The Microsoft Office Online Server

The Microsoft Office Online Server is a server-based application that can be installed locally on a company’s servers and made available for users on the company network only. This enables users to utilize the browser-based web service programs for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote internally instead of using the internet-based versions. Using the Office Online Server, an organization can reduce the number of locally installed office installations as users can create, read, edit and save their documents online through the company’s local intranet.

The Office Online Server also enables users to concurrently edit a document and all users can see what each other is adding to the document as it happens.

Simply put, the Office Online Server allows multiple users access to Office Online products concurrently without exposing their network to the external internet.

The browser-based web-service programs are basic versions compared to the fully-featured locally installed Microsoft Office programs, but sufficient features and functionality to satisfy most users working on typical day-to-day tasks. For example, Word Online does not have the References and Mailings features compared to the Word program in the Office 365 Suite.

The Office Online Server also contains a free version which allows uses to view the documents but not make changes to them. If users want to create, edit and save the documents, a full license is required.

The Office Online Server replaces the Office Web Apps Server 2013 and be integrated with Microsoft Exchange 2016, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2016 and Microsoft Skype for Business 2015. If you intend to integrate Office Online Server with Microsoft Skype for Business 2015, the Office Online Server must be installed on a single or multiple server farm using HTTPS. Microsoft Skype for Business 2015 is not compatible with an Office Online Server installed on a single server farm using HTTP.

Office Online Server also can be integrated with Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013, Lync server 2013 with Office Web Apps Server 2013 installed and in some situations with Microsoft Exchange Server 2013.

Tip:

Assume Office Online Server hardware requirements are identical to MS SharePoint Server 2016
Do not install on web servers or servers that contain applications that use ports 80, 443 or 809
Do not install any Office applications on the Office Online Server
The Office Online Server should be installed on its own dedicate server instances. Do not run the Office Online Server on servers that are also performing the following functions:
- Domain control
- Exchange server
- SharePoint Server
- Skype for Business server
The Office Online Server supports Internet Explorer 11 as well as the latest versions of Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Safari OS x (10.8 or later).

Important: While WorkZone supports Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari are not officially supported. Using these unsupported browsers may result in unexpected results, inconsistencies and potential errors.