Working with your documents in the cloud: advantages and opportunities
How to work in cloud computing and share Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, Power Point) online: the new ways of project management
A construction project implementation typically includes generating various documents (such as reports, contracts, specifications, procurement documents) also in order to obtain necessary building permits and licenses.
Effective document management is essential to the delivery of the intended outcomes. However, when having to edit project documents or adding data directly from a construction site might be challenging, especially if not able to physically access your PC .
In this blog post we’ll be having a look at a useful tool for working in cloud computing and to facilitate your activities wherever you are. Specifically, we’ll examine usBIM.office, the free application integrated in the usBIM system to view, create and edit online Microsoft Office® documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), directly from your browser.
Working on Excel documents in cloud with usBIM.office
How to move your work documents to the cloud with usBIM.office
Today’s growth in technological capabilities, exponential increase in computing power available and almost ubiquitous Internet connectivity among other digital advances is changing the way people is working. In this context collaboration platforms and online solutions for BIM document management are quickly replacing traditional communication.
This fundamental shift to digital tools will help a professional to foster:
- constant files exchange
- direct communication
- automatic file versioning
- data archiving
- real-time availability of working files
- software compatibility used by different professionals
- coordination between the different models
- control of possible interferences between models (es: MEP systems, structural, architectural models)
- validation of project choices
- definition of a general coordination flow.
One of the usBIM applications that allows you to optimize your work organization in the cloud is usBIM.office.
With usBIM.office you can open and view different types of files directly in your browser and, if you are a Microsoft Office 365® Business or Education subscriber, you can also edit them directly on the usBIM system.
The advantage is that you no longer have to upload and download documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint (or other Microsoft Office software) to view their contents or edit them. This way, you work is completely managed in the cloud and will help you avoiding duplicating and copying files, or occupying too much up space on your device. This also means that you can work on your technical reports even if you’re out of the office, taking advantage of Word’s full functionality from your phone or tablet, as well as from your PC.
You can also create a new document directly online and choose from Excel, PowerPoint, Word formats.
Thanks to the advanced collaborative working features you synchronize team activities and there is no risk of working on outdated versions of documents. Once the documents in Microsoft format are uploaded to usBIM, the whole team can:
- view them directly online by simply clicking on the view button
- edit them if they have a subscription to Microsoft Office 365® Business or Education
- see all changes in real time and store each version
- interact and comment on each activity within the integrated chat service.
Work on Office documents in the cloud with usBIM.office
Basically, with usBIM.office you create, view, edit, and share Microsoft documents directly online from your browser.
How to use usBIM.office: a practical example
ILet’s imagine that the architect in your team has been assigned to write a technical report describing the condition of a residential building before maintenance work begins. He goes to the construction site and during the inspection starts to write some notes using usBIM.office on his tablet.
Basically, he creates a new folder on usBIM, creates a new .docx document, using all the Word commands to write the report and shares the document with his co-workers, notifying them with a message on the usBIM chat. The engineer on the team seeing the chat message, starts reading the technical report directly from his smartphone. Another collaborator in the office integrates the .docx document that has been shared with him, inserting the description of the project interventions to be implemented.
Everyone works on the same document and can view the changes made by each co-worker. The file doesn’t need to be downloaded to your PC and the work is done completely in the cloud.
The document is stored safely on the usBIM cloud, you don’t risk working on an outdated version, you don’t take up space on your device and you can work in groups even remotely!
How to use usBIM.office for free
You can launch usBIM.office or any other of the free applications integrated in usBIM simply accessing the usBIM page and inserting your ACCA account credentials.
If you don’t have an ACCA account yet:
- go to the MyACCA page
- register by inserting your data
- type in your email address to receive a password.
At this point you just need to create a Word, Excel, PowerPoint file directly on usBIM or upload a file you already have in a folder in the usBIM cloud and you can view and edit them anywhere and from any device.
