Microsoft Announces New Office 97 Small Business Edition With Internet Tools Small Businesses Really Need
REDMOND, Wash., March 23, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the immediate availability of Microsoft® Office 97 Small Business Edition version 2.0, the suite of productivity applications specifically designed for small businesses. The new suite provides the essential tools small businesses need to manage and run their operations more effectively, including features that make it possible for small businesses to communicate, get information and market themselves using the Internet. Office 97’s new Internet tools like the Direct Mail Manager enable a small business to use the Internet for targeted direct mailings. Small business users also receive guidance on what Internet services are useful for them, such as the ability to automatically back up important data.
“Microsoft Office 97 Small Business Edition provides the right tools – useful and appropriate tools – for my small business to be more productive and efficient,”
said Mark Swenson of Studio C Architects in San Diego.
“The new Direct Mail Manager is just the sort of new tool a small business needs today.”
Small businesses are in a unique position. They increasingly rely on technology to move business ahead, yet they don’t have an internal information services department to advise them on what technology to use. Office 97 Small Business Edition version 2.0 is designed to provide the core set of productivity tools a small business needs, from Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft Excel 97, Microsoft Publisher 98 and the Outlook
™
messaging and collaboration client 98* to unique small business management and marketing tools. A key part of the suite, Small Business Financial Manager 98 is an ideal
“what-if”
tool for making pricing and inventory management decisions, as well as creating financial projections and industry comparisons. In addition, the Direct Mail Manager allows small businesses to use the Internet to reach new customers and automate the process of direct mailing.
“Our customers have told us that they want Office to help them use the Internet to better market and run their business,”
said David Thacher, general manager of the small business product unit at Microsoft.
“Direct Mail Manager helps make this a reality for small businesses that have struggled to figure out how to capitalize on the Internet.”
Version 2.0 of the Office 97 Small Business Edition integrates the following products and services:
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Word 97. The world’s best-selling word processor provides small businesses with the tools they need for their day-to-day correspondence, reports and proposals.
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Excel 97. The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is used by small businesses to develop budgets, prepare invoices and manage lists, and for overall financial analysis.
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NEW – Publisher 98. The leading business desktop-publishing product for the Windows® operating system makes it easy for those without design expertise to create professional-looking publications for print or the Web. Publisher 98 provides automated design expertise, with more than 1,600 professionally designed publication templates and a new flexible wizard model that allows users to make global changes at any time during the design and layout process. With new Design Sets, it is easy to create a consistent, unique look and color scheme for a business. And with AutoConvert, users can automatically reformat a publication to a new size, layout or publication type with just a click of a button. For instance, users can turn a brochure into a Web site or a Web site into a newsletter.
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NEW – Outlook 98. Outlook 98 is an integrated e-mail application that brings together organizational tools small businesses need most, like a contact manager, calendar, task list and journal, into one powerful application. Outlook 98 adds industry-leading support for Internet standards, allowing users to perform such tasks as sending entire HTML Web pages through e-mail, sending and receiving meeting requests, and viewing free/busy schedule information without requiring a local server. In addition, Outlook 98 makes setup and configuration even easier with the Setup Wizard, which automatically detects the appropriate installation options.
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NEW – Small Business Financial Manager 98. This product provides powerful, easy-to-use financial analysis and reporting tools to help create financial reports and charts and to perform valuable accounting analyses so businesses can make better decisions. For example, the What-If Wizards let users see the impact of decisions such as price and inventory changes and accounts-receivable reductions. In addition, the new version has added business charts, projection reports that let users see how business will look in five years, and comparison reports that use Robert Morris Associates data to compare a particular business with other businesses in the same industry, based on SIC code.
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NEW – Expedia
™
Streets 98. This is the latest version of Microsoft’s street-level mapping and travel information product. Small businesses use Expedia Streets to find vendor or customer locations, to map delivery routes and to add detailed maps to marketing materials. Contact data can be directly imported from Outlook 98 and automatically mapped into an Expedia Streets map. This new version contains significantly more expert content, such as 16,000 restaurants from the ZAGATSURVEY
™
restaurant guide and the Expedia Hotel Guide, as well as complete map updates. -
NEW – Direct Mail Manager. New to the Small Business Edition, the Direct Mail Manager uses Internet and wizard technology to walk users through the process of creating and managing cost-effective direct mailings. Customers can rent targeted mailing lists from vendors such as American Business Information Inc., verify address lists against the U.S. Postal Service ZIP+4 database, and then opt to work with a mailing service like Pitney Bowes Inc. or Neopost to actually print and send the mailing. In addition, the U.S. Postal Service has provided an online reference guide with detailed information on direct-mail issues.
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NEW –
“
Doing Business on the Internet.
” An online reference, Doing Business on the Internet includes tools such as Microsoft Internet Explorer browser software version 4.0 and the Internet Connection Wizard, which walks users through connection to an Internet service provider and launches setup for Direct Mail Manager. Also included are special offers from Internet service providers and links to Internet business services that are tailored to small businesses.
Microsoft Office 97 Small Business Edition version 2.0 is available immediately. Customers can take advantage of the value and integration of these popular applications for an upgrade price of $249; all current Office application users can then mail in a coupon for a $40
rebate. Full product for new users is available for $499 (U.S.). For more information, visit the Microsoft Office Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/office/sbe/.
Founded in 1975 Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
* Office 97 Small Business Edition version 2.0 ships with Outlook 97 in the box. Outlook 98 is available through a coupon in the box, or by free Internet download at http://www.microsoft.com/outlook/ .
Microsoft, Outlook, Windows and Expedia are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Zagat and ZAGATSURVEY are registered trademarks of Zagat Survey LLC.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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