is quite helpful.

5 Main Reasons Why Companies are Using Microsoft 365 Business

1. Level up Staff’s Productivity

Microsoft 365 Business offers several advantages over the basic plans of Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

First, Microsoft 365 Business includes desktop versions of these tools, with a more robust feature set than the web and mobile-based versions included in the basic plans.

Microsoft 365 Business comes with real-time collaboration, which allows multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously. Its automatic saving ensures changes are saved without extra effort.

Furthermore, Microsoft 365 Business includes tools like OneDrive, Outlook, and Exchange, which streamline communication and data management.

Microsoft 365 Business’s comprehensive tools help staff be more productive and efficient.

2. Better Communication and Cooperation

Microsoft 365 is an incredible tool that helps employees work securely from anywhere.

This is made possible through its integration with Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint.

With Teams, employees can collaborate in real-time, share files, and communicate seamlessly, regardless of location.

Exchange helps manage emails and scheduling, making it easy to stay organized.

OneDrive allows users to store, access, and share files from anywhere simultaneously. SharePoint offers a centralized platform for document management and team collaboration.

All these tools work together so employees can use the same solution to work more efficiently, no matter where they work.

Microsoft 365 is an excellent investment to help boost employee productivity.

3. Pro Business Email Address

This platform helps you set up a professional business email address using your company's name.

You can create a custom email address with your company's domain name. For example, the mail address will look like "yourname@yourcompanyname.com". This gives your business a professional look and helps build trust with stakeholders.

You can access your email using Outlook, which is included with Microsoft 365. You can also set up shared mailboxes for teams to collaborate and manage emails

Overall, Microsoft 365 makes setting up a professional business email address easy.

4. Easy Administration

One significant advantage of Microsoft 365 is its easy administration. Here are a few reasons why:

• Centralized Management: you can manage all your users, devices, and apps from a centralized console. This makes adding or removing users, setting up security policies, and managing devices easy.

• User-Friendly Interface: The admin console is easy to navigate. You can manage Microsoft 365 even if you are not a technical expert.

• Cloud-Based: This is a cloud-based platform. Microsoft manages all the infrastructure, allowing you to focus on your business.

• Automatic Updates: Microsoft 365 constantly evolves, with new features and regular security patches.

• Integration with Other Microsoft Tools: Microsoft 365 integrates with SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive. This makes it easy to collaborate across your organization.

5. Simplified Security

The Microsoft 365 platform offers many advantages with its simplified security.

• Centralized security management: Platform allows you to manage all your security settings and policies from a single location.

• Advanced threat protection: Microsoft 365’s built-in security features, like advanced threat protection, help protect against cyber threats, security breaches and data loss.

• Automatic updates: Microsoft 365 automatically updates its security features and patches any vulnerabilities.

• Multi-factor authentication: Microsoft 365 offers multi-factor authentication (MFA) to prevent unauthorized access to your accounts.

• Simplified management: Microsoft 365's simplified security features reduce the burden on IT staff and improve overall efficiency.

Comparison of Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, and Premium

Which Microsoft 365 Business plan should I choose?

Choosing the right Microsoft 365 Business plan can be confusing, but let me explain.

First, let's talk about the Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan.

The cheapest option offers Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint.

However, it only offers web- and mobile-based Word, Excel, and PowerPoint versions.

If you want to save money, this is the right plan.

Next up is the Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan.

It offers everything in Business Basic plus desktop Office apps, including Yammer, 1 TB OneDrive storage, and limited use rights to Power Apps and Power Automate.

This plan is ideal for most organizations and provides more flexibility.

Finally, there's the Microsoft 365 Business Premium plan.

It is expensive but includes everything in Business Standard plus premium security features like Azure AD Premium, Advanced Threat Protection, Azure Information Protection, and Intune.

This plan will protect your business if you have remote workers or BYOD workstyles.

The Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan is the most cost-effective option if you're a small business.

