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Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 – previously known as Office 365 – brings common Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint together with a range of online communication and collaboration tools and services including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business and OneNote.

Our Education licence for Microsoft 365 allows staff to access apps, tools and services on:

Access for external colleagues

You can also add external users (i.e. non ‘abdn’ domain) to your Microsoft Teams site or SharePoint site, or share files with them in your OneDrive for Business without having to request a external IT account for them. This new functionality, introduced in August 2020, makes it easier to collaborate with external partners. To help you get started:

Communication

Outlook

What it is

  • Email, Calendaring, and Contacts app
  • Best for sending more formal or official messages, including those to customers, vendors, etc.

What you get

  • Work efficiently with email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and more
  • Calendar sharing and delegation
  • Integrated into the MS Teams to allow meeting scheduling, calendar events, and notifications

Access

  • Anytime, anywhere via a web browser at https://www.office.com/
  • Desktop app on University managed devices
  • Dedicated Outlook mobile app

Support and guidance

Teams

Teams is available to all registered University of Aberdeen staff and students. External sharing is also possible, allowing you to invite external colleagues to be Team members.

What it is

  • Cloud-based collaborative hub 
  • Best for smaller groups of people that work closely together in a directed way

What it does

  • Chat, voice calls, and video calls
  • Create/upload and collaborate on files
  • Integration with personal Outlook calendar
  • Organise and participate in audio/video meetings, including ability to chat to participants, share screen, and share files and meeting notes
  • Create Teams and Team Channels to organise project work, research, or any scenario where teamwork is required

Access

  • Anytime, anywhere via a web browser – sign in at https://www.office.com/ with your University username@abdn.ac.uk and password
  • Desktop app on University managed devices
  • Dedicated Teams mobile app

Information Governance

Please remember that Teams is a collaboration tool. Information or files you post on a Teams site may be available to all other team members. It is for communication related to your job role and should not be used for personal chat not related to your work. Information you record on Teams could be disclosed in response to a freedom of information request or to someone you refer to in Teams chat. You should consider the appropriateness of what you record on Teams, and only record what is relevant and necessary. If you are unclear about how and where to appropriately record information, please contact the Information Governance Team at dpa@abdn.ac.uk

Support and guidance

Yammer

What it is

  • Private social network
  • Best for ad hoc interaction with people across an organization, for University-wide communication and general announcements

What you get

  • Connect to individuals and groups via conversations
  • Share information, discuss ideas, and collaborate across teams
  • Organise around communities and projects
  • Communications are secure and only visible to people within the University

Access

  • Anytime, anywhere via a web browser – sign in at https://www.office.com/ with your University username@abdn.ac.uk and password
  • Dedicated Yammer mobile app

Support and guidance

Which tool to use? A quick comparison
  • Outlook: best for sending more formal, or official messages to customers, vendors, etc.
  • Teams: best for smaller groups of people that work closely together in a directed way
  • Yammer: best for ad hoc interaction with people across an organization, for University-wide communication and general announcements

Diagram showing MS 365 communication tools and when to use each.

Collaboration

SharePoint

What it is

Management information system supporting collaborative working and enhancing business processes within specific departments across the University.

What you get

  • Access to a School, departmental, or Project SharePoint site
  • Document management and storage
  • Collaboration including share files, data, news, and resources
  • Business processes, from simple tasks like notifications and approvals to complex operational workflows

Access

Contact the IT Service Desk to request a new SharePoint site, or to request external access to an existing SharePoint site. Your request will be sent to our SharePoint team who will review the request and create the site if approved, or delegate it to the appropriate Site Administrator for approval.

Once your site is set up:

Support and guidance

Teams

Teams is available to all registered University of Aberdeen staff and students. External sharing is also possible, allowing you to invite external colleagues to be Team members.

What it is

  • Cloud-based collaborative hub 
  • Best for smaller groups of people that work closely together in a directed way

What it does

  • Chat, voice calls, and video calls
  • Create/upload and collaborate on files
  • Integration with personal Outlook calendar
  • Organise and participate in audio/video meetings, including ability to chat to participants, share screen, and share files and meeting notes
  • Create Teams and Team Channels to organise project work, research, or any scenario where teamwork is required

Access

  • Anytime, anywhere via a web browser – sign in at https://www.office.com/ with your University username@abdn.ac.uk and password
  • Desktop app on University managed devices
  • Dedicated Teams mobile app

Information Governance

Please remember that Teams is a collaboration tool. Information or files you post on a Teams site may be available to all other team members. It is for communication related to your job role and should not be used for personal chat not related to your work. Information you record on Teams could be disclosed in response to a freedom of information request or to someone you refer to in Teams chat. You should consider the appropriateness of what you record on Teams, and only record what is relevant and necessary. If you are unclear about how and where to appropriately record information, please contact the Information Governance Team at dpa@abdn.ac.uk

Support and guidance

OneDrive for Business

Note: OneDrive for Business online storage is intended for business purposes and is not the same product as OneDrive personal online storage. You cannot link to OneDrive from your OneDrive for Business account.

What it is

Cloud-based file storage

What you get

  • 1 Terabyte storage

Access

  • Anytime, anywhere via a web browser – sign in at https://www.office.com/ with your University username@abdn.ac.uk and password

Support and guidance

OneNote

What it is

Digital notebook

What you get

  • Capture, collate and share information – including text, attachments, video, audio, and images
  • Notebooks can be private or shared with and edited by others

Access

  • Anytime, anywhere via a web browser – sign in at https://www.office.com/ with your University username@abdn.ac.uk and password
  • Desktop app on University managed devices
  • Dedicated OneNote mobile app

Support and guidance

Office Online (Office web apps)

What it is

Cut-down versions of common Office applications available via your web browser

What you get

  • Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook
  • Create, edit and access files without installing software
  • Files created in Office Online are automatically saved to your personal OneDrive for Business

Access

  • Anytime, anywhere via a web browser – sign in at https://www.office.com/ with your University username@abdn.ac.uk and password

Support and guidance

Common apps

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook

What you get

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook

Access

Support and guidance