Lists are important part of any role in any company. Many lists are now composed in a word processor like Microsoft's Word. But have you ever struggled to create a numbered list in Word? Maybe lists start from one each time you enter a new one, or the numbers continue from previous list. This can be frustrating, but luckily there is something you can do to address it.

Below is an overview of how you can set up ordered lists to either continue numbered lists from where you last left off, or start at #1 with new lists.

Set up numbering for all future lists

1. Open a new Word document.
2. Go to the Home tab (Press Home at the top of the window)
3. Press the downward-facing arrow beside the numbered list button in the Paragraph group. (it's located on the right of the bullet point button)
4. Select Set Numbered Value... from the drop-down menu.
5. Click the numbering option you want from the pop-up window.
6. Press Ok.

When setting numbered values, you have three options to choose from:

• Start new list - If you select this option, new lists will automatically start at one.
• Continue from previous list - Selecting this option will continue numbering from previous lists in the same document. For example: If you have a paragraph and then a numbered list with three points, and type another paragraph then enter a new list, the list will start from four.
• Set value to: - Lets you set what number lists will start at.

Change the number value of individual lists If you have a document with numbered lists already in it, and want to change the number values of one list, you can do so by right-clicking on the first number of a list and selecting either Restart at 1 or Continue numbering.

Note that if you have a document with a continuous list that is separated by paragraphs and choose to reset one list to start at one, all subsequent lists will be changed to reflect the new ordering.

If you were to ask business owners or managers the number one program they use on a regular basis, many would probably say the spreadsheet. This versatile program helps managers and owners keep track of various information but some spreadsheets can reach such massive sizes that they become unwieldy. Excel has a function that can help you easily pull data from a large spreadsheet - the pivot table. While useful, the pivot table isn't perfect and will usually require a some formatting.

Here's four ways you can modify Excel 2013 for Office 365's pivot tables to meet your needs.

Make your tables look good

When you first create a new pivot table you may notice that the numbers aren't formatted properly, or the table didn't pull the format from the base spreadsheet. They may have too many decimal places, or are lacking currency figures. You can make edit this by:

1. Selecting any of the numbers in the Value field.
2. Clicking on the Analyze tab from the tabs above the table.
3. Pressing on Field Settings in the Active Field group.

This will open the Field Settings panel and allow you to edit the whole Value field, which means that if you change numbers, location, etc, the formatting will stick. Pressing Number Format will bring up the Format Cell window where you can apply numbers, currencies, decimal places, etc. Pressing Ok will apply the formatting you have selected to the whole field.

You can also apply color schemes or styles by pressing the Design tab and selecting the theme that looks good to you. This will not usually change the layout, just the color and style.

Change the name of the table and fields

If you are going to be sending the table to clients or colleagues, you may want to change the name of the table and fields to something a little more user-friendly. You can change the names by:

1. Clicking on the cell/name you would like to change.
2. Pressing on the Analyze tab.
3. Looking at the Active Field area of the Analyze tab and double clicking on the cell's name. You can also click on the box beside Pivot Table Name if you want to change the table's name.
4. Entering a new name.

Add gridlines for easier viewing

If you need to separate the information in the cell, the easiest thing to do is to add gridlines. This can be done by:

1. Clicking on a cell in the table
2. Selecting the Design tab and choosing any style aside from the first one.
3. Looking at the PivotTable Style Gallery and ticking the box that says Banded Rows.

Change blanks to 0s

There may be an issue where the data that's used to create the table leave blank spaces when they should be 0s. This isn't a big deal, but it would be a good idea to ensure that, for consistency, blank cells are represented as a 0, especially if other related cells are numbers. You can force Excel to fill blank cells with a 0 by:

1. Right clicking on the table.
2. Selecting Options followed by Layout & Format in the pop-up window.
3. Entering 0 beside the box that says For empty cells show
4. Pressing Ok.

Excel and the pivot table bring some excellent functionality to the spreadsheet, and having a properly formatted pivot table could go a long way in ensuring the information shown is easier to read. If you would like to learn more about how Excel or any of the other Office 365 programs can help, please contact us today.

Have you ever sent an important email that required the recipient to reply or take action, only to have them forget, or have to chase them up? This can be frustrating, but it doesn't have to be. Users of Microsoft's Office 365 and Outlook have a number of functions they can use to ensure that the important emails they send are delivered and read.

