Dropbox has added a feature enabling users the ability to collaborate on projects created in Microsoft Office applications. The Dropbox Badge has been added to the Dropbox for Business suite. The badge appears inside any Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint project that’s shared among co-workers or team members.
Here’s a video giving an overview:
When users are inside a shared Word document, for example, the Dropbox Badge hovers over the screen. The goal of the badge is to keep users in sync with each other as they create, edit, or view documents.
Changes can be made and viewed by any user. Any Dropbox Badge holder that’s shared on a specific document has the options to continue working on their version of the project, view the changes another user made, and even open and edit the newly-saved version.
The Dropbox Badge also shows users who else is viewing and editing a document, spreadsheet, or slide presentation. And it gives an option to view a history of revisions to a shared file.
The badge is also a one-click location that can be easily shared with a link to anyone on your team who you want to review or edit the files.
On the Dropbox for Business blog, Product Manager Matt Holden explains:
“Now collaborating on your files doesn’t have to mean endless emails back and forth, worrying about who else is editing your file while you’re working on it, or uploading the doc into a different format just so you can work with others.
“With the Dropbox badge, you can see important information right from within the image-rich PowerPoint files or function-filled Excel spreadsheets you already work in, so you can rest assured your team always works in sync.”
The Dropbox Badge is one of the first features to be introduced as part of the company’s Project Harmony. Project Harmony is in beta right now and available to Dropbox for Business early access members.
Current administrators with companies using Dropbox for Business and its early access program can opt to turn on the Dropbox Badge feature right away.
Dropbox for Business is a paid feature from the cloud storage company. For $15 per month per user, companies can collaborate and share files via the Dropbox cloud using any platform, including Macintosh and Linux, and any mobile platform, too.
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Screen Image: Dropbox