Free Office Online!

Friday, 12 October 2007

We have become so used to using Word, Excel and PowerPoint on a regular basis that we don’t often stop to think whether they actually offer us the tools and functions we need. We subconsciously acknowledge that ‘you can’t do that’ with these applications. Yet all of the above come with a cost which we really ought to be able to justify in respect of the alternatives.

A new raft of software is emerging that thinks differently about the way we work. ThinkFree, ZoHo and Google Docs & Spreadsheets are just three of the most popular types of ‘Online Office’ software which are breaking the mould.

On the one hand, more and more people need to work from home, on-site, and a range of geographically separate offices. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for collaboration and joint-working amongst colleagues, agencies and partners. These new tools resolve both of these issues in a neat and largely free package. Signing-up online allows you create and save documents using web-based versions of word processors, spreadsheets and presentation software. You can then access these files from anywhere with an internet connection by simply logging in with your username and password. Moreover, it is very easy to share some or all of your files with other users of the service, so you don’t need to email things back and forth any more.

The amazing thing about these new services is that they are mostly free. It is easy to create an account, log in and test them! Why not trial them today and see if your organisation can benefit? If you are not sure which one to use, there is an article reviewing these important applications here.