As a cloud-based productivity suite, Microsoft 365 Business Standard offers small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) a comprehensive set of tools that allow them to work efficiently and securely from anywhere.
This blog post provides an overview of the features and benefits of Microsoft 365 Business Standard for SMBs, and how it can help you grow your business and protect your data.
The key features included in a Microsoft 365 Business Standard subscription plan are:
Microsoft 365 Business Standard offers several benefits for SMBs that want to boost their productivity, collaboration, security, and cost-efficiency. Here are some of the key benefits:
Microsoft 365 Business Standard is a cloud-based productivity suite that offers SMBs a comprehensive set of tools to work efficiently and securely from anywhere, which is especially important in today’s remote working world. The top three ways Microsoft 365 Business Standard helps IT leaders are:
One of the key benefits of Microsoft 365 Business Standard is that it includes Microsoft Teams. Used by almost 300 users daily, Microsoft Teams allows you to communicate and collaborate with your team and customers in one place. With Teams, you can:
Microsoft Teams helps you streamline your communication and collaboration processes, reduce email clutter, and improve your team's efficiency and engagement.
Another benefit of Microsoft 365 Business Standard is that it provides you with centralized security management tools that help you protect your data and devices from cyber threats and data loss. With Microsoft 365 Business Standard, you can:
Microsoft 365 Business Standard helps you secure your data and devices with easy-to-use tools that give you peace of mind.
A third benefit of Microsoft 365 Business Standard is that it includes familiar Microsoft productivity applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for Windows or Mac. These apps help you create professional-looking documents, presentations, spreadsheets, reports, newsletters, databases, and more. With Microsoft 365 Business Standard, you can:
Microsoft Defender for Business is a comprehensive solution for device and server cyber security. It provides next-generation antivirus, endpoint detection and response, automated investigation and remediation, and the ability to track and fix vulnerabilities. Defender for Business brings powerful endpoint security capabilities designed and priced for SMBs.
By adding Microsoft Defender for Business to your Microsoft 365 Business Standard subscription, you can enjoy the following benefits:
[blog-cta-2]
If you are an IT leader at a small to mid-sized business, you might be wondering how to improve the communication and collaboration of your remote workers, customers, and partners. You might already be using Microsoft 365 Business Standard, which includes Microsoft Teams, the hub for teamwork in Microsoft 365. But did you know that you can also add Microsoft Audio Conferencing for Teams to your existing subscription and enable your users to join meetings from any phone?
Microsoft Audio Conferencing for Teams is a service that allows you to host or join online meetings with anyone who has a phone number. You don't need an internet connection or the Teams app to participate in an audio conference. You can simply dial a toll or toll-free phone number and enter a conference ID to join the meeting. You can dial out from a meeting to invite other callers or transfer the meeting to another device.
Audio Conferencing can benefit your business in many ways. The table below highlights some use cases and scenarios where Audio Conferencing can enhance your productivity and collaboration:
Stakeholder |
Benefits of Audio Conferencing |
Remote workers |
Audio conferencing allows employees with unreliable internet connections to join meetings from a phone. |
Customers |
Clients are able to join meetings without installing software or creating an account through a simple web link. |
Partners |
Audio conferencing helps bridge the communications gap for partners that use other providers. Partners can simply dial into the meeting using a unique phone number. |
Audio Conferencing for Teams has many features and advantages that make it a great addition to your Microsoft 365 Business Standard subscription. Some of them are:
Going beyond just adding an Audio Conferencing phone number, Microsoft Business Voice is a cloud-based phone system that allows you to make, receive, and transfer calls to and from landlines and mobile phones on the public switched telephone network (PSTN) in Microsoft Teams. You can use Business Voice on any device, whether it's a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. This means your business can replace your existing business phone infrastructure with a secure, cloud-based alternative that works on many Bluetooth headsets and is often compatible with existing speakerphones and office phones.