Overview of Microsoft 365 Business Applications

Applications and services available under each plan are listed below with a brief description.

Microsoft 365 Basic

Outlook:

• Email and calendar app

• Keeps your inbox organized

• Makes it Easy to schedule meetings

Word:

• Word processing app

• Great app for writing

• Plenty of formatting options

Excel:

• Spreadsheet app

• Perfect for managing budgets, tracking data

• Allows for easy calculations and data visualization

PowerPoint:

• Presentation app

• Create visually appealing slideshows

• Includes plenty of templates

OneDrive:

• Cloud storage app

• Keep your files safe and accessible

• Easy to share files with others

Teams:

• Collaboration app

• Chat and video call with coworkers

• Share files and work together on projects

Bookings:

• Scheduling app

• Great for businesses who need to schedule appointments

• Allows for calendar management

Forms:

• Survey and quiz app

• Create forms to collect data from others

• Includes plenty of templates and customization options

Lists:

• Task management app

• Keep track of your to-do list or project tasks

• Can be shared with others for collaboration

Planner:

• Project management app

• It helps you stay on top of deadlines and progress

• Easy to assign tasks and track progress

Exchange:

• Email and calendar server software

• manages email and schedules appointments

• Includes security and compliance features

SharePoint:

• Collaboration and document management platform

• Great for businesses to store and share files

• plenty of customization and integration options

Microsoft 365 standard

All applications are available under the Basic Plan plus the following.

Publisher:

• Create and design professional-quality publications

• Easy to use drag-and-drop interface

• Customizable templates available

• Add text, images, and graphics to your publications

• Perfect for making flyers, brochures, and newsletters

Access:

• Create and manage databases with ease

• No coding experience needed

• Pre-built templates to get you started

• Customizable forms, reports, and queries

• Share and collaborate with others on the same database

Microsoft 365 Premium

All applications which are available under Standard Plan Plus the following.

Intune:

• A mobile device management app that helps organizations manage and secure their employees' mobile devices.

• Key benefits include:

• Simplifies the management of devices across multiple platforms: iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS.

• Provides security features such as conditional access, encryption, and data leakage prevention.

• Offers flexible policies that allow IT admins to control app and device access, set up automated compliance rules, and more.

• Enables remote management of devices, such as wiping data or locking devices in case of theft or loss.

Azure Information Protection:

• A data protection app that helps organizations classify and protect sensitive information.

• Key benefits include:

• Provides a consistent and centralized way to classify, label, and protect sensitive data on-premises and in the cloud.

• Offers intelligent labelling and protection policies that can automatically apply security controls based on the content and context of the data.

• Enables secure sharing of protected data with external parties, including customers, partners, and contractors.

• Integrates with other Microsoft 365 apps, such as Outlook and SharePoint.

How to Assign Microsoft 365 Business License to A New Employee

Here, We will go through the steps to add a new user and give them a license in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, so your new employee can start working immediately.

Steps to Assign Microsoft 365 Business License to One User

1. Sign into Office 365 work/school account as global, license or a user Admin

2. Select the app launcher icon in the upper left corner.

3. Select Admin

4. Go to users>active users

5. Select the row of the user you want to assign a license to

6. On the right pane, select products and licenses

7. Expand the license section, and switch the toggle on for licenses you want to assign

8. Save changes

Steps to Assign Microsoft 365 Business License to Multiple Users

1. Log in as a user, license or global admin

2. Go to the admin centre. Then users. Select active users

3. Select the names of users you want to assign a license

4. Select manage product license from the top

5. From the product license pane, go to assign more> keep existing license and assign more page

How to Remove Microsoft 365 Business License When Your Employee Leave

When employees leave your organization, revoking their access is essential. This step keeps sensitive data out of reach of former employees without a legitimate need for it. Following these steps, you can easily deactivate the license of the departing employee and reassign it to a new user when needed.