Here's three features of Outlook that can help you ensure your important emails are seen by recipients:

Add a receipt

Outlook allows for two different kinds of receipt - Delivery and Read Receipts - which you can attach to emails you send. Attaching a Delivery Receipt will send you a message when the email has been delivered to the recipient's inbox. A Read Receipt sends you a message when the recipient has opened the email. The way this receipt works is when the recipient opens the message, they have to agree for the message to be sent. They also have the option to opt out, which means you won't get a notification.

You can attach a receipt to your emails by:

1. Clicking Options in the open message.
2. Selecting Request a Read Receipt or Request a Delivery Receipt from the Tracking group.

To view the receipt, you will have to click on the Sent folder, and find and open the message. From there, select the Message Tab, look at the Show group and click on Tracking.

Add a Flag

If you have emails that require an action, or would like to grab the attention of the recipient, you can assign a flag. Flags put a colorful flag on the info bar and generally provide information about when you expect a follow up. You can put a flag on messages by:

1. Clicking on the Message tab when writing a new message.
2. Looking at the Tabs group and selecting Follow Up.
3. Selecting the relevant flag.

You can also create a custom flag by clicking on Custom.

Add a Reminder

If you feel that a reminder is necessary - the recipient will get a message on their screen - you can set it up by:

1. Clicking on the Message tab when writing a new message.
2. Looking at the Tabs group and selecting Follow Up.
3. Selecting Add Reminder and ticking the box that says Flag for Recipients.

You can press Flag to: to get a drop-down list of different flag options like Follow up, Schedule meeting, etc. You can also set the time and date you want the reminder to be shown on the recipient's screen. If you press Flag for Me, you will be able to set reminders for yourself.

Be careful with this feature however, as some people may not appreciate reminder messages popping up on their screen. It would be a good idea to ask them if it's ok before you send it.

By adding reminders to Outlook, you can increase the likelihood of people seeing your email and taking the required action. If you would like to learn more about Office 365 and how your organization can benefit from it, contact us today.

In late February, Microsoft announced, and subsequently rolled out, the newest versions of Office 365 for Business. This latest offering integrates the newly released Microsoft Office - Office 2013 - and brings some great new features that businesses can take advantage of. With the release comes a number of versions that companies can use.

Here's an overview of the four new versions of Office 365 for business that small to medium sized companies will be able to subscribe to.

Office 365 Small Business This can be considered the simplest new version of Office 365, and is for businesses with a maximum of 25 users. This version costs USD$6.00 per month or USD$72.00 per user per year. Supported services include Exchange, Lync, SharePoint and Office Web Apps. The desktop version of Office 2013 does not come with this package.

Office 365 Small Business Premium This option is for small businesses with 10 or fewer employees and costs USD$12.50 per user per month, or USD$150 per user per year. Users have access to: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, InfoPath, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access. Supported servers include; Exchange, Lync and SharePoint.

With this version, you get five installs per user - meaning you can install Office on up to five computers - share calendars, 25GB of email storage with virus and spam protection and are given 10GB cloud storage per user.

Office 365 Midsize Business This offering is for businesses with more than 10 people, but under 250, and costs USD$15 per user per month, or USD$180 per user per year. Users have access to the same software and server support as the Small Business Premium Version, but will also be able to use: Exchange Online, Lync Online and SharePoint Online. Further, each user can install Office on up to five devices.

Beyond that, you will also be able to access the same cloud storage options as Small Business Premium. There are easier administration tools and a web-based admin console which make this version easier to manage.

Office 365 ProPlus ProPlus is a new offering from Microsoft, and is for companies with 10 to 250 users. It costs USD$144 per user per year, or USD$12 per user per month. Users have access to Excel, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, InfoPath and Publisher. Server support for Lync, Exchange and SharePoint is also included.

Users are not given access to cloud storage or the online versions of Lync, Exchange and SharePoint.

These new versions of Office 365 are available to subscribe to now. If you would like to upgrade, or subscribe please contact us today. We can work with you to find the plan that best suits your business.

It's been a long time coming, but Microsoft has finally released a new version of Office. The end of January release brought with it a completely new version of Office, one that is a little more modern, maybe even more exciting. In true Microsoft fashion however, there are numerous versions of Office 2013 making it slightly complicated to know which version will fit well with your business.

