In the online-only Ignite Conference held on Tuesday, Microsoft stated that it plans to release a new Office application named Loop, which people can use to collaborate on projects. This announcement is proof that the company is trying to provide more value to Office subscribers who need to pay higher prices from next year. It should boost the financial results of the company.
The Microsoft
office subscription you buy now already comes with Excel and Word, where a
person can be a co-author on spreadsheets and text documents. The SharePoint
tool so also there, which allows workers online hubs to access relevant files.
Loop is a modern
alternative and a way for Microsoft to deal with competition from Coda, Notion,
and Airtable that aren't weighed down by proprietary file formats. The software
provided by those companies can handle content creation, but they lack in
communication, stated a Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Jared Spataro.
He also said
that users could quickly discuss Loop projects if they kick of voice or video
calls in Teams. The software has grown to be over 250 million monthly active
users since the onset of COVID-19/ He said, "Essentially what we're doing
with Loop is we're blowing up the document."
Spataro also
said that the combination of creation and communication is more suitable to
hybrid work configurations where everyone is not in the same physical space. It
is important now as many organizations are adopting remote work at a greater
scale. Zoom, Webex (Cisco), and Slack (Salesforce) have also development
enhancements to accommodate hybrid work.
Loop will have
three elements. Components where multiple people can read and contribute to
miniature documents. Loop components can appear in multiple Microsoft
applications. They are coming in Teams, Outlook, and OneNote from this month.
Third-party developers will be allowed to build Loop components as well.
The second
element is Pages. They are full-on documents where people can enter reactions,
type text, and find related Loop components, documents, and links. The user
interface will show the users' cursor to give a sense of what people are doing
in a document at an exact moment.
The third
element is Workspaces. These are areas where people can check progress on
shared initiatives as well as enter reactions. A user can reach multiple pages
from a workspace.
Video Source- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-loop
Though Loop
promotes the presentation of information across different programs, Microsoft
will offer a dedicated Loop application so that people can swiftly get Loop
content. The preview of workspaces, documents, and Loop application will begin
in the first half of next year.
If you are
looking for free project collaboration software options, you would be smart to
check out this link.
Also, if you want
to increase collaboration across departments in your organization, you must
read this insightful article. It
doesn't offer a simple fix that will make your organization run smoothly, but
it does offer some handy tips you can utilize to boost inter-departmental coordination.
by Shruti , BNS Business News
Source:
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/02/microsoft-launches-loop-office-app-for-real-time-collaboration.html