Microsoft has launched a beta version of its Office Live
service, aimed at giving UK small businesses a professional online
presence.
Office Live will give small businesses their own free domain
name, website hosted by Microsoft, and company branded e-mail
accounts. Users will also be able to use a secure online workspace,
where documents can be uploaded and downloaded securely.
Higher-level Office Live packages will offer increased web space
and productivity tools.
The service is being pitched at businesses with 10 or fewer
staff that do not have complex IT systems and may not have their
own IT staff.
The free entry-level service, Office Live Basics, will give
users a company domain name, 25 2GB e-mail accounts, an online
calendar, instant messaging and a website with 500MB file storage
space.
The Office Live Essentials service includes 1GB of website
storage and 50 email accounts. It will also offer a business
contact manager application and a collaboration tool in a package
costing £11.99 plus VAT per month.
The Premium package includes 2GB web storage and a set of
web-based productivity applications, for a monthly fee of £22.99
plus VAT.
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