Here's a brief overview of the different versions of Office 2013 released last month.

A tale of three Offices There are three different types of Office: Standalone, Subscription and RT. The standalone versions are similar to older versions of Office, as you will be able to buy these in stores. You pay once, and have access to the software that comes in that bundle, as you would with older versions. The only difference is that older versions came on CDs or DVDs, while the newer versions are really a code that you enter on the Microsoft website to download Office.

Subscription based versions are referred to as Office 365 for home, and are sold on a per month/year basis. You will be able to buy a year subscription in stores, which will come with an activation code you can enter in the Office site to download the software. This option is heavily integrated with the cloud and users will be able to store and access documents by signing into their SkyDrive account. You can also store files on your computer.

The RT version of Office is a tablet specific version engineered for use with touchscreen devices. This version comes installed on all RT tablets like the Microsoft Surface. This will only work on tablets running ARM processors and will only be available to users who buy a specific tablet. You won't be able to buy the software in stores, or online.

Office 365 versions

• Office 365 Home Premium - This version has two pricing schemes: USD$9.99 a month or USD$99.99 a year. Users who chose this option will be able to install it on five different computers, and will be able to use: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access and Publisher. You will also get 20GB free storage with SkyDrive and 60 Skype minutes a month. Office on Demand - a 'streaming' version of Office that you can access over the Internet is also included.
• Office 365 University - This version is the same as Home Premium but is for university students and staff. The subscription costs USD$79.99 for four years, and can be installed on two different machines. If you are doing a part-time course, you should also be eligible for this.

Office 2013 standalone versions

• Office Home & Student 2013 - This is the more traditional version of Office which costs USD$139.99 and can be installed on one computer. Users who purchase this version will get Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote, but won't have the cloud based Office 365 extras.
• Office Home & Business 2013 - At USD$219.99, this version comes with the same software as Office Home & Student, and also includes Outlook. It can be installed on one computer. This is the likely version small businesses will purchase if they don't want to pay for a subscription.
• Office Professional 2013 - Like other versions of Office 2013, this is a single install and costs USD$399.99. Primarily aimed at businesses, this version comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access and Publisher.

It should be noted that the standalone versions of Office have a perpetual license which means that you can use them for as long as you like.

Is this Office 365 for business? The new versions of Office, including Office 365 Home Premium are technically for home use. While this new version contains the name 'Office 365' it is actually different from the Office 365 used in businesses. If you currently use the business offering in your company (email servers, instant messaging, SharePoint, etc), there are new versions coming February 27. If you don't use Office 365 in your business, and are just looking for a new version of Office, Home Premium could be a good option.

Looking to upgrade to a new version of Office, or would like to learn more about how they can help your business, contact us today.

When it comes to document production, Microsoft Office is the go-to program for a vast majority of companies. While Office is great, it can be difficult for companies and users to collaborate. That's where SharePoint comes in. Think of it as a mesh that brings all documents together into one central location. Do you use SharePoint in your business?

SharePoint is a great way for companies to enhance Microsoft Office 365's capabilities. It has many benefits that small to medium business owners can take advantage of. Here's five of the best.

1. Office Web Apps SharePoint can be linked with Office Web Apps (the browser based version of Office), which will give your employees access to their documents anywhere they have access to a Web browser with an Internet connection.

2. Easier sharing of documents When working with different Office programs, some files can become so large that they can't be shared over email, or take too long to upload and send. SharePoint provides users with a central location they can save their documents to. This makes it easier for parties to access and share information. Tools like PowerPivot, for example, make it possible to share massive spreadsheets.

3. A collaborative environment When you have multiple employees working on the same document, keeping updated can be tough as each user will likely have different versions saved on their computer. This makes updating a hassle. It's even harder when users are located in different locations and rely on email or teleconferencing to work together.

With SharePoint's central file system, users view the same document. If changes are made by one person they will immediately show on the document. This coherence promotes and makes collaboration more effective, while also making it easier for managers to collate, view and make changes to ensure all users are on the same page - quite literally!

4. Simplified way to find documents SharePoint supports many different file types beyond the ones used by Office. For example, there are media plugins that allow videos stored in the library to be streamed from anywhere in SharePoint. This central library, if used by all employees to store necessary files, is easily searchable and employees will be better able to quickly find the information they need. No more having to ask Jim from HR about where to find tax forms, just search on SharePoint.

