Take a closer look at how Office add-ins improve productivity, what mundane tasks can be eliminated, what types of add-ins exist, and how to start using them
https://www.brimit.com/blog/how-microsoft-office-add-ins-simplify-daily-routine-and-prevent-costly-mistakes
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Microsoft Office applications
(Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote,
Outlook, Project, etc.) can be extended
with add-ins — small web applications
that improve the experience of MS Office
users.
The add-ins interact with third-party
applications, embed interactive
visualization, exchange and validate data,
do calculations, help automate repetitive
tasks within a document, etc.
Let’s take a closer look at how Microsoft
Office add-ins improve productivity, what
mundane tasks can be eliminated, what
types of add-ins exist, and how to start
using them.
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The benefits of using Office add-ins
The first and most substantial benefit is that you or your
employees stay in one system instead of switching between
many systems. Secondly, while interacting with third-party
applications, add-ins bring in external data relative to the
information you’re currently working with. Thirdly, add-ins
enable users to edit data and content that are stored in
third-party applications, therefore eliminating the need to
familiarize themselves with another application’s user interface.
All in all, using add-ins to integrate third-party data and
functions makes users more productive and improves the
accuracy of data. All these benefits come at a relevantly low
price or even for free.
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Compatibility of Office add-ins
The possibility of extending Office applications has existed for more than a decade
but has been limited to running add-ins on Windows only. In recent years the Office
suite has evolved significantly, embracing new platforms and devices. As a result,
the add-ins run in Office across multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, iPad,
and various browsers.
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Where Office add-ins appear in the user interface
1. The most common is the
task pane — a pane next to
the content of a document
that works as a standard
web application.
There are no limitations on
what the add-in located in
the task pane can look like.
As mentioned above, an
add-in in this pane works
like a standard web
application displaying
content. This creates
[almost] endless possibilities
for what an add-in can do.
Add-ins can be incorporated in a number of places in Office applications.
Image 1. The location of the Task Pane in Word.
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Where Office add-ins appear in the user interface
2. Another way to extend
the functions of Office
documents is via custom
ribbon buttons and menu
commands.
This option is limited to
the web version of Office
applications and those that
run as desktop apps on
Windows. Custom buttons
can perform different
actions such as executing a
function with custom logic.
Image 2. The location of the Custom buttons in Word.
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Where Office add-ins appear in the user interface
3. Excel and PowerPoint
documents support content
add-ins.
They enable users to
integrate rich, web-based
data visualizations, media
(such as a YouTube video
player or a picture gallery),
and other external content
that is relevant to the
content of an Excel or
PowerPoint document.
Image 3. A media object added to Excel.
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Examples of how Office add-ins
can help you streamline your
operations
We’ve added
a number of ideas
for how add-ins
can improve user
experience in different
Office applications.
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Add-ins for Excel
Insert data into an Excel spreadsheet from
a third-party or on-premises system
Send Excel data to an external system
Receive up-to-date information
(e.g., exchange rates and stock information)
Add-ins for PowerPoint
Insert media files from a digital asset
management platform
Insert interactive visualizations, such as maps,
reports, and charts relative to the information
you’re currently working with
Examples of how Office add-ins can help you streamline your operations
11. https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/
https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/
https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/
https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/
Alternatively, add-ins can be built by a
specialized software development company
adhering to custom requirements. When an
add-in is ready, organizations can use one of
these methods to distribute add-ins to users,
whether organization-wide or privately for
specific users or teams. Add-ins are deployed on
the organization’s infrastructure by a system
administrator. An organization that has
developed a custom add-in for its own needs
may want to make it available to a wider
audience by submitting it to AppSource.
It’s likely that the software product you use has an add-in for MS Office. Head to
Microsoft’s public store (AppSource) to see whether there’s a ready-to-use add-in
for your needs.
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How to get and start using Office add-ins
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Are Office add-ins free?
There are 4,766 promising free
add-ins available for Office
products (as of December 1, 2020).
Paid upgrades are available for
some of them, but their basic
features are free. In addition, there
are almost 500 paid add-ins
created to accomplish a wide
range of tasks—even very specific
ones—for industries such as health
care, finance, and retail.
13. https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-US/
https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-US/Start by checking AppSource to see if the add-in you
need is already available — e.g., a QuickBooks add-in for
Excel. If not, consider hiring a software development
provider to create a custom add-in to extend Office apps
and enrich it with the functions that you need. You
should do the same if you own a software product and
would like to extend its features by integrating it with the
Microsoft Office suite.
Next steps
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