Microsoft Office Blog by Chris Menard

Teams - Why can't I record? Video call vs. meeting

Microsoft Teams allows you to easily record meetings. I'm frequently asked, "Why can't I record?" or "Why is recording disabled?" The answer is that you are doing a video call. Most likely, you were chatting with one person (1-on-1 chat) or doing a group chat. A video call looks similar to a meeting, but it is a call, so the recording feature is disabled.

Three Great OneDrive Tips and Features You Might Not be Using

OneDrive has great features but here are three you might love - time savers, life savers, convenient and more!

Word track changes - Just Mine - Track only your changes - New feature - August 2021

Microsoft Word has a new feature for track changes. You can track just your changes. The feature is called "Just Mine" and is on the Review tab under Track Changes.

How to use the TODAY function in Excel

The TODAY function returns the current date and is updated automatically when you open an Excel file. The TODAY function has no arguments. In this video, I'll use the TODAY function in an accounting exercise using Accounts Receivable. You would use the same for Accounts Payable.

Excel Convert Text to Numbers - Four easy methods

Need to convert text to numbers in Excel? I'll demonstrate four methods in the easy-to-follow article and video. If you need to analyze data in Excel, numbers frequently come in as text and need to be converted.

Excel - 5 easy ways to identify numbers stored as text

In Excel, numbers that are stored as text can cause unexpected results. It is important before you analyze numbers to make sure there are not stored as text. In this video, I'll demonstrate five methods to quickly find numbers stored as text. Numbers as text usually happens when you pull data from another data source into Excel.

PMT Function in Excel - how to use it to calculate loan payment

The PMT function will calculate your payments for a loan based on the interest rate, loan amount, and the number of periods.

Outlook Calendar Meeting Template

Need a great time saving Outlook tip? Use Outlook calendar meeting templates. Calendar meeting templates are a great way to schedule meeting that happen frequently, but do not have a recurring pattern.

Zoom - Add Video to the Waiting Room

The Zoom Waiting Room is very popular. You have always been able to customize the waiting room with your logo and a description. Now, with the release of Zoom 5.7.3, you can add a video to your waiting room.

Excel file size out of control? Learn how to reduce Excel spreadsheet file size

Sometimes Excel spreadsheet file size can get out of control, for no reason, despite not having a lot of data. Find out what to do to reduce the size again.

Teams: Live transcription in Teams meeting - 2021 New Feature!

Teams Meetings now has live transcription! Live transcription is a written record of the spoken text that occurs during a meeting. It identifies each speaker, is captured automatically in near real-time, and is available during and after the meeting. Live transcription is different from the meeting feature Live captions. Captions are not recorded. You could use Live transcription if you joined a meeting late and you need to quickly catch up on what is happening.

Margin of Safety vs. Break-even point in Excel

Break-even point (BEP) is the level of sales where the total cost - fixed cost and variable cost - equals total revenues. Break-even is where Net Income is zero. There is no profit and no loss. The Margin of Safety (MoS) is a difference between actual/budgeted sales and the level of breakeven sales.