By enabling volunteers to work together online​, QFES Office 365 is available to streamline and strengthen communications at a local level. This includes improved real-time communication and collaboration before, during and after any emergency event. These new communication channels are in addition to those already in use within the State Emergency Service (SES) and Rural Fire Service (RFS).

QFES volunteers are able to use QFES Office 365 for everything from corporate email to project and team document collaboration and online meetings. It gives our volunteers access to communication tools anywhere, anytime and on any device.

As a starting point, each volunteer receives a dedicated email address which, when activated, will be their point of contact with the department. This provides a fast method of contact and complements existing and essential face-to-face communications. Other QFES Office 365 capabilities include an online calendar, instant messaging, file storing and sharing as well as access to a suite of Microsoft software such as Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint.

Volunteers are able to host and participate in video-capable online meetings with colleagues across the department from a desktop computer or mobile device. The below gives a brief explanation of what is available in QFES Office 365.

Email and calendars - Use business-class email through a rich and familiar Outlook experience you can access from your desktop or from a web browser using Outlook Web App. Get a 50 GB mailbox per user and send attachments up to 150 MB.

Online Meetings - Host online meetings with audio, HD video, and web conferencing over the Internet. Join meetings with a single touch or click from the smartphone, tablet, or PC of your choice.

Instant messaging and Skype connectivity - Connect with other Skype and Skype for Business users via instant message, voice calls, and video calls, and let people know your availability with your online status.

File storage and sharing - OneDrive for Business gives each user 1 TB of personal cloud storage that can be accessed from anywhere and that syncs with their PC/Mac for offline access. Easily share documents with others inside and outside your organisation and control who can see and edit each file.

Office online - Create and edit Word, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Excel documents from an internet browser.

Work management - Planner makes it easy for your team to create new plans, organise and assign tasks, share files, chat about what you're working on, and get updates on progress.

Professional digital storytelling - With Sway, a new Office 365 app, you can easily create engaging, interactive web-based reports, presentations, newsletters, training and more ”right from your phone, tablet, or internet browser. Sways are easy to share and look great on any screen.

Search and discovery - Stay in the know. Search and discover content across Office 365 based on personalised insights. Office Delve is the first experience to be powered by Office Graph, a collection of analysed signals or insights derived from each user's behavior and relationships to content, topics, and contacts.

Corporate video portal - QFES-wide video upload, sharing and discovery.

Go to www.office.com and log in with the QFES credentials assigned to you. 

To register for an Office 365 account, follow the below:

1. Visit the volunteer portal access page and select register.

2. Complete the Member Registration form with the details you have provided to us and submit.

3. Await confirmation of portal access. Once your account is registered successfully, the success page will display your Volunteer Portal Login ID and your Office 365 email address. 

Your Office 365 email address is your Office 365 Login ID. The password will be the same as your registered Volunteer Portal password.

Once you have an account created, you can access your Office 365 applications via www.office.com.

If you have forgotten your password, please select "forgot password" on the volunteer portal login screen and follow the prompts to reset your password. If you continue to have problems, contact the ICT Service Centre (available 24/7) by telephone on 1300 487 722.

Note:

The volunteer portal only has two functions.

1) create a new Office 365 account for new volunteers,

2) Office 365 password reset.

Acceptable Use Policy (PDF, 91KB)

Electronic Communications and Email Policy (PDF, 304KB)

Each QFES volunteer will receive a dedicated email address in the format below:

• SES - Firstname.Surname@ses.qfes.qld.gov.au 

When you activate your QFES Office 365 account this email contact will be used instead of your previously nominated personal email accounts such as Gmail, Hotmail, Telstra, Optus, iiNet etc.

This change ensures you continue to receive news and announcements from QFES even if you change personal or work email accounts. It also allows you to keep and manage your official SES communications separate from other personal or work email accounts. If it is more convenient, your new QFES email address can be redirected to your existing ​day-to-day account.​

To help you stay informed, information about QFES Office 365 can be available on the QFES Gateway. Questions or feedback can also be directed to Office365FeedbackSES@ses.qfes.qld.gov.au

If you haven't yet checked out the Microsoft Office 365 E1 services, please review the links below:

• Office 365 Presentation from the 2016 Volunteer Summit (PDF, 217KB)
• Microsoft Office 365 E1
• Office 365 Learning Centre
• Office 365 for business training
• What's the difference between Office 365 and Office 2019?
• Office Blogs
• Office 365 on Twitter
• Office 365 on Wikipedia