Any employee who has a Microsoft Office suite on their work computer can get a copy of the current version of Office Professional or Office for Mac for home use through a low-cost download. They can also request installation software for an additional fee to cover the costs.
There are two purchase options: Employees can purchase the software individually, or Software Assurance administrators can place a bulk purchase order for quantities of 20 units or more.
Office software can be used only while the user continues to be an employee at the organisation and Software Assurance for the Office suite remains active. For more information, see Home Use Program.
Note: The product use rights for desktop application software allow the organisation to install a copy on a portable device for use by the single primary user of the licensed device. This option makes it possible for an employee to continue working away from the office.
Activating the Home Use Benefit
The Home Use benefit is managed through the VLSC by the person with the Software Assurance Manager role. You must use Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater.
- Sign into the VLSC.
- Choose Software Assurance from the menu bar.
- Click Home Use Program. The Manage Software Assurance Benefits details page appears showing the license IDs that have this benefit.
- Click the license ID for which you want to manage benefits. The Benefit Summary page appears, showing all benefits for this license ID that can be managed through the Software Assurance menu item.
- Click Home Use Program. The Activate Benefit page appears.
- Accept the benefit terms, enter contact information and applicable domains for your organisation, and click Activate Benefit.
When activation is complete, a 10-digit alphanumeric access code appears. You will also receive an email with the same access code and an email template you can send to your employees to inform them they are eligible for this benefit.