More and more Dynamics CRM users are making the switch to Office 365. It integrates seamlessly with CRM, it's easy to use and it gives users anywhere access to the tools and information they need to be productive. Today we'll be diving into the Microsoft Portal Online for Office 365, but first, are you already an Office 365 user?

PowerObjects has many resources to help you get started:

• Learn More About Office 365
• Bundle Your Licenses with Microsoft Cloud by PowerObjects
• Watch the Webinar: Intro to Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Integrations
• Watch the Webinar: Office 365 Groups in Dynamics CRM

With the release of the new Microsoft Office, both new and current Office 365 customers will see an upgrade to the Microsoft Portal Online for Office 365. This upgrade will include a new look to follow Microsoft's new, user-friendly interface. It's completely free to all customers.

Overview of Microsoft Portal Online Features

When you sign into Office 365, you'll see links at the top of the page for the Outlook Web App. Click Outlook for your email, Calendar for your appointments, and People for your contacts.

The Outlook Web App has its own upgrade as well, which looks very similar to Outlook 2013 on your desktop. While most people will continue to use Exchange Online synced with Outlook on the desktop, the new look of Office Web Apps will make it easier for people to have access to emails, contacts and calendar from anywhere.

You'll also see a new option called News Feeds where you can follow people from within your organization. It also serves as a place for you to post comments or questions that your company can see.

Click Site to get to your Team Site. This will be your company's SharePoint site where you can store documents and information. This tool allows you to save documents created on your desktop directly to your Team Site. The new Team Site will still primarily focus on document storage, but with its new interface, companies can share and edit documents easily using either Office products on their desktops or using Office Web Apps which is included in nearly every Office 365 plan.

Lastly, you will see a tab for your SkyDrive account. Each individuals Office 365 account will get SkyDrive which is used for individual document storage in the cloud. You can easily navigate to your SkyDrive account through your File Explorer, so instead to saving a document in a file on your desktop you can save a file in your SkyDrive account. Use it! It might just save you from despair the next time your hard drive crashes.

All new customers either signing up for a 30 day free trial or purchasing a subscription will have this new Microsoft Portal. For existing Office 365 customers, Microsoft is working on automatically upgrading customers for free. All current Office 365 customers will get the upgrade within the next four months.

Learn more about Office 365 plans and why it makes sense for Dynamics CRM users. You can also contact us and talk to an Office 365 expert who will be happy to answer any questions.

Happy CRM'ing and Office 365'ing!