14 DAY TRIAL // A few weeks ago, Microsoft made official a new offering specifically designed for students and teachers, namely Office 365 for education.
The new service is meant to provide students and educators with the possibility to easily work in real-time on their assignments, while also offering them the option to group projects or share information.
The service enables users to view and edit documents they need either in the browser or in Office, making work between teams easier than before.
Today, Microsoft UK made official some info on the plans and pricing that institutions interested in the new service can take advantage of.
First off, there is a 30-day trial available for interested parties, which provides all the features and benefits of Office 365, but only for up to 50 users.
Next, institutions can check to see whether they are eligible for the service at academic prices. This can be done at any given point during the trial period.
And third, institutions can start using the service, which is available for free for the entire user base, but with a limited set of features when compared to other products included in the offer.
The free plan, A2, includes cloud-based email, calendar and contacts, the option to use own domain, instant messaging, along with voice and video chat, online conferencing with desktop sharing, and web-based viewing and editing of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote files.
The second plan in the offer, A3, includes all the above, to which it adds Office Professional Plus desktop version subscription, unlimited email storage, archiving, eDiscovery tools to support users’ needs, and hosted voicemail support.
This plan comes with a cost of £1.87 per user per month in the UK for students, and £3.25 per user per month for faculty and staff.
The third plan in the offering, A4, includes all the above, along with Enterprise voice capabilities. The plan comes with a cost of £2.24 per user/month for students, and £4.50 per user / month for faculty and staff.
“To qualify for Office 365 for education you must be an accredited educational institution. You will be required to sign a contract and attest that you are an eligible customer. Microsoft reserves the right to verify eligibility at any time and suspend the service for ineligible customers,” Microsoft UK also notes.