Office 365 ProPlus performs the following subscription activation tasks:

• Communicates with Office Licensing Service (OLS)

• Activates Office by using Office Software Protection Platform (OSPP) or Software Protection Platform (SPP)

• Interfaces with the Office UI

• Provides authorization for Office 365 ProPlus to run.

Office 365 ProPlus coordinates with OLS and OSPP or SPP to apply business rules on the client computer for activation, renewal, deprovision, and reprovision of user subscriptions.

OSPP is used with Windows 7 and is a system service on the client that brokers the license state for installed Office software. OSPP is the Office version of SPP that is added to Windows 7.

SPP is a new set of anti-piracy innovations, counterfeit detection practices, and tamper resistance measures. SPP ships as part of Windows 8.

OLS is a cloud-based service that keeps the activation of each subscriber computer synchronized with the subscriber account status. OLS serves as the central hub of the Office licensing system. It obtains provisioning data about the Office products that the user purchased, obtains product keys, and manages the user to computer relationship (the number of computers that the user has activated). OLS is also the authorizing service for roaming applications.

There are four Office license activation states:

• LICENSED   Office is in full-functionality mode. A product key was successfully installed and activated.

• OOB_GRACE   Office is in full-functionality mode. A product key was successfully installed but not activated.

• EXTENDED_GRACE   Office is in full-functionality mode but is in risk of falling into reduced functionality mode (RFM). This state lasts for 30 days and indicates that the key has not been successfully re-activated. This could be caused by the computer being “bumped” to make space on the license for another computer or by a user who is being de-provisioned. This can also be caused by an extended time without Internet connectivity. The 30 day grace period applies to Office 2013 for Office 365 subscriptions.

  Note:
  In RFM, most features are disabled. However, the user can still view and print data.

• NOTIFICATIONS   This state indicates that Office is in RFM.

When a user logs into the Office 365 portal and chooses to install Office 365 ProPlus on the computer he or she is currently using, the user chooses Install Office and within moments, Office is ready for use. Because the user is logged in by using a web browser, Office has the credentials that it must have in order to retrieve the appropriate licenses from the cloud. As long as the user subscription remains valid, Office automatically remains in a licensed state without requiring user intervention. This is because the installation product key and the credentials that are associated with the installing user account are not required to keep Office activated.

Note:
An Office installation activated against a user subscription remains activated on that computer for all Windows users and all Office users as long as the Office 365 subscription of the installing user remains active.

Office 365 ProPlus offers a pay-as-you-go per user licensing model that obtains a product key and activates it. The user must enter a user ID and password only one time to validate the subscription. When a user's Office 365 ProPlus subscription is canceled, Office enters RFM. A user can have up to five concurrent installations by using the same user ID and password.

OLS is the mechanism through which Office full functionality is enabled or disabled, depending on the status of the user’s subscription.

Note:
To verify the licensing state of the Office 365 clients, the clients must have reliable Internet access every 30 days. If the Office 365 clients cannot connect to OLS for a long time, the license will fall into EXTENDED_GRACE and prompt the user to connect to the Internet.

OLS manages the number of computers that have an Office installation activated, and it enables users to change the computers on which they install Office. For example, if a user has a subscription that allows the user to install Office on up to five computers, and the user tries to install Office on a sixth computer, OLS can deactivate one of the first five computers on which Office is installed to allow the user to activate the sixth computer. Messages that the client is deactivated are displayed in the Office applications for that client, and Office goes into RFM 30 days after deactivation.
This also applies to Project Pro for Office 365 and Visio Pro for Office 365.

Administrators can enable users to manage their Office 365 ProPlus, Project Pro for Office 365, and Visio Pro for Office 365 installs by using the Office 365 portal's software pages for the Office desktop apps, Project, and Visio products to perform the following tasks:

• Install Office (software page for Office desktop apps)

• Install Project (software page for Project)

• Install Visio (software page for Visio)

• See how many computers have Office 365 ProPlus, Project Pro for Office 365, and Visio Pro for Office 365 installed; and see how many installations are available

• Deactivate an installation (this does not uninstall Office, Project, or Visio)

• View remaining available installations