The underrated features and benefits of Microsoft 365

According to Upwork's "Future of Workforce Pulse Report," an estimated 1 in 4 Americans were predicted to be working remotely through 2021 — and that trend isn't stopping anytime soon. In fact, Upwork also estimates that by 2025, around 22% of working Americans will be operating remotely.

In order to make the remote workplace as efficient and connected as possible, there are certain tools, software and resources that businesses should consider utilizing.

At RapidScale, a managed cloud services provider, the company encourages clients to use Microsoft 365 — largely due to the impressive versatility and suite of products that it offers.

"One of the things that users struggle with a lot with M365 is understanding how to get the most out of the tool — it's not just email, it's OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, video conferencing, everything," said Duncan MacDonald, director of product development at RapidScale. "What we wanted was to bundle a set of tools that allows users to leverage those things and do things like collaborate and communicate remotely."

RapidScale partners with Nulia, a software company that helps users unlock the value of Microsoft 365, when customers begin the onboarding process.

Through Nulia, users can take a number of customized "training courses" that show them the ropes on various Microsoft products. Nulia "gamifies" the process in a way, awarding badges for certain skills and adding an element of fun to the learning curve.

While most people who have Microsoft 365 already use Teams, they may not realize just how many other things the software is capable of. Nulia helps them discover more uses.

"All you have to do is click on the Nulia icon within Teams or via web browser, and it's a personalized dashboard like a game. It gives you the full rundown of where you're at today, some skills that might need some attention or skills that you might want to learn. Also, the IT manager can craft personalized outcomes for the teams to skill up on," said Wah Lee, senior product manager at RapidScale.

Currently, RapidScale offers 46 outcomes and 151 skills. Users are able to access these "lessons" at any time.

"The number-one thing that people ask for is how to change their password. Instead of calling the IT person or their provider, they can just click a button in Microsoft 365 that opens up a webpage," said Lee. "That'll bring them to the page to change the password. Users also have access to entire step-by-step guides and other resources."

"Somebody might have never used Teams before, and with Nulia, they can get a step-by-step tutorial on how everything works," he continued. "No one wants to admit that they don't know how to do something, so we built in this how-to. It's easy to understand for any type of user, so they can learn and get the best value out of Microsoft 365."

Essentially, if users know how to navigate the system, Microsoft 365 can be a one-stop-shop for all of their needs. Features include:

For remote workplaces, these capabilities improve efficiency and communication. As more offices consider full or part-time remote post-COVID, software like Microsoft 365 and Nulia can be useful tools in the transition and beyond.

At RapidScale, MacDonald has noticed the use of Microsoft 365 and Nulia leading to decreased support tickets.

"We have a special onboarding team that ensures customers know the ropes of M365 — they know how to use the portal, they know how to submit tickets, they know how to access everything. Once that comes to an end, we'll meet with them a number of times to ensure that there is a level of competency and to ensure that they are efficient," said MacDonald. "By utilizing that team we found that the number of support tickets actually decreases and the customer satisfaction levels increase because."

"If you put work into learning M365 and taking advantage of that investment, it pays dividends on the backend."