Microsoft takes on Google: Adds live chat in Office Online

Taking on Google Docs handy chat-within-the-document feature, Microsoft has announced the ability for Office 365 Business and Education customers to chat directly with co-editors in real-time for documents stored in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online. Built on the same technology as Skype for Business, the new chat feature is available in all the Office Online applications—Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote. Explaining how to initiate the chat, Microsoft says that a user can share a document from OneDrive or SharePoint Online with co-workers or classmates and they can view, make edits and co-author in real-time. When multiple people are in the document at the same time, their names appear in the list of co-editors at the top right of the browser window. Microsoft says that chat history is not saved but can be copied and pasted, if required. Comments can be attached to a specific section within the document, which are saved with the document and can be replied to, marked as done or deleted. Microsoft had announced at the beginning of the year that it is adding real-time co-authoring with Office Online for documents stored in partner cloud services, extending their Office for iOS integration to all partners in the CSPP, enabling integration between Outlook.com and cloud storage providers Dropbox and Box.