Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is a productivity suite, or more precisely a suite of cloud computing and groupware productivity tools and software, for professionals. It is offered by Google as a monthly or annual subscription.
While most of the services offered within Google Workspace are available individually and for free to consumers who use a regular Gmail account, Google Workspace takes it to the next level with enterprise features such as personalized email addresses for your own domain (e.g., @yourcompany.com), unlimited Google Drive storage options, additional administrative tools and advanced settings, and 24/7 phone and email support and assistance.
Plus, paid Workspace users are not exposed to online advertising.
If you want to make it easier for your employees to work together and provide a unique collaborative experience, Google Workspace is without a doubt one of the best products on the market.
For example, the shared calendars give you the possibility to check the availability of your colleagues and to organize meetings at a time that is convenient for everyone, via an automatic e-mail.
If you want, you can turn a meeting into a video conference with a click of the mouse, from your computer or smartphone, or share your PC screen to get feedback on your work.
Google Workspace allows you to make quick decisions by being able to communicate with your collaborators at any time.
It is also an ideal collaboration tool for businesses and organizations, as it provides fast and convenient solutions for sharing files, whether they are spreadsheets, presentations or documents, with or without an internet connection.
You will be able to observe in real time any changes made by your employees on a file, and communicate with them thanks to the integrated chat.
But one of the main assets of Google Workspace is its cloud.
Thanks to the cloud, you keep all your work documents in a secure space, accessible from all your devices – computer, phone or tablet, and those of your employees
No more sending attachments.
Updates are automatically saved and stored in Drive.
Finally, Google Workplace is a solution that offers a high level of security, so you won’t have to panic if one of your employees leaves or if you lose one of your PCs.
Let’s take a closer look at all the tools and applications that come with Google Workplace, and their specific features.
Which applications for Google Workspace?
Gmail
Launched in 2004, Gmail remains the world’s most widely used email service, with its large storage space and powerful search capabilities.
As part of Google Workspace, Gmail comes with additional features designed for business use:
Email addresses with your domain name (@yourcompany.com)
30 GB of storage space
24/7 phone and email support
Synchronization compatibility with Microsoft Outlook and other email providers
Google Drive
A file storage and synchronization service launched in 2012, Google Drive is the place to create, share, collaborate and keep all your data.
With Google Drive, your collaborators can upload any type of file to the cloud, share them with others and access them from any computer, tablet or smartphone.
It’s also possible to sync files between different devices and the cloud with apps for Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS computers, and Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.
As part of Google Workspace, Google Drive comes with additional features designed for business use, which vary depending on the package chosen:
Either 30GB, 2TB, 5TB per user, or unlimited storage
Advanced administrator controls
Ability to audit and report on your Google Drive content and sharing
Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
Google’s word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program are now integrated with Google Drive as part of the Google Docs suite. They all serve as collaborative software that allows users to view and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations together in real time via a web browser or mobile device. Changes are saved automatically, with a history to track all changes made.
User permission levels can also be set to designate who can view, comment or edit the document.
As part of Google Workspace, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides come with additional features designed for business use, including unlimited revision history.
Google Forms
Google Forms is a tool for collecting information from users via a custom survey or quiz.
Forms offers all the collaboration and sharing features found in Docs, Sheets and Slides.
The collected information is then collected and automatically connected to a spreadsheet.
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is an online calendar. Launched in 2006, it integrates with Gmail to make it easy for users to add events directly to their calendar from email messages.
As part of Google Workspace, Google Calendar includes additional features:
Smart meeting scheduling, where the service finds available times and appropriate locations based on colleagues’ schedules
Public calendars that allow consumers to see a company’s upcoming events
Calendar integration with Google Sites
Google Chat
Google Chat is a communication software capable of providing private messages and group conversations, similar to competitors Slack and Microsoft Teams. It also allows the sharing of Google Drive content (Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides).
Google Chat helps your teams collaborate easily and efficiently from any location, chat securely, and move to an optimal level of collaboration through shared discussions, tasks and files.
Google Sites
Google Sites is an authoring tool that allows multiple people to create and edit websites, without coding or other web design skills.
With Google Sites, you can easily showcase your team’s work and quickly access all of your content in Google Workspace, whether it’s a Drive folder, Docs file, or a shared calendar.
Google Meet
Google Meet is a secure video conferencing application ideal for businesses.
Video conferencing data on Meet is encrypted while in transit to keep your meetings secure.
With Meet, you can easily schedule video calls with multiple people around the world.
Google Keep
Google Keep is a note-taking service that offers a wide variety of note-taking tools (text, lists, audio, drawings, photos, etc.).
As part of Google Workspace, Google Keep has additional features, such as integration with Google Docs, which allows easy access to Keep notes while working on Docs.
Google Vault
Google Vault is an electronic archiving and discovery (e-discovery) service available exclusively to Google Workspace customers.
Vault provides an easy-to-use solution for managing your company’s critical information and preserving important data.
The advantage for large organizations is that they can provide their legal team with the information they need at any time. The Vault allows you to preserve user data from certain Google Workspace applications through preservation procedures.
Jamboard
Jamboard is a digital interactive board that enables collaborative meetings and brainstorming sessions.
This cloud-connected tool allows people in different locations to work together in real time via multiple Jamboards or connected remotely via a smartphone app.
Jamboard is a 55-inch 4K display with a built-in HD camera, speakers and Wi-Fi connection.
With its responsive and accurate display, this tool allows you to draw like a traditional whiteboard and select images and content from the web or from your Docs, Sheets and Slides files and then