Steps to Remove Employee’s Microsoft 365 Business License

1. Log into your Microsoft 365 account as a global admin

2. Go to the admin page from the app launcher icon

3. Go to users/active users

4. Select the box next to the license you want to delete

5. Choose to remove the selected license

How to Set Up Microsoft 365 Business Email

Steps to Steup Business Email Address

1. Select a Microsoft 365 plan: Go to Microsoft.com and click Buy Now.

2. Select the For Business tab>choose a plan that suits you best.

3. Connect your domain (or buy one): If you already have one, you can connect it to Microsoft 365.

4. If you need help, you can buy a domain directly from Microsoft.

5. Verify the domain for Microsoft Business Email: you must verify it to ensure that you own it.

6. Go to the domain registry where you purchased the domain name to find DNS settings.

7. copy the TXT value from Microsoft and paste it into the TXT value in your domain.

7. Create your business email: Now you can create multiple email addresses, each with a unique username.

8. After creating your business email address, you can complete your purchase and use Microsoft 365 for your organization.

WPS Office - A Lifesaver for Small Business

Thinking of costs and growing a small business, one solution comes to your mind. WPS office.

It's a total lifesaver for small businesses! WPS Office includes word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software, just like Microsoft Office.

But here's the kicker: it's completely free!

You can get all the benefits of a premium office suite without breaking the bank. Plus, WPS Office is compatible with Microsoft Office file formats, so you can collaborate with clients and partners who use Microsoft Office.

Four Reasons Why Use WPS Office to Create and Edit Word/Excel/Powerpoint

• Free to use

• Fully compatible with Microsoft Office files

• Real-time collaboration and cross-platform supported

• Huge free templates for editing documents, presentations, spreadsheets.

How to Open, Edit and Save Microsoft Office files in WPS

1. Open a Microsoft Office file in WPS: Click the Open button in the home menu.

Then, browse to the location where the Microsoft Office file is saved and select it.

2. Edit a Microsoft Office file in WPS:  You can edit it just like you would in Microsoft Office. You can change the document, spreadsheet, or presentation's text, formatting, and other elements.

3. Save a Microsoft Office file in WPS: Click on the "Save" button. Alternately, click the "Save As" button and select the format (e.g., .wps for WPS writer ,.docx for Word, .xlsx for Excel, etc.).

4. Share the file with others: After saving it, you can share it by sending it as an email attachment, uploading it to a cloud storage service, or sharing it through a collaboration platform like Microsoft Teams or Slack.

FAQs about Microsoft 365 Business

Q1. Can I Upgrade My Microsoft 365 Business Basic to Standard or Premium?

Yes! It is easy to upgrade your subscription from the admin center.

1. Sign in and click on Billing in the left-hand menu.

2. Click on Upgrade next to the subscription you want to upgrade to (e.g., Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium).

The cost of your subscription will change with the upgrade.

Q2. How to Cancel My Microsoft 365 Business Subscription?

Just follow these steps.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center and Click on Billing in the left-hand menu.

2. Click on Subscriptions to view your active subscriptions.

3. Find the subscription you want to cancel and click on cancel subscription.

Access to Microsoft 365 Business will be terminated at the end of your current billing period.

Q3. What Happens if I Don't Renew My Microsoft 365 Business  Subscription?

You will lose access to the service at the end of your billing period. Your data will be deleted after a grace period of 30 to 90 days.

It's essential to download critical files before your subscription expires and consider migrating to another service if needed.

Q4. Is Microsoft 365 Business Email better than Google Workspace Business Email?

Both are popular options for business email solutions.

Microsoft 365 Business Email offers

• Integration with its suite of products

• and Advanced security features for data protection.

Google Workspace Business Email offers

• collaboration features,

• Third-party integrations and add-ons.

Choosing between the two depends on specific needs, Budget and the existing software ecosystem.

Q5. Can I Use My Website Domain with Microsoft 365 Business?

You can use your website domain with Microsoft 365 Business to create a professional email address.

You can use an existing domain name or purchase one through Microsoft.