Microsoft has provided more information about its recently announced Microsoft Lists*, a feature that will soon be joining Microsoft 365’s productivity suite of software. With Lists, users can track issues, manage inventory, build out event agendas, report status, manage FAQs, and more.

When you write down a list of things you must recall, it can be a challenge just to keep up with that initial information. But if your list grows and changes and starts being added to by others, the list can soon grow out of control. That’s the type of challenge that Microsoft Lists solves, according to Seth Patton, general manager of Microsoft 365.

*Note: On April 21, 2020, Microsoft rebranded Office 365 to Microsoft 365 to focus it more towards the consumer and small business markets.

Some Features of Microsoft Lists

• Web-based or mobile app | Lists can be created and shared using either a web browser or a mobile app. Information from both sources is constantly syncing.
• Microsoft Lists and Microsoft Teams | Create a new list or embed an existing list directly in a Teams channel – enabling a side-by-side conversation.
• Ready-made templates | Comes with preconfigured forms, views, formatting, and more. Or create your own.
• Stay in sync | Customizable views, smart rules, and sharing.

Above | Miceile Barrett, Lists program manager, demonstrates a first look at Microsoft Lists (demo video). 

Microsoft Lists promotional video

Other Upgrades to and Changes in Microsoft Teams

Photos, video and illustrations via Microsoft.

(Originally posted, May, 2011) We posted this article a few years ago as a guide to the icons found on mobile apps. In general, “icons” mean emoji for grown-up developers. If you notice a missing icon or wonder what one means, send us a link of where you see it and we’ll help all our users learn what the new or confusing icon  means: tips@smallbusiness.com)

As more and more people are using mobile devices to run their lives and businesses, the people who develop applications for these devices face a challenge. Smaller screens mean less space to use words that instruct the user where to go and how to use the mobile website or app. For that reason, a whole new visual language of small symbols called “icons” is evolving. These icons are supposed to convey to the user what will happen when they tap onto or click the image.

The only problem is, sometimes Developer A and Developer B use the same image for various things, or different images for the same thing. For instance, what does and “i” in a circle mean? How is it different from a “?” in a circle? Or, for that matter, an “!”? (We included that last one, as it’s an on-going debate we have among ourselves at SmallBusiness.com.)

Here are some common icons and what will likely happen when you click or tap on them. The following icons are from the folks at Font Awesome who have open-sourced them as part of development framework called Bootstrap that was created at Twitter and became an open-source project in 2011.

Cog, Widget or Gear

We started with this one because it demonstrates some of the confusion. First off, it’s a symbol that goes by different names. In the real-world, the symbol can mean “widget,” a word that has a meaning among developers that has nothing to do with that real-world meaning. On an app or website, it typically means “settings.” Click it and you can adjust something.

Wrench

This, also, is what we mean by a confusing icon, as it can, like the cog-gear-widget, also mean “settings.” For example, Google Apps used to have a wrench icon for settings but now uses a “cog-gear-widget.”

Envelope

An envelope should mean email, right? It may. Or it may have a broader meaning, like “click on this to contact us.” Look for one on SmallBusiness.com and click it and the latter will happen.

Right Swirving Arrow

This means share. Click on it and you’ll likely see a list of ways to post the content you’re seeing onto social media sites or email it to friends or co-workers.

Another Sharing Icon

Perhaps we didn’t mention that the internet has no governing board that controls how many symbols can mean the same thing, as this one means “share” also., but wait, there’s more.

Yet, Another Sharing Symbol

We feel certain there are some nuance differences in the two previous  sharing icons and this one, but on SmallBusiness.com, we’ve narrowed it down to the middle one. This one is especially confusing because it can also mean “print.” One day, this will all be worked out by the UN.

Exclamation Point

The exclamation point in a circle means, “take note and watch out.” If it’s in a triangle, it means “TAKE NOTE and WATCH OUT.” Or, if it’s part of the logo of SmallBusiness.com, it means, “here’s your answer!”

