Microsoft’s word-processing and spreadsheet program is now fully integrated with WoodWing Software’s powerful Smart Connection Enterprise editorial solution.

With the introduction of Smart Connection Enterprise for MS Word/Excel, users of Microsoft Word and Excel 2003 can now take full advantage of the power and flexibility of Smart Connection Enterprise, the industry’s leading editorial solution for Adobe InDesign and InCopy.

WoodWing officials say this new version of Smart Connection Enterprise — available on the Windows platform only — offers a wide range of benefits for users of Word and Excel.

“What we’re always hearing from our customers is that they love the versatility of Smart Connection Enterprise,” said Erik Schut, President of WoodWing Software. “Now that the system is fully integrated with Microsoft Word and Excel, it’s become even more versatile. Users working with Word or Excel now have direct access to the Smart Connection Enterprise database. That’s an incredibly convenient new component to this system.”

WoodWing officials say this new version of their powerful editorial solution will be beneficial to customers across the publishing spectrum.

Among the advantages and features of Smart Connection Enterprise for MS Word/Excel:

• Publishers who deal with external writers who produce all their articles and stories using Word can now seamlessly integrate the documents into the Smart Connection Enterprise database. “This can be very useful for book publishers, for example, who have a lot of external writers writing about various subjects,” Schut said. “With other systems, it’s cumbersome and time-consuming to integrate the copy into the database. But with this product, it’s a snap.”

• A Smart Connection Enterprise menu gives Word users direct access to the SCE database. Users can use the menu to browse the database by publication, issue, section or any other factor. The user can also access the In Box to see files routed to him or his group.

• Existing files can be opened, and new documents can be saved directly into the Smart Connection Enterprise database. The Smart Connection Enterprise server takes care of access rights.

• Once the Word files are integrated into the Smart Connection Enterprise database, they’ll be converted into InCopy files for write-to-fit purposes.

• The Excel feature allows for spreadsheet files to be directly stored in the Smart Connection Enterprise database.