Business Voice can benefit your business in many ways. Here are some use cases and scenarios where Business Voice can enhance your communication and collaboration:
Business Voice for Teams has many features and advantages that make it a powerful addition to your Microsoft 365 Business Standard subscription:
Feature |
Description |
Availability |
Business Voice is available in many countries and regions around the world. You can choose from a list of local and toll-free phone numbers suitable for your business needs. You can also request new phone numbers or port your existing ones. |
Flexibility |
Business Voice allows you to use your own PSTN carrier with Operator Connect or Direct Routing. This way, you can leverage your existing contracts and infrastructure while using Teams as your phone system. You can also mix and match different calling plans and options for different users or groups. |
Setup and management |
Business Voice is easy to set up and manage from the Teams admin center. You can assign licenses to your users, configure phone system settings, view usage reports, and troubleshoot issues. You can also use PowerShell commands to automate tasks and customize options. |
Integration |
Business Voice is integrated with other Microsoft 365 apps and services, such as Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Power Automate. You can schedule meetings with Business Voice from Outlook or Teams and access your files and documents from OneDrive or SharePoint during the call. You can also use Power Automate to create workflows and triggers based on Business Voice events. |
If you are an IT leader at a small to mid-sized business, you might be facing the challenge of enabling your workforce to work from anywhere, anytime, and on any device. You might already be using Microsoft 365 Business Standard, which includes Microsoft Teams, the hub for teamwork in Microsoft 365. However, most CIOs are unaware they can also add Windows 365 desktop as a service to your existing subscription. Adding Windows 365 to Microsoft 365 enables users to access a personalized Windows 10 or Windows 11 experience from any device.
Windows 365 Desktop as a Service is a cloud-based solution for streaming a full-fledged Windows desktop to any internet-connected device, including Windows, iOS, or Android. This allows users the unique ability to access Microsoft Windows with Teams across multiple form factors such as a desktop PC, a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone.
The key advantage to deploying Windows 365 Desktop as a Service and Microsoft 365 Business Standard is that your employees can do their best work from anywhere. As long as employees can connect to the internet with a web browser, they can securely access their corporate Windows OS, Microsoft 365 productivity apps, and Microsoft Teams environment.
The per-user cost of a Microsoft 365 Business Standard subscription is quite affordable, and the annual commitment has no cancellation fees. However, it should be noted that the per-user costs are significantly higher if you plan to pay month-to-month. Potential customers can take advantage of the free Microsoft 365 Business Standard trial, which allows full access to all Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, and OneDrive desktop versions, the ability to conduct online webinars, and other business-oriented features. Each user license allows a Microsoft 365 Business Standard shared computer activation across five different devices per user. So, this means your employee could have fully licensed Microsoft 365 Business Standard apps installed on a MacBook laptop, a PC desktop, an Android tablet, or an iPhone and still have the option to legally install the apps to one additional device.
You can pay with all major credit cards, and your subscription amount will appear on your credit card statement. Canceling a subscription to any Microsoft 365 Business solution always results in deleting any user data stored in the cloud, so making local backups is recommended before cancellation.
If you are looking for a cloud-based solution that offers Office apps, cloud services, and Microsoft Teams for your small or medium-sized business, you might be wondering which plan to choose: Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
Both plans have many features in common, but you should consider some key differences before making a decision. Let’s compare these two plans regarding price, security, device management, access and data control, and productivity.
The first thing you might want to compare is the price of the two plans. Of course, Microsoft 365 Business Premium costs more than Microsoft 365 Business Standard. The price difference reflects the additional security features that Business Premium offers. A Microsoft 365 Business Standard trial is 100% free for one full month—enabling potential users to try all the features before buying.
Security is one of the most important aspects of any cloud-based solution, especially for businesses that deal with sensitive or confidential data. Both plans have standard security features such as data encryption, spam filtering, and malware protection. However, Business Premium adds advanced security features like cyber threat protection, device management, and data control. These features help you protect your business from phishing, ransomware, data breaches, and unauthorized access.
