It seems that Microsoft is just not stopping when it comes to bolstering the value of its Office 365 subscriptions for businesses. Late last year, the company brought Microsoft Access back to its business plans, while a few months ago it added its Bookings service to Office 365 Business Premium customers worldwide. Now, those on Business Premium in the US, UK, and Canada can look forward to receiving more business apps for their buck.
Microsoft Connections is positioned as an 'email marketing service' and allowing users to create campaigns targeting specific types of lead generation facilitated by a range of templates. The popularity of mailing lists can also be measured over time with the ability to track the interaction pipeline from open rates through to sign-ups, new customers, and redemptions. Of course, the service also allows recipients to easily join or opt-out of mailing lists. Aside from being available on the web, Connections will also have mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Microsoft Listings is an innovative new tool that will enable businesses to publish and maintain listings across a number of online services, including Facebook, Google, Bing, and Yelp. Microsoft's one-stop shop will also help business users to keep track of online reviews in a centralized manner in order to make the best sense of customer feedback and positively influence the digital standing of their business.
Microsoft Invoicing, as the name may suggest, provides a method to businesses to quickly and professionally create, track, and process invoices. It can even be used for making formatted and well-presented estimates, a step up from hand-written or manually updated Microsoft Word templates. As an added bonus, Invoicing also works with PayPal, to facilitate credit and debit card payments, while a QuickBooks connector will provide businesses with a way to keep customer and invoicing data in sync. The service will also have its own mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Finally, as an added perk, Office 365 Business Premium customers will also receive a complimentary premium subscription to MileIQ, a popular app on iOS and Android used for mileage tracking. With the ability to log an unlimited number of drives per month, customers can also quickly classify trips as personal or business-related and save time compared to manual logbooks. Similar to Microsoft's latest inclusions to Office 365, the free MileIQ Premium subscription is only available to customers in the US, UK, and Canada.
Microsoft Connections, Listings, and Invoicing are rolling out now in preview form to Office 365 Business Premium customers in the First Release program with the company expecting to make them generally available before the end of the year.
Source: Microsoft
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