Microsoft Tools Your Business Probably Isn’t Using — But Should Be

10 underrated Microsoft tools you already own but probably aren’t using

Most businesses know the big Microsoft 365 apps — Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, but beneath the surface sits an entire ecosystem of powerful, underused tools that can save time, improve collaboration, streamline operations, and even boost sales

Use the tools you’ve already paid for and let them work for you!

🔍 1. Microsoft Clarity — Behaviour Analytics for Your Website (Free)

We love this free gem from Microsoft. Easy to use and connect to your website for tracking visitor behaviour including where they came from, what they looked at, how long they spent and what they viewed, its great!

Clarity shows you:

• Session recordings

• Heatmaps

• Rage‑click detection

• Scroll depth

• Form abandonment

It’s like Hotjar, but completely free and with unlimited traffic, what’s not to like!

🔄 2. Microsoft Loop — Collaborative Workspace

Loop is Microsoft’s answer to Notion, but built directly into Teams and Outlook

Features include:

• Real‑time synced components (tables, tasks, notes)

• Pages for project briefs, SOPs, documentation

• Integrates with Teams, Outlook, and OneDrive

• Co‑authoring with live presence indicators

• Task assignment and progress tracking

• Version history and change tracking

Use it for SOPs, project briefs, shared documentation, and real‑time collaboration

📋 3. Microsoft Lists — Smarter Work Tracking

Lists is a modern, structured way to track work, and far better than spreadsheets

Key features:

• Customisable list templates (issue tracker, asset register, onboarding)

• Colour‑coded status columns

• Rules and automations (alerts, reminders)

• Calendar, grid, and gallery views

• Integrates with Power Automate and Power Apps

• Permissions and sharing controls

Perfect for job tracking, asset registers, onboarding, and compliance logs

📨 4. Microsoft Forms — Simple Data Capture

Forms is ideal for customer feedback, internal requests, compliance questionnaires, and event registrations

Key features:

• Surveys, quizzes, polls, and request forms

• Automatic charts and response analytics

• Branching logic

• File upload fields

• Integrates with Excel, Power Automate, and SharePoint

• Anonymous or authenticated responses

Most businesses pay for SurveyMonkey without realising Forms already does the job

📌 5. Microsoft Planner — Lightweight Project Management

Planner is a simple, visual task board similar to Trello

Key features:

• Kanban‑style boards

• Buckets, labels, and priorities

• Due dates and reminders

• Checklist subtasks

• Progress dashboards

• Integrates with Teams and To Do

Use it for campaign planning, job boards, and team task management

📅 7. Microsoft Bookings — Self‑Service Appointment Scheduling

Bookings is essentially Calendly, but included in Microsoft 365

Great for:

• Consultations and meetings

• Support sessions

• Site visit bookings

• Customer appointments

Clients book directly into your live calendar from your website without back‑and‑forth emails

🎥 8. Microsoft Stream — Internal Video Hub

Stream is a secure, private video platform for your organisation. Like You Tube just for your business

Key features:

• Secure video hosting

• Auto‑generated transcripts

• Searchable spoken content

• Chapters and timestamps

• Screen recording tools

• Integrates with SharePoint and OneDrive

Use it for training videos, toolbox talks, onboarding, and internal announcements

📰 9. Microsoft Sway — Modern Web‑Style Presentations

Sway creates beautiful, responsive presentations and reports

Key features:

• Responsive, web‑native layouts

• Drag‑and‑drop content blocks

• Built‑in design suggestions

• Easy embedding (videos, images, charts)

• Shareable via link or embed

• Great for proposals, newsletters, and reports

Perfect for proposals, newsletters, policy summaries, and client updates

🔎 10. Microsoft Delve — AI‑Powered Content Discovery

Delve automatically surfaces the documents most relevant to you

Key features:

• Personalised document discovery

• Surfacing relevant content from SharePoint/OneDrive

• Profile pages for colleagues

• Content cards showing recent activity

• Smart search across your organisation

• Privacy‑respecting (only shows what you already have access to)

It reduces time spent searching and helps teams stay aligned across SharePoint and OneDrive

Final Thoughts

Microsoft 365 is far more than email, Teams, and file storage. Hidden inside your existing licence is a powerful ecosystem of tools designed to help small and medium‑sized businesses work smarter, communicate better, and understand customers more deeply.

Whether it’s Clarity revealing how visitors behave on your website, Lists replacing messy spreadsheets, Loop modernising collaboration, or Bookings removing scheduling headaches, these tools quietly solve real problems without adding extra cost or complexity.

Most SMEs never discover them — which is exactly why using them gives you an advantage.

If you start with just a few of these tools, you’ll see immediate improvements in productivity, customer experience, and operational efficiency. And once your team gets comfortable, you’ll unlock even more value from the Microsoft ecosystem you already own.

If you would like to help working smarter or just want to get more from your IT systems, get in touch with us today.

020 8770 0007 | info@s50.co.uk