Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) remote working’s best ally

What many companies were once as an interesting option in the medium or long term, since the outbreak of COVID-19 has become an urgent need from one day to the next. Teleworking demonstrates more than ever that the success of a company is largely based on the people who form them and the way in which they work.

To achieve this success in a remote working environment, organisations must rely on a technology that fits with the following characteristics:

• High flexibility for different ways of working (remote, in-person, hybrid) and business cultures
• Design adapted to the needs of users
• Ease and intuitiveness of use
• Maximum collaboration capabilities
• Maximum power in the management and delivery of information

Up until now there have been very few options on the market that meet these requirements.

Google announced a significant change in communications and productivity by presenting Google Workspace which takes the best of its old productivity tools from G Suite and makes them even better.

What is Google Workspace?

Google Workspace includes all of the productivity applications such as Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet and much more.

Google Workspace is:

• Flexible: designed for a flexible, fluid and fast collaboration, when, where and how it is needed.
• Useful: it can cover what is important and leave Google to take care of the rest with the best search technology and artificial intelligence of its kind which helps it to work more intelligently.
• Simple: the integrated workspace is simple and easy to use, so it spends less time on working out how to manage its work and more time doing it.
• Secure: Certified in the most renowned and internationally accepted independent security standards, including HIPAA, GDPR and FedRAMP.

The search, collaboration and productivity tools integrated on a business level fully managed by Google Workspace provide their teams with the ability to connect, create and collaborate with ease, no matter where they are.

Gmail, the perfect interface for remote working with Google Workspace

Google Workspace is much more than a change of name. In a previous article of this blog we talked about Google Cloud Next: On Air and about the latest developments and improvements that Google has released.

On a productivity and collaboration level, the main development announced consists of turning the Google Workspace solution, and its Gmail tool in particular, into a workspace 100% adapted for teleworking. How?:

• Intelligently integrating people, contents and the most frequent tasks
• Naturally integrating basic tools such as video, chat, electronic mail, files and tasks
• Incorporating most of the existing collaboration tools on the Gmail interface to offer the user a 100% integrated experience

Let’s look in a little more detail at what some of the latest developments and improvements recently incorporated into Google Workspace consist of:

Integrations and incorporations

• Integration of Google Meet both on Gmail web client and on the apps
• Adding Google Chat on Gmail web client, available for iOS and Android.
• Access from Gmail to integrated third party applications (for example, DocuSign, Salesforce or Trello), as already happens in other areas of Google Workspace. This way it is possible to obtain updates and carry out actions in any type of conversation in Gmail, Chat and rooms.

New features in Gmail chat

• Management of files and tasks in rooms, with the aim of facilitating collaboration in work teams
• Option to create chat rooms with third parties outside of the organisation (for example, chat that includes suppliers or customers)
• Possibility of editing documents collaboratively and in real time in the rooms of Google Chats within the Gmail interface. This feature, available soon, is already used in other tools of the suite such as Google Docs or Sheets.
• Possibility from the chat of starting a video call, forwarding messages to user mailboxes, sharing files and creating tasks from chat messages
• Inclusion of messages from Google Chat within the Gmail search function

New user modes and statuses

• Availability of a “Do not disturb” mode
• Customisation of status notifications (for example, the classic out of office)

Anti-phishing protection

• Analysis of the links included in the messages the user clicks on, that will be blocked if they are malicious or highly suspicious.
• Response to document comments or other elements directly from the inbox on the mobile device (Smartphone or tablet)

New features on Meet

• We can arrange a Google Meet from the chat itself.
• New mosaic view to show up to 49 people at the same time
• The presenters can share a Chrome tab, including the audio and improved video quality.
• Reduction in distractions through the blurring of the background and noise cancellation.
• Ability to ask questions by the audience with which the other participants can interact.

More developments of Google Workspace

In addition to everything, this week Google has announced new and revolutionary features that will be available to us in the coming months and that will make things even easier for working and collaborating. The following stand out:

• Creating documents directly from Gmail.
• Obtaining a preview, editing and collaborating in a linked file without having to open a new tab.
• Picture-in-picture function of Meet, where you can really see and listen to the people you work with, while you collaborate in Gmail or Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations.

As you have seen, there are numerous developments and improvements in Google Workspace with the aim of offering users a workspace 100% prepared for remote working, an increasingly necessary option in an environment which is transforming digitally in leaps and bounds. You just have to think that, since the outbreak of the pandemic, more and more companies are opting for ways of teleworking to guarantee their activity and increase their competitiveness.

At Intelligence Partner, as a Premier Partner of Google, we have accumulated significant expertise in Google Workspace. We know and have confirmed in several projects that this is a solution that overhauls the way companies work, encouraging collaboration at all levels and which represents a significant milestone in their digital transformation process.

Our experts are at your disposal so you can learn more about these updates, as well as to show you how they can fit into your company in order to facilitate teleworking for your employees and accelerate the digital transformation of your organisation.

Don’t miss this opportunity and contact us!