Microsoft Brings Office 'Live' on Nov. 15

Microsoft is taking its Office Live service live and out of beta on November 15, expanding its offerings for small businesses both in content and its availability overseas.

Office Live is a set of Internet-based services for small businesses, designed to get them up and running online quickly. Microsoft launched the service in February and more than 160,000 small businesses took part in the beta.

One of those businesses was the Sequoia Lodge in Kernville, Calif., a remote vacation lodge outside of Bakersfield.

Lodge owner Brenda Derrow had made a previous effort with an independent Web hosting provider, but the site went without an update for five years and had next to no information or photos on it.

“You have to be able to show people what you’ve got here, and the old Web site didn’t do that,” said Derrow. But her Office Live experiment has been a big success, and that’s due to Microsoft making more of an effort than the last hosting provider she worked with.

“This was my first attempt, so I’ve learned along with Microsoft helping me put it together. I’m doing a lot of bookings online now. It gets you kinda pumped because you can see how much traffic you’re getting, and that helps,” she said.

On its emergence from beta, Office Live will expand internationally to offer services in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. The final or finished version of Office Live will also add several features.

Full article: internetnews.com