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 must be installed on its own dedicated server and integration to WorkZone must be set up after installation.