Another difference between the two plans is the ability to manage your devices using Intune and Azure Information Protection. These tools are only available in Business Premium and not in Business Standard. They allow you to remotely wipe data from lost or stolen devices, enforce policies and settings, and control access to sensitive data.
For example, you can use Intune to create device groups, assign apps and settings, monitor device compliance, and take actions such as locking or wiping devices. You can also use Azure Information Protection to apply labels to your documents and emails that specify who can access them and what they can do with them.
Business Premium also gives you more control over who can access your data and how they can use it. You can set up multi-factor authentication, conditional access, and identity protection to verify users' identities and prevent unauthorized access. You can also use sensitivity labels, data loss prevention, and information rights management to classify and protect your data from accidental or intentional leaks.
Multi-factor authentication requires users to provide more than one piece of evidence to prove their identity, such as a password and a code sent to their phone. Conditional access allows you to set rules based on factors such as location, device type, or app to grant or deny access to your resources. Identity protection detects suspicious activities related to your users' identities and responds accordingly.
Sensitivity labels allow you to mark your documents and emails with different levels of confidentiality, such as public, internal, confidential, or secret. Data loss prevention helps prevent sensitive data from leaving your organization through email or other channels. Information rights management restricts what users can do with their documents and emails, such as copying, printing, forwarding, or editing.
Both plans offer the same productivity features, such as desktop, web, and mobile versions of Microsoft productivity apps. Unfortunately, Apple Mac users cannot install and run Microsoft Publisher and Access apps as they are only available on Windows PCs. Both plans allow you to chat, call, meet up to 300 attendees, host webinars, and manage customer appointments with Microsoft Teams.
Feature |
Business Standard |
Business Premium |
Price |
$12.50 per user per month* |
$22.00 per user per month* |
Security |
Standard security features such as data encryption, spam filtering, and malware protection |
Advanced security features such as cyber threat protection, device management, and data control |
Device management |
No device management capabilities |
Microsoft Intune and Azure Information Protection provide robust device management capabilities |
Access and data control |
No access and data control capabilities |
Access and data control capabilities using multi-factor authentication, conditional access, identity protection, sensitivity labels, data loss prevention, and information rights management |
Productivity |
Desktop, web, and mobile versions of Office apps; chat, call, meet up to 300 attendees, host webinars, and manage customer appointments with Microsoft Teams |
Same as Business Standard |
*Pricing as of July 2023
Microsoft 365 Business Standard includes email encryption as part of its standard security features. Email encryption helps you protect the privacy and security of your email messages by converting them from readable plain text into scrambled cipher text.
With a single license, users may install Microsoft 365 Business Standard on up to five different devices. The ability for Microsoft 365 Business Standard shared computer activation enables usage on PCs, Macs, tablets, and mobile devices. Along with local apps, users can access web-only versions of Microsoft productivity apps from any internet-connected device. This means you can work anywhere, anytime, on any device with Microsoft 365 Business Standard.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium is a comprehensive solution that combines the productivity and collaboration features of Microsoft 365 Business Standard with advanced security and device management capabilities. It is designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that need more protection and control over their data and devices. Some benefits of Microsoft 365 Business Premium are:
There are many factors to consider when choosing between Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Business Premium. Both plans offer great value for your business, but Business Premium has some extra features that might be worth the higher price, especially if you need more security, device management, and data control. Ultimately, choosing the best plan depends on your business needs and budget.
That's where Amaxra comes in. As a certified Microsoft Cloud Provider, we have the expertise and experience to help you deploy Microsoft 365 Business licenses optimized for your specific needs. Whether you need basic email and online storage, advanced security, device management, or a complete bundle of apps and services, we can help you find the best fit for your budget and goals.
We also provide ongoing support and training to help you get the most out of your Microsoft 365 Business subscription. We can help you troubleshoot issues, customize your settings, and leverage the latest features and updates. With Amaxra, you can rest assured that your cloud journey will be smooth and successful.
Ready to get started? Contact us today for a free consultation and quote. We'll help you transform your business with Microsoft 365 Business.
[blog-cta-1]