SharePoint Features and Benefits

Microsoft Office System integration

• Deep integration with Microsoft Office System programs allows teams to collaborate using the familiar tools they use every day.

Document collaboration

• Document workspace sites created using Microsoft Office Word take advantage of platform features by providing a document collaboration space.

Check-in and check-out

• Documents can be reserved by individual users for updating purposes.

Document versions

• Document changes are tracked and assigned different version numbers for auditing and rollback.

Browser-based customization

• Changes can be made in a Web browser by dragging Web Parts onto personal or public pages, and then customizing them. Themes can also be applied using a browser.

Presence integration

• Users can determine the online status of site members quickly by sending e-mail or an instant message, adding the member to a contact list, and viewing current free/busy status.

Alerts

• A user or site manager can add an alert to a list or list item so that they receive an e-mail notification when changes are made.

Templates

• Organizations can create custom site templates for distribution across teams. Lists can also be saved as templates for reuse.

Improve team productivity with easy-to-use collaborative tools

• Connect people with the information and resources they need. Users can create team workspaces, coordinate calendars, organize documents, and receive important notifications and updates through communication features including announcements and alerts, as well as the new templates for creating blogs and wikis. While mobile, users can take advantage of convenient offline synchronization capabilities.

Easily manage documents and help ensure integrity of content

• With enhanced document management capabilities including the option to activate required document checkout before editing, the ability to view revisions to documents and restore to previous versions, and the control to set document- and item-level security, Windows SharePoint Services can help ensure the integrity of documents stored on team sites.

Get users up to speed quickly

• User interface enhanced views and menus that simplify navigation within and among SharePoint sites. Integration with familiar productivity tools, including programs in the Microsoft Office system, makes it easy for users to get up to speed quickly. For example, users can create workspaces, post and edit documents, and view and update calendars on SharePoint sites, all while working within Microsoft Office system files and programs.

Deploy solutions tailored to your business processes

• While standard workspaces in Windows SharePoint Services are easy to implement, organizations seeking a more customized deployment can get started quickly with application templates for addressing specific business processes or sets of tasks.

Reduce the complexity of securing business information

• Windows SharePoint Services provides IT with advanced administrative controls for increasing the security of information resources, while decreasing cost and complexity associated with site provisioning, site management, and support. Take advantage of better controls for site life-cycle management, site memberships and permissions, and storage limits.

Provide sophisticated controls for securing company resources

• IT departments can now set permissions as deep down as the document or item level, and site managers, teams, and other work groups can initiate self-service collaborative workspaces and tasks within these preset parameters. New features enable IT to set top-down policies for better content recovery and users, groups, and team workspace site administration.

Take file sharing to a new level with robust storage capabilities

• Windows SharePoint Services supplies workspaces with document storage and retrieval features, including check-in/check-out functionality, version history, custom metadata, and customizable views. New features in Windows SharePoint Services include enhanced recycle bin functionality for easier recovery of content and improved backup and restoration.