SharePoint's server based software also makes it easier for businesses to combine different systems into one central system where information is accessible.

5. It's manageable SharePoint also provides tools that make it easier for content managers, team leads, etc. to coordinate documents and user activity. This program has been designed with administration, deployment and use in mind, giving companies a convenient way to stay on top of all the information they generate. If you have employees leave the company, the information and documents they worked on are already on SharePoint, so you don't have to worry about not being able to find files on hard drives.

SharePoint brings a lot of functionality to Office 365 users and can be the key to not only efficient document creation but management as well. If you would like to learn more about how you can extend your business capabilities with Office 365 and SharePoint, please call us.

Mobile phones can do many things. Since the inception of the smartphone, many people have switched from voice calls to SMS/texts as the main way they communicate. This heavy adoption of text messaging has given companies like Microsoft a new way to keep people integrated with their services. One example is a little-known feature of Office 365 that allows users to turn their phones into a mobile notification center.

Did you know that Outlook for Office 365 can send you text message alerts? To achieve this you need to first establish a rule for Outlook Web Access/App (OWA) - Office 365's webmail (browser) version of Outlook.

There are two classes of notification you can set up: Notifications for calendars, or notifications for email. When you create a rule, you will receive a text message whenever the rule's parameters are met.

Here's how you can set this feature up:

1. Open Outlook Web Access in your browser. The standard address is usually: https://mail.yourcompanydomain.com/owa. It's important to note that you need to go to Outlook Web Access.
2. Log in using your Office 365 username and password.
3. Select Options - located in the top-right of the window - followed by See All Options.
4. Click Phone from the list on the left side of the window and then Text Messaging.
5. Pressing Turn on Notifications, selecting your Locale: and finally your Mobile Operator.
6. Press Next and enter your phone number with the area code, and without the country code.
7. Click Next again and check your phone. You should get a pass code in a text message that you will need to enter. After you receive this, press Finish.

Setting up rules After you have set up OWA to send you text messages, you can look into the two different types of alerts. As mentioned above, the first are calendar alerts. Pressing Set up Calendar notifications will allow you to establish rules related to your calendar. For example, you can create a rule where you will receive a text message when you have a meeting scheduled with a specific client or employee.

If you would like to receive text message alerts for your email, you can click on Set up email notifications using an Inbox rule. You have many different rules you can set up. For example: You can make a rule to receive a text whenever you get an email that contains the words: Update.

To get the most out of these features we suggest you play around with them and come up with something that works for you. Don't go overboard though, as you probably don't want to be receiving text messages every few minutes. Also, it's important to be aware of how your mobile carrier charges for texts. If you get charged for incoming texts, this feature could cause your mobile bills to skyrocket. Interested in learning more about what Office 365 can bring to your business? Give us a shout, we can help.

As with almost anything related to tech, the office suite has become an advanced piece of software. While integral to businesses of all sizes, many components are often unused by most workers. There are a number of components that are used however, including security features. If you use Office 365, Microsoft's cloud based office suite, you know that there are some robust security features, including the option to change your password every 90 days. This is a great way to help keep your work secure.

Here's how you can change your password and update it on all your devices and programs.

Before the password expires

1. In a Web browser of your choice go to your Office 365 portal. You should be able to access it by navigating to portal.microsoftonline.com.
2. Log in and click My Profile which is located in the top-right of the screen near your name.
3. Click Change password and follow the onscreen prompts.
4. Sign in to your Web based email app and ensure that you can connect to your account. You will be asked to type a new password when you navigate to the website.
5. OPTIONAL: Navigate to the email account settings on your mobile device and select your Office 365 account. From there you should be able to change your password to the one you entered in the portal above. If you don't use Office 365 on your mobile device, you don't have to do this step. If you do, it's recommended that you change the password on all devices you use to connect to Office 365.

If you have set up Office 365 to prompt you to change your password on a regular basis, it should be changed. You will get reminders to do so, but sometimes you may miss the update notification. If you do, your password will expire. When this happens you will have to go to portal.microsoftonline.com and try to log in with your username and password. You should be given a message saying that your password has expired, along with a prompt to update it. Follow the steps to update your password, and be sure to follow steps four and five above.

There are many great features offered by Microsoft Office 365. If you are looking to update from an older version of Office and are interested in a great office software suite, please contact us, we can help.

