Steve Galloway - Comstat | Ruthin, North Wales

Saving Office 365 & Dropbox

by Steve Galloway | Mar 11, 2016

Office 365 users can link to Dropbox accounts to browse, open and edit Word, Excel, and other MS Office file types with Office Online. Users can also create new files in Office Online and save them directly to their Dropbox account using Windows, Apple iOS and, and Android devices.

The same integration is available from Dropbox in a web browser. Users can access Office Online directly from the file you are viewing.

This article explains:

Document security and privileges in OneDrive for Business and Dropbox
Configuring Office 2016 to connect to Dropbox
Configuring Office Online to connect to Dropbox
Tips for using Dropbox with Office Online

Document Security and privileges in OneDrive for Business and Dropbox

This article explains how users can save files to Office 365’s OneDrive/Sharepoint and also to Dropbox. Synchronising Dropbox and OneDrive is not considered here. Migrating large file stores from Dropbox to OneDrive may not be practical for some users. Also, users might want to separate personal files from their employer’s Office 365 services. For users who need to maintain individual OneDrive and Dropbox storage, Office 365 business users can start in Office Online, or from Dropbox, to manage documents in Dropbox using Office 365.

Configuring Office 2016 to connect to Dropbox

Dropbox users use the Dropbox synch tool for Windows can pin the local dropbox file store in Office 2016’s file location “favourites”. Pinning the Dropbox folder to file locations in Office 2016 saves users from manually browsing to Dropbox when saving files.

Configuring Office Online to connect to Dropbox

To use a Dropbox account with Word, Excel, or PowerPoint Online, add it to your places list. Once it is saved as a storage location you can open, create, edit, and save files to Dropbox. You can still use a OneDrive account.

From OfficeOnline.com, open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint Online.
Under Open from OneDrive, click Add a place.
Click Dropbox. You’ll see Open from Dropbox appear in your places list.

Tips for using Dropbox with Office Online

Whenever you select Open from Dropbox to open a file from your Dropbox account, the file will be saved to Dropbox.
To create a new file in Dropbox once you’ve added Dropbox to your places list, choose New in Dropbox. (Dropbox will already be selected if it’s the last place you used.)

To open Dropbox files you have recently worked on, select them in your Recent list.
To edit files in a Dropbox for Business account using Office Online, you need an Office 365 account that includes Office applications (the desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). If you are not already signed into your Office 365 account, you will be prompted to sign in before you use your files.

https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/office/Add-Dropbox-and-Google-94afd730

Office 365 Service Provisions

by Steve Galloway | Dec 28, 2015

Office 365 Service Descriptions

Office 365 Service Descriptions provide an overview of all available services, service features, and includes details about license plans and on-premises vs. online versions:

Office 365 home products – home editions
Office 365 business products – plans for Small Business and Enterprise
Office 365 service description – detailed product descriptions
Office 365 service comparison – filter and compare Office 365, on-premises, and standalone products
Office 365 SLA information – Office 365 Trust Centre and SLA descriptions

Merging Skype & Microsoft Accounts

by Steve Galloway | Dec 5, 2015

This article explains the difference between Skype, Skype for Business, and how to link an existing Skype account to a Microsoft Account to communicate with the combined “Skype” user base.

Microsoft bought Skype $8.5bn in 2011, and its success at embedding Skype in its Office 365 and consumer products mean legacy users from the pre 2011 takeover have some housekeeping to do.

Skype and Skype for Business are separate products. Skype for Business users enjoy premium services which delivers telephony and meetings direct to Outlook. Microsoft recently completed a project enabling Skype for Business users to communicate with Skype users who use the consumer “as-is” offering.

Skype with “Skype” user names need to link their Skype accounts with either a new or existing Skype account to be visible to the combined Skype/Skype for Business Community.

Linking an existing Skype account to a Microsoft account might seem like a pointless task. However, Office 365 users increasingly turn to Skype for Business to conduct their telephony, and with Office 365’s newly released Cloud PBX service, which threatens to stand conventional office telephone systems on their head, it pays to bring your legacy Skype account and its credentials into Skype’s new “Directory”.

Even if you are minded to keep your existing Skype credentials, bear in mind that Skype is a Microsoft product, and in the same way that iTunes is little use without an Apple ID, Skype users who rely on existing old Skype credentials will eventually have to adopt Microsoft accounts to maintain Skype accounts in any event.

