Ignite 2017: Microsoft formally announces Bing for Business preview, improved Office 365 search

It’s shaping up to be a busy morning at Microsoft Ignite 2017 in Orlando, Florida, and the announcements just keep rolling in. On stage today, Microsoft revealed the launch of a private preview of Bing for Business, and also improved Office 365 search.

The new Office 365 search is powered by the Microsoft Graph, and will help deliver more relevant search results across Microsoft 365. Microsoft believes the new Office 365 search will help users find the right versions of a document, find presentations, learn more about topics, and help employees harness the power of an organization’s collective knowledge.

The Bing for Business private preview, meanwhile, will provide a unified view of personalized, contextual search results from both inside and outside an organization. Here is a bit more on the features of Bing for Business.

• Enterprise Bookmarks – Bookmarks provide the fastest way for you to find sites, tools, and other information within the enterprise. Bookmarks can range from timely topics with a short life span like a company event to more permanent bookmarks, such as linking to the internal time and reporting tool.
• People Search – With Bing for business, people search is a quick way to help you search and find a person and understand their role within the company, who they work for, see what they are working on, find out where they are located and get directions through integrated building and office floor maps.
• Organizational Chart – Quick access to the organizational chart to understand a person’s place within the company and further browse their peers, management, and direct reports.
• Building and Floor Plans – Buildings and floor plans help you quickly find your way or locate where a colleague is sitting or to learn your way around a new building.
• Document Search – Allows you to search and find contextual and relevant documents saved on SharePoint and other sources within the Microsoft Graph.
• Office 365 Groups – You will be able to explore the Groups a person belongs to as part of people search and browse their contents. Additionally, they will be able to search for groups by their name.
• Bing for business Industry News – Bing works with your company to understand your job and tasks. Over time, Bing learns which business news matters to you – such as news about your company, competitors, and industry.  This feature is a personalized newsfeed on Bing.com, helping you make timely, informed decisions.
• Management and Analytics – IT admins can quickly configure, create bookmarks, and define the search triggers, words or phrases. IT admins will also have a better understanding on how people within the organization are searching the web

Bing for business is available for private preview starting today and will be set to expand to Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3, E5, F1, Business Essentials, Business Premium, and Education E5 subscriptions in the future. Keep it locked into OnMSFT, as more is sure to develop as Ignite 2017 rolls on throughout this week.