Home

This should be obvious. It means, click here to play a game of Monopoly.

Ellipsis

Sometimes (say, if you use Google+), you may even see a stack of ellipses. We’re guessing this icon is a visual pun that means “the stuff we couldn’t…fit here.”  Clicking or tapping on the icon will reveal options related to what you are currently viewing. (Coincidentally, the next icon means and does about the same.)

Parallel Bars (hamburger or a stack of hamburgers or hot dogs)

When used as a navigational icon, either of these two “lists” mean there are lots of things the app or website couldn’t fit on a tiny screen. Typically, if you click or tap on them, some form of the navigational bar will slide in from the side or top.

Pencil

This means “edit” pretty much anywhere you see it.

Triangle in a Circle

This is a play button icon. That, or a cattle ranch brand.

Circle Arrow

This means refresh. Refresh means stay on the same page, but try to make it work, this time.

A Dot with Two Curved Lines

This is an RSS icon. It’s a magical tool that far too few people use. If you want others to be more informed than you, ignore it.

Magnifying glass

This means “search.” Even if you don’t see a search box, click on it. In fact, you can test what we mean by looking for one at the top of this screen (depending on the device you are using). Tap or click on it. We promise a search box will appear.

Beer Mug

This icon means “turn off your computer and go have a beer.”

Today (June 25, 2017), the cloud-based business software company, Zoho, redefined a suite and pricing of business software with its launch of Zoho One, a platform and licensing model connecting 35+ mobile, native, and web software apps. Google, Apple and Microsoft each have a cloud-based suite of business-focused software applications. Each offers a subscription model and provides the basics: word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, calendar, and contacts, along with some data and file storage options. Unlike their subscription model where a company pays a few dollars per employee per month (for a few software applications), Zoho One is priced at $30 per employee, per month, for the entire 35+ collection of software.

Previously, Zoho has focused primarily on the small business market and has created independent software and business service apps. But in a project lasting four years, Zoho has combined all of those independent apps onto one data platform with a plan to expand its market beyond small businesses. Raju Vegesna, Zoho’s chief evangelist, said the company wanted to make its entire business operating system available in a buffet. “We think this will expand the market,” said Vegesna. “We initially thought Zoho One would appeal to smaller companies, but we’re seeing mid- to large-enterprise beta customers.”

Zoho will now be competing with software in nearly all business categories, including Google, Microsoft, Oracle’s NetSuite, Salesforce and Intuit. “We are targeting anyone who does work. This isn’t a traditional way of looking at the business market,” said Vegesna.

Zoho One’s Challenge

The challenge of going broad with a 35+ application suite of software services is the eco-systems already developed around the software that individual industries are built upon, like Intuit or Salesforce. In military terminology and strategy, the expression “two-front war” describes a situation in which a country finds itself fighting enemies from two directions (e.g., Germany in World War II). In choosing to offer 35+ different software categories, Zoho will find itself engaged in a 35+ front war. According to Zoho, it has 1,000+ implementation and training partners who are available to help customers whenever needs arise.

Zoho One Applications

The array of software categories and applications in the Zoho One suite in impressive. Here is a list of the categories and applications in each.

Sales

• CRM
  A multichannel approach to modern sales processes. (Customer relationship management.)
• Motivator
  Gamification-enhanced sales performance.
• Reports
  A business intelligence platform.
• ContactManager
  A small business app to manage contacts and deals until you graduate into the full-blown CRM.

Marketing

• SalesIQ
  Engages website visitors.
• Campaigns
  Create, send, and track email campaigns.
• Social
  Post content, interact with followers, and monitor conversations across social networks, from one place.
• Survey
  Helps make decisions using feedback from surveys.
• Forms
  Forms for lead generation and customer engagement.