How to link a Skype account to a Microsoft account

Linking your Skype and Microsoft accounts means you can use the same sign-in details for Skype that you use for all of your Microsoft devices and services. Plus, if you forget your password it’s easier to recover it.

You can only link one Skype account with one Microsoft account, so if you have more than one you need to choose which ones to link.

To link your accounts:

Start Skype, type your Microsoft account email address and password and then click Sign in.
Click Yes to confirm that you already have a Skype account.
Enter your Skype Name and password, then click the arrow.
Your Microsoft and Skype accounts are now linked. Next time you sign in, just use your Microsoft account email address and password.

If you have more than one Skype or Microsoft account and you have linked the wrong ones, you can easily unlink them, and then link the Skype and Microsoft accounts you want.

If you do not already have a Microsoft Account, there is an option to create a new one. You can read more about what Microsoft Accounts provide more broadly here.

Change Office 365 credit/debit card information

by Steve Galloway | Nov 1, 2015

Office 365 help series – Updating credit/debit cards

Updating Office 365 credit/debit card details

This article explains how to edit or change the credit/debit card details used for paying for Office 365 subscriptions.

Office 365 subscriptions are paid direct to Microsoft on a monthly or annual basis by credit/debit card. Occasionally, card information needs to be updated, for instance when a card is nearing its expiry date. Sometimes new card information needs to be lodged with Microsoft if a card has been replaced.

Click open the sections below to find out how to manage your Office 365 payment arrangements with Microsoft.

1 - Log into Office 365

Information about your Office 365 account is kept in the “Billing” section your Office 365 admin center dashboard. In Billing, you can keep track of Office 365 licenses, payment history, and payment information which includes your active credit/debit card details.

Follow the steps below to find your way to the Office 365 Admin Center dashboard. If you use Outlook Web Access (OWA) to manage your email, and you already know how to login to services, you can go straight to the second image. If you do not know your password, you will need to contact us to help you reset your password.

Sign in to Office 365

Log into your dashboard my pointing your web browser to either:

https://portal.office.com
http://mail.office365.com

The landing page will look similar to the screenshot below. Enter your email address and password and click Sign In

Open the Office 365 Admin Center

Click open the pull down the tile menu at the top left of the page (see below) and click open Admin. If you have logged into Outlook Web Access (OWA) you will land on your email inbox, but the same tile menu is at the top left of your screen. If you have logged in using the portal.office.com, the page will look more like the example below. The example shows a fully featured Office 365 account. The tile menu will look different depending on the services you are subscribed to, however you will still have an Admin tile.

Click open the next section to learn how to navigate to your Billing section.

2 - Navigating Office 365 Admin Center

The Office 365 Admin Center manages all your services in one dashboard. Information about your account with Microsoft is handled under Billing.

Click on Billing, and then click on Subscriptions to manage your credit/debit card information. Go to the next section for guidance on changing your credit/debit card details.

3 - Update Credit/Debit Card Details

The Billing > Subscriptions page summarizes information at a glance about your account with Microsoft, including the licenses you are subscribed to, payment frequency, status, and forthcoming payments.

To modify your card details, click “Change payment details” and click “Edit” on the right hand sidebar which subsequently opens.

If you have a brand new card, click “add a card” to replace your old card.
If your new card uses the same account number, you may only need to change the expiry date. In this case, click “edit existing card” and make the changes.
Click “Save“.

This completes the process for updating an existing credit/debit card or setting up a new card.

Installing MDM Services

by Steve Galloway | Oct 31, 2015

Mobile Device Management

Mobile Device Management (MDM) is an Office 365 service for securing and managing users’ mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, Androids, and Windows phones. Using MDM Office 365 administrators can

view an inventory of all enrolled devices that connect to an organization
create and manage device security policies
remotely wipe a device
view detailed device and management reports. Click open the steps below to activate and set up Mobile Device Management for Office 365.

1 - Activate MDM in Office 365

To manage mobile devices for Office 365 licensed users in your organization, you first need to activate the service in the Office 365 admin center.

Go to the Office 365 admin center.

Select Mobile Management.

Select “Let’s get started” to kick off the activation process

It may take some time for the service to be provisioned. When it’s done, you’ll see the new Mobile Device Management for Office 365 page.

2 - Set up Mobile Device Management for Office 365

When the service is ready, complete the required steps to finish setup. You may need to click Manage settings on the Mobile Device Management for Office 365 page to see the following settings.

Configure an APNs Certificate for iOS devices

To manage iOS devices like iPad and iPhones, you need to create and install an APNs certificate in Office 365.