How many times has this happened: You're waiting for an important contract to be emailed to you, hear the ding of a new message in your inbox, only to find out it's a junk message. This can be irritating to say the least, and some of us can get upwards of 100 of these irritations each day. Fortunately, if you use Microsoft 365's Outlook, you can decrease the number of junk emails you receive.

Here's how you can create filters to reduce junk email.

1. Optimize Outlook's Junk Email Filter Did you know that Outlook has a filter which can help reduce junk email? It's usually turned on by default, and set at the lowest setting - Low. This will filter only the most obvious junk email and place it into the Junk Email folder (more on that below).

To change the filter's settings:

1. Navigate to the Mail tab and select Home.
2. Under the Delete group click Junk, followed by Junk Email Options.
3. Select which level of filtering you would like to apply.

Naturally, the higher the setting you choose, the more emails will be sent to the Junk Email folder junk or otherwise.

2. The Junk Email folder Any email that fails to get past the Junk Filter is sent to the Junk Email folder. It's a good idea to check this folder on a regular basis, especially if you have strict settings enabled, as there could be some important emails sent here, which you subsequently miss. If you find an email that isn't junk, you can drag it from the Junk folder and into the Inbox.

3. Establish Junk Email Filter lists While turning on filters and monitoring the Junk folder will reduce the number of junk emails, many will still get through. To minimize this even further, you can create lists of either trusted email addresses, or blocked email addresses. You can create these lists in a number of ways. The easiest is to simply select an email message from a sender and under the Home tab, in the Delete group select Junk followed by either: Never Block Sender; Email Group or Mailing List, or Block Sender.

You can also manually add addresses, groups and even websites to your lists. To do this:

1. Navigate to Junk Email Options located in the Delete group of the Home tab.
2. Select either:
   1. Safe Senders followed by Add;
   2. Safe Recipients followed by Add;
   3. Blocked Senders followed by Add.
3. Enter the email address, or group address you would like to allow emails from or to block. If you work with a company that has many different users that contact you, but all have the same @user.com address, just add the @user.com part of the address to the list, and Outlook will block or allow emails from any user with that address.
4. Select: Aslo trust email from Customers under the Safe Senders tab to automatically add all of your existing contacts to the Safe Senders list.

These three combined steps, should go a long way toward reducing the number of junk emails you receive. It's important to note that they will not eliminate junk email completely, and some will always get through. If this happens you can manually block them and should delete them without opening if possible. If you'd like to learn more about how Outlook and Office 365's other programs can fit into your business, please contact us.

The ability to work together on a project or document is not new, and has been business practice for about as long as there has been business. With the digital era, teamwork moved online and collaboration has really taken off. One of the major platforms that enables this is Microsoft's SharePoint - found in the Office 365 suite. SharePoint is a platform that enables employees to share files, collaborate and communicate, etc. One of the most popular features of SharePoint is the ability to post announcements that all employees can see.

Here's how you can set up an announcements page on SharePoint. Common uses of this page include sharing news, updates, status and any other important information that employees need to know. Think of it like the morning announcements our principal made over the PA in school, just more modern.

1. Select All Site Content - located in the left-hand navigation panel, in the lower left (usually below Recycle Bin.
2. Press Create.
3. Pick Announcements from the next page.
4. Pick your Announcements page and enter it into the box just above Create.
5. Select Create.

After pressing Create you will be taken to the new Announcements page. To add a new announcement or message, press Add new announcement Note: This will usually be found below existing announcements.

After pressing Add new announcement, a window that looks similar to an email in Outlook will open. Selecting the box beside Title will allow you to set the title of the announcement. You can enter your message in the Body box. If you would like the announcement to disappear after a certain date, selecting a date in the Expire box will set the date the announcement will be removed.

When you return to the main SharePoint page, you may notice that the page you just created isn't there. You can add the new announcements page to the homescreen by:

1. Navigating to SharePoint's home page.
2. Selecting Site Actions which is located in the top left of the page.
3. Clicking Edit Page.
4. Selecting Editing Tools and ensuring Insert is selected.
5. Pressing the downward facing arrow below Announcements and selecting the one you've just created.

The new announcements page should now be on your SharePoint home page, with the latest entry showing first. If you would like to learn more about how to use SharePoint in your company, we're here to help, so give us a shout.