Support

• Desk
  A multi-channel help desk that helps prioritize support requests.
• Assist
  Troubleshoots customer issues remotely for quick resolutions.

Productivity & Collaboration

• Mail
  Securely hosted, ad-free email.
• Cliq
  Quick and informal messaging for team communication.
• Connect
  A private social network for team discussion and sharing resources.
• Writer
  An online word processor for collaborative work.
• Sheet
  A collaborative cloud spreadsheet.
• Show
  Create slide decks with ideas from multiple collaborators.
• Showtime
  Present slide decks to audiences anywhere and interact with them.
• Docs
  Store and share files and documents with teammates, partners, vendors, or customers.
• Projects
  Plan, track, and collaborate on projects across teams.
• Meeting
  Browser-based web conferencing for demos and presentations.
• Vault
  Securely store and manage passwords.
• Notebook
  A simple note-taking app.
• Sign
  Sign documents digitally and request signatures.

Finance

• Books
  Online accounting software.
• Invoice
  Professional invoices.
• Subscriptions
  Bills customers on a recurring or subscription basis.
• Expense
  Turn receipts into expense reports for quick approvals.
• Inventory
  A centralized inventory management system for distributed sales channels like retail stores, online shops, or marketplaces like Amazon or eBay.
• Checkout
  Simple one-time and recurring online payments solution.

Human Resources

• People
  Manage your employees, including managerial approvals, performance management, and more.
• Recruit
  Designed for both in-house recruiters and staffing agencies.

Business Process

• Creator
  Turn unique processes into custom applications.
• Reports
  Business intelligence platform that provides useful insights about your business.

All small businesses must decide how to manage the money coming in and going out. It’s important to understand that each small business is unique, and we recommend that you consult with a trusted advisor when it comes to setting up and managing the accounting methods and platforms you should use. On an accompanying post, we’ve outlined the reasons you need two of those trusted advisors: a bookkeeper and an accountant. In this post, we provide an overview comparison of ten current (2016) popular online accounting software that you, a bookkeeper and accountant may use to turn your financial operations into a finely tuned machine. But there are more solutions your advisor might suggest.

(VIA | PCMag.com, where you will find reviews and links to each software platform below.)

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If you’ve ever pasted data into a Google Sheets spreadsheet and were frustrated to see the data did not split up nicely into columns, help is one the way. Google Apps is rolling out a feature (during March 2016) that makes it easy for a non-spreadsheet wonk to re-format the data so that it looks and works the way you want.

The Problem | People who use spreadsheets all day, everyday, know how to manipulate (or “clean up”) the data before pasting it into a spreadsheet. Those people know how to use a spreadsheet far better than the rest of us earthlings. When the rest of us paste data into a spreadsheet and it doesn’t appear correctly, we start manually cutting and pasting the information into the cells where we want them to appear.

Background | Spreadsheet power users and the developers who create the software don’t see the data as you do, but, rather they see chunks of information (words, numbers, etc.) split up into their own spaces by commas, semicolons, periods, spaces, and other types of “separators.” A problem can occur when data that is split up using one kind of separator (commas, for example) is pasted into a spreadsheet that uses another type of separator (semi-colons, for example).

Solution | Google Sheets is rolling out a feature that will have a point-and-click way to separate the text and numbers into the cells you want — automagically. The animated screen grab below shows how.

(Click on the image for a larger view.)

(Click to enlarge)

When | The feature will be rolling out during March, 2016.

Via | Google Apps Help Center

]]> https://smallbusiness.com/tech/free-antivirus-utilities/ Thu, 10 Dec 2015 16:27:07 +0000 http://smallbusiness.com/?p=17700

PCMag.com has released its annual list of free antivirus utilities. Keyword: free. For more features, you’ll need to check out PCMag.com’s list of paid antivirus utilities. About the term “antivirus”: Originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses (thus, the name), with the proliferation of other types of malicious software (malware), the term “antivirus software” has expanded to include protection from a wide array of computer threats.

What are the best FREE antivirus utilities?

PCMag.com’s top three free antivirus utilities (Avast Free Antivirus, AVG AntiVirus Free, and Panda Free Antivirus) all include some useful bonus features., according to PCMag.com’s Neil Rubenking. “(For example) Avast includes a password manager and a network security scanner in its toolkit.” Rubenking’s advice: “If you do have a little cash in your budget for security, the best paid antivirus products do tend to offer more and better protection. If not, try a few of these free tools and see which one you like best.”

1 | Avast Free Antivirus 2016

(Quotes from PCMag.com’s Neil Rubenking) “Avast Free Antivirus 2016 scores high in independent lab tests and in our own tests, especially our antiphishing test. Bonus features like the new password manager and innovative router security scan make it an excellent choice for free antivirus protection.”

2 | AVG AntiVirus Free (2016)

“The latest version of AVG AntiVirus Free scores high with independent testing labs, and also fares well in our hands-on tests.”

3 | Panda Free Antivirus (2016)

“While Panda Free Antivirus doesn’t outperform the very best commercial antivirus tools, it’s way better than the rank and file of for-pay solutions. It remains our Editors’ Choice for no-fee antivirus.”

4 | Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition (2014)

“You’ll hardly know Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition (2014) is present on your system, unless it quashes a problem. Its tiny main window and unobtrusive style are great if you want a strong, silent, and free antivirus solution.”

5 | Check Point ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 2016

“ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 2016 combines most of Kaspersky’s powerful antivirus protection with a top-notch personal firewall. It’s an excellent choice if you don’t want to install a full security suite.”

6 | Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit Free

“Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit Free shields your browsers against exploit attacks, even never-before-seen zero-day attacks. Give this unusual, free security tool a try.”

7 | Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 11

“The folks at Lavasoft gave Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 11 a total user-interface makeover and a new antivirus engine partner. The user interface is truly pleasing, a nice change. However, the product lost a little ground in malware blocking.”

8 | Qihoo 360 Total Security Essential

“Qihoo 360 Total Security Essential scores very well in our hands-on tests and in tests by independent labs, but only if you change its default configuration to enable all antivirus engines.”

9 | Comodo Antivirus 8

“Comodo Antivirus 8 offers decent antivirus protection and a whole raft of advanced security features. However, those advanced features are probably too complex for the average user. “

10 | FortiClient 5.0

“Although it’s designed to work with a network appliance, FortiClient 5.0 also functions as a standalone antivirus, with parental control and VPN client thrown in. And it’s free!”

Photo: Thinkstock.com

Salesforce today announced a re-branded product now called SalesforceIQ for Small Business. It is based on technology from Salesforce’s 2014 acquisition of the company RelateIQ. Salesforce will continue to offer its legacy product, Sales Cloud, into which SalesforceIQ can be integrated. Confused? Keep reading.

(Update: This article has been updated to clarify that the App Exchange has 2,800 applications. Pricing for Sales Cloud starts at $65 per month.)

What is SalesforceIQ for Small Business?

According to Salesforce, “SalesforceIQ for Small Business is an out-of-the-box Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution that can be set up in minutes. “It automatically tracks and analyzes the day-to-day interactions that create and sustain business relationships.” It works with your Gmail or Exchange email to collect and analyze “relationship intelligence.” Having such intelligence is supposed to help you be a better salesperson, says Salesforce.

What is the difference between SalesforceIQ for Small Business and Sales Cloud?

Salesforce already has a CRM called Sales Cloud that integrates with over a thousand third-party software applications. This may lead you to ask how the two CRMs are different. (It did us.) In addition to being extremely different in price (see below), here are other differences:

SalesforceIQ for Small Business is an “out-of-the-box CRM” (its not customized for your company or industry) that automatically tracks and analyzes day-to-day business interactions with potential and existing customers (if you pay for the “Growth” or “Business” versions).

Sales Cloud is a customizable platform that can be used in conjunction with over 2,800 applications via Salesforce’s App Exchange.

Which should you buy? SalesforceIQ for Small Business or Sales Cloud?

According to Salesforce, If you need to fully customize your CRM or have access to the app exchange, you need Sales Cloud. If you use Gmail or Microsoft Exchange to access your mail and calendar and do not want to spend the money necessary to set up a customized CRM, you need SalesforceIQ. If you need to ask the question, “How much does it cost?” you may want to click away before reading the next question/answer.

How much does SalesforceIQ for Small Business cost?

(via)

Starter | $25 / per user / month
(billed annually)
Up to 5 users, Only 1 lis

• Up to 5 users, Only 1 list
• Shared address book
• Discover potential introductions
• CRM data in your inbox
• Sales & activity reports
• Direct integrations
• Advanced reporting & forecasting
• API access

(Comparison: Sales Cloud is also priced at different tiers, beginning at $65 per month. It can be customized with over 2,800 applications. See pricing here.)

(Photo: Salesforce.com)

*Direct integration refers to the feature that pulls information into the application from from calendars, emails, calls, and marketing automation software. (HubSpot, MailChimp, and Salesforce’s Pardot are being supported initially).

]]> https://smallbusiness.com/software/outlook-com-upgrade-features/ Thu, 21 May 2015 21:11:44 +0000 http://smallbusiness.com/?p=14744 Today, Microsoft unveiled lots of new features that will be included in an upgrade to Outlook.com, its free web-based email service and a part of its cloud-based suite of productivity software called Office 365. Here’s what to expect:

New Inbox Features

Clutter

Clutter works on your behalf, sorting messages you’re likely to ignore into a separate folder, so you can focus on what matters. The more you use Outlook.com, the better Clutter gets. You can help train Clutter by dragging messages in or out of the Clutter folder and you can turn it on or off depending on your preferences.

Search Suggestions and Refiners

• Suggestions put the people you communicate with and the content in your mailbox at your fingertips when searching for content

• Refiners let you pivot your search results based on the sender, folder, date received and attachments.

Link preview

Just paste a link into your message and Outlook.com automatically generates a rich preview to give your recipients a peek into the contents of the destination.

Inline images

Copy and paste images directly into the body of your message, right where you want them.

Pins and Flags

You’ll be able to keep essential emails at the top of your inbox with Pins and mark others for follow-up with Flags. Pins are now folder specific.

Add-ins

Add-ins appear while you are reading or composing a message and are designed to help you complete the task at hand. In addition to the Bing Maps, My Templates and Suggested Meetings add-ins that are built-into Outlook.com, There will also be third-party add-ins later from Uber, Boomerang, PayPal and others. The Bing Maps add-in lets you open a map and get directions to a location found in the body of a message.

New ways to collaborate using Outlook.com

New Skype experience

Shift conversations between email and Skype. Chat with a group, or one-on-one. Start a voice or video call by pressing the call button.

Simplified sharing from OneDrive

Just attach the file to your draft message—drag and drop or with the file picker—and with one click you can convert it to a shared OneDrive link.

Side-by-side views

Open an attachment and see it side-by-side with the email. You can view or edit Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents while simultaneously replying to the original message. Any changes you make to the file are automatically saved and attached to your response when you hit send—no need to download, edit, save and re-attach the revised file.

Questions & Answers About the Outlook.com Upgrade

Q. Will users need to change their email address?
A. No. 

Q. Will users need to change or update any settings on their phone or other apps to keep receiving email?
A. The vast majority of customers will not need to make any changes. Any who may, will receive instructions

Q. Will Outlook.com users have to pay for an Office 365 subscription?
A. No. It is an ad-supported service.

Q. After receiving the update, what if a user doesn’t see any ads. Will the updated user interface be ad-free?
A. No, Outlook.com will remain an ad-supported service.

Q. When will users be able to opt-in and get these new features?
A. Opt-in details will be shared in the coming weeks.

Q. If a user has a custom domain configured with Outlook.com, Will they be able to keep it?
A. Yes, if someone has a custom domain configured on Outlook.com today, it will continue to work after this update.

Features of QuickBooks Online Self-Employed

• Connects accounts: Imports supported bank and credit card accounts to track income and expenses.
• Categorizes by click: Marks a transaction as “business” by simply clicking a button, or swiping a finger across a mobile app, letting freelancers and contractors easily categorize IRS Schedule C deductions.
• Stacks up savings: Tracks deductions year round (no draw full of receipts).
• Simplifies taxes: Calculates estimated quarterly and year-end taxes.
• Security: Bank-grade encryption.

The tenth year of development might just be “the charm” for Google Apps for Business, however.

The Google Apps killer-feature: Editing Microsoft Office files

No matter how great Google Apps are, or will ever be, we now live in a Microsoft Office world.  If you receive a document attached to an email, it will likely be a Microsoft Word file. This is what you’d call an 800-pound-gorilla in the China Shop of Google’s plans to challenge Microsoft.

From the day Google first launched a Microsoft Office challenger, there has been a never-ending parade of work-arounds, plug-ins, third-party products and user hacks involving converting files back-and-forth from Office word to Google docs, and back again; across various versions of browsers and operating systems.

These have never been really-great features, they’ve merely been reminders of how dominant Microsoft Office is.

Without such features, enterprise and small business customers–even if they spend lots of money licensing Google Apps–will always have employees insisting on purchasing additional licenses of Microsoft Office in order to have the ability to collaborate with Microsoft-Office-users at suppliers, service suppliers and customers.

So long hacks, hello features:

Google now offers the ability to open and edit Office files using the Chrome web browser, a Chromebook, or using the Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps on a mobile device (i.e., an Android tablet). The ability to edit Office files is called Office Compatibility Mode (OCM) the way to access it is by clicking on the pencil icon . To enable this feature, users of the Chrome Browser must be using the “New Google Drive” version and download the “ExtensionOffice Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides” extension.

This extension allows you to edit Office files in Office Compatibility Mode (OCM) from a number of different place:

• From the new Drive: Simply double-click on any Office file and begin editing in OCM.
• From your local storage: Open any locally stored Office files and begin editing right in OCM.

• From Gmail (see above): When viewing a preview of an Office attachment, click Open in Docs (or Sheets/Slides) to start editing in OCM.
• On a Mac or PC, open the file by clicking File > Open file in the menu of your Chrome browser or simply drag and drop a file from your desktop into a Chrome browser window.
• On a Chromebook, open Files.app and double-click the file you’d like to edit.
• From a Docs, Sheets & Slides home screen: Simply click on any Office file to begin editing in OCM.
• From third-party websites: With the Chrome extension installed, clicking to open a Office file on any webpage will open the file in a new tab for editing.

Note: Formats supported: .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, and .pptx files. Save Office files to the 2007 version of Office or later. When trying to edit files created with Office 2003 (or older), you’ll be prompted to upgrade these documents to a more recent version of Office before editing or saving further changes. Avoid corrupted or password-protected files.

Google Gets Serious with Resellers

In addition to the new features Google is adding to make Apps work more friendly with Word documents, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is unveiling a new pricing structure that will be more friendly to the key player in the distribution chain of software for small businesses and smaller enterprises: the Reseller.

Quote:

“Google will increase these commissions for top-performing resellers to encourage them to sign up more corporate customers, help employees use the software, and fix technical problems…”

Bottomline

The ability to work seamlessly with the Microsoft Office world and to have support from your current tech reseller indicates that Google, a company that has been successful in generating advertising revenue from small businesses, but few other products in a sizable way, has accepted the rulebook established by Microsoft. For small businesses, this type of competition is good.