To do this,

1 – Next to Create an APNs Certificate for an iOS device, select Set up.

2 – Select Download your CSR file and save the Certificate signing request to a file location on your computer that you’ll remember.

3 – Select Next.

4 – Create an APN certificate.

Select Apple APNS Portal to open the Apple Push Certificates Portal.

IMPORTANT – Use a company Apple ID associated with an email account that will remain with your organization even if the user who manages the account leaves. Save this ID because you will need to use the same ID when it is time to renew the certificate.

Select Create a Certificate and accept the Terms of Use.
Browse to the Certificate signing request you downloaded to your computer from Office 365 and select Upload.
Download the APN certificate created by the Apple Push Certificate Portal to your computer.

TIP – if you are having trouble downloading the certificate, refresh your browser.

5 – Go back to Office 365 and select Next to get to the Upload APNS certificate page.

6 – Browse to the APN certificate you downloaded from the Apple Push Certificates Portal.

7 – Select Finish.

Go back to Office 365 admin center > Mobile Management > Manage settings to complete setup.

Configure domains for MDM

If you do not have a custom domain associated with Office 365, you can skip this section. Otherwise, you’ll need to add DNS records for the domain at your DNS host. If you have added the records already, you are ready to proceed. After you add these records, Office 365 users in your organization who sign in with their mobile device with an email address that uses your custom domain can then be redirected to enroll in MDM for Office 365.

Find your domain registrar in the list provided in Create DNS records for Office 365 when you manage your DNS records and select the registrar name to go to step-by-step help for creating DNS records. Use those instructions to add the following two records:

After you add the two records, go back to Office 365 admin center > Mobile Device Management > Manage settings to complete setup.

Set up multi-factor authentication

If you don’t see multi-factor authentication (MFA) under Recommended steps you can skip this section. If this option is listed, we recommend you turn on MFA in the Azure AD portal to increase the security of the Mobile Device Management for Office 365 enrollment process. It is turned off by default.

MFA helps secure the sign in to Office 365 for mobile device enrollment by requiring a second form of authentication. Users are required to acknowledge a phone call, text message, or app notification on their mobile device after correctly entering their work account password. They can only enroll their device after this second form of authentication is completed. After users’ devices are enrolled in Mobile Device Management for Office 365, users can access Office 365 resources with just their work account.

Next to Set up multi-factor authentication, select Set up. To learn how to turn on MFA in the Azure AD portal, see Set up multi-factor authentication.

When you’re done, go back to Office 365 admin center > Mobile Management > Manage settings to complete setup.

Manage device security policies

Before you can start to manage mobile devices in your organization, you need to create a device security policy to enforce users to enroll their devices. This is covered in Step 3.

3 - Configure device security policies

Office 365 global administrators can create and deploy mobile device management policies to protect Office 365 organizational data. For example, to help prevent data loss if a user loses their device, you can create a policy to lock devices after 5 minutes of inactivity and have devices wiped after 3 sign-in failures.

In the Compliance Center, go to Devices to create device security policies and access rules.

For step by step instructions on how to create a new policy, see Create and deploy mobile device management policies for Office 365.

TIPS

When you create a new policy, you might want to set the policy to allow access and report policy violation where a user’s device isn’t compliant with the policy. This way you can see how many mobile devices would be impacted by the policy without blocking your organization’s access to Office 365.
Before deploying a new policy to everyone in your organization, we recommend you test it on the devices used by a small number of users.
Before deploying policies, let your organization know the potential impacts of enrolling a device in MDM for Office 365. Depending on how you set up the policies, non-compliant devices could be blocked access to Office 365 and data including installed applications, photos and personal information on an enrolled device could be deleted if the device is wiped. For more information, see Wipe a mobile device in Office 365.

4 - Enrolling users in MDM

After you’ve deployed a mobile device management policy, each licensed Office 365 user in your organization that the device policy applies to will receive an enrollment message the next time they sign into Office 365 from their mobile device. They must complete the enrollment and activation steps before they can access Office 365 email and documents. See Enroll your mobile device for work or school.

IMPORTANT If a user’s preferred language is not supported by the enrollment process, users may receive enrollment notification and steps on their mobile devices in another language. Not all languages supported in Office 365 are currently supported for the enrollment process on mobile devices.

Users with Android or iOS devices are required to install the Company Portal app as part of the enrollment process.

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5 - Manage devices

Go to Office 365 admin center > Mobile Management to view device properties, access reports, and wipe devices.

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