Help Desk and Technology

Office 365 has multiple applications that you are either already familiar with or might find very useful. All of the applications below are browser-based or have standalone applications for your computer, tablet or phone. The first time you access any of the applications you will need to set up your account for password recovery purposes. You can always reset your password via this web interface if you are not on campus.

Navigating Office 365 is easy. The button next to Office 365 logo will open up tiles that will show you all of the applications that you can access. Don’t be overwhelmed. You may never use some of these applications and that is okay. That said, feel free to explore!

Also. Microsoft has created an entire training library that you can use to better understand how to use the various Office 365 applications. Please visit https://support.office.com/en-us/office-training-center to learn more.

Mail

This is the browser-based version of Microsoft Outlook email. It has the same functionality as Outlook and can be accessed from anywhere you have an internet connection and a computer. It is a bit different than Outlook and will take some getting used to but you may find yourself using it more than regular Outlook since it connects nicely to the Office 365 suite of applications.

Calendar

This is the browser-based version of Microsoft Outlook calendar. You can also access other calendars that you have permission to access.

Word

This is the browser-based version of Microsoft Word. It has many of the commonly used features of regular Microsoft Word. If you need to shift to the full version of Word that is on your computer, there is a simple way to open it up.

Excel

This is the browser-based version of Microsoft Excel. It has many of the commonly used features of regular Microsoft Excel. If you need to shift to the full version of Word that is on your computer, there is a simple way to open it up.

OneDrive

OneDrive is the cloud storage solution that Microsoft provides that you may find very useful for personal file storage. This tool consist of several parts that work well individually and even better together. For example, the Office 365 Word documents that you create and save can be stored in your OneDrive folder so you have easy access to these documents anywhere. To make this even more useful, you can have a OneDrive folder on your computer or mobile device that will sync with the online version of OneDrive. This will provide you with a location for your files that syncs across devices and is available almost anywhere. Some people on campus have moved their files from their computers My Documents folder into their OneDrive folder so they always have access to their important documents. Another important feature of OneDrive is that you can easily share files with others.

People

This is an interesting and very useful tool for connecting to and seeing whom you frequently interact with. This application connects to almost all of the other applications on this list and can provide you with quick and easy ways to contact others, see their contact information, see where they fit into the campus organization chart, and find their location and much more. Take some time to explore this area to see how People can help you. Using People is also an easy way to connect to and see Groups on campus.

Teams are a shared collaboration space. Teams are often used by departments, committees or clubs who need to share files or other information on a regular basis and have realized that passing around emails is no longer efficient. The owner of a team is able to manage membership without needing assistance from Technology Services. Teams also have an email address that typically matches the name of the team. This allows anyone to send an email that address and have it do to all team members. A couple important notes, there is no way to limit who can send an email to the team email account so consider this when choosing the name for the team. Also, there are some files that may not be able to be saved to a team site. This does not impact most campus users of Teams. Feel free to contact Technology Services if you have any questions about teams. We also recommend that you review the Training videos mentioned at the top of this page.

PowerPoint

This is the browser-based version of Microsoft PowerPoint. It has many of the commonly used features of regular Microsoft PowerPoint. If you need to shift to the full version of Word that is on your computer, there is a simple way to open it up.

Sway

Sway is a presentation creation tool. It is similar to PowerPoint but it can make presentations that are more dynamic and better incorporate multimedia into your presentation. This is a good application to spend some time exploring. You can even see some example Sways after you open the application. You need to be aware though that this is a newer product from Microsoft and while it can create dynamic presentations it does have some limitations, like not being able to print or email the presentation. This is by design. Sways are meant to be shared as web presentations only.

OneNote

OneNote is a note-taking application. OneNote allows you to create “notebooks” and store “files” in “folders” for organizational purposes. One of the best parts of OneNote is that it lets you add notes from any device. You can start a note on your iPad, add to it on your computer later in the day and if you are home and thought of something important that, you would like to add you could do so from your mobile phone. You can also add multimedia, like photos and audio, to your notes.

Forms

Forms allow you to create customized forms and even quizzes. You can adjust the theme, decide whom you share the form with and get the results back in an easy to view interface. This is a good application to experiment with and see if it would help you.

Planner

Planner is a tool that can be used for project management. You can keep track of tasks, share a OneNote notebook and other files. Planner connects to Groups also and you will be able to see the planners from the Groups you belong to that use them.

Whiteboard

Whiteboard will let you design and collaborate on a virtual whiteboard.

Power Automate

power Automate is an automation/workflow tool. You can use prebuilt templates to perform tasks for you such as using a button on the power Automate app on your phone to block out your calendar for the next hour or to receive a notification when a file is added to a team site you belong to. This may feel a bit advanced but feel free to explore and ask for assistance if you would like to learn more.

Delve

This application lets you “Delve” into what you are working on and what others you collaborate are working on. Delve may feel a bit overwhelming but it allows you to group together your popular and recent documents in one location. You can also create and update a profile for yourself that others on campus can view. This is another location to see the campus org charts and the availability of others on campus. Delve is another good application to explore.

Tasks

Tasks is the browser-based version of the tasks list that you may be familiar with from Outlook. As with many of the other applications in Office 365, the tasks sync between the regular version of Outlook, the mobile products and the web versions.

Video

Video allows members of the University community to store videos in a location that can only been seen by other members of the community. In general, the University uses YouTube for similar functionality. If you think this might be of use, contact the help Desk and we can work with you.

SharePoint

SharePoint is the behind the scenes system for many of these applications. SharePoint is also the system that MyDelVal runs on. Technology Services is working to bridge these two systems to improve integration and the delivery of services.

Class Notebook

Class Notebook is another application that might be worth exploring, especially if you are teaching a class. This might be a helpful tool that can work in conjunction with other tools, like Blackboard Learn.

Power Apps

Power Apps is an advanced set of tools that can be added to the Office 365 Suite to provide connections to external tools. You can safely steer clear for now while technology Services learns more about this tool.

Skype for Business

Skype for Business is a collaboration tool that you are likely already somewhat familiar with. The business version is slightly different from the home user version so please make sure that you use the correct version when connecting with your DelVal account. Skype for Business lets you communicate with others via instant messaging/chat, screen sharing and even voice and video communications. Skype for Business works on your computer, tablet and phone. The web version in Office 365 is a light web based version so we recommend that you keep the desktop application running so people can contact you and you can contact others on campus.

Additional Information and Help

Microsoft is always adding new applications to the list in an effort to provide more tools that will help you in your day to day work and when collaborating with others. There are also a few other applications that we are hiding from most users mainly because we are not able to support them at this time or do not feel that they will be helpful to the University.

For more information on any of these applications, contact the Help Desk (support@delval.edu/215-489-4357). We have also created a YouTube channel (YouTube: https://goo.gl/gFK9w5 ) with helpful videos. In addition to our help videos, there are many helpful tips and videos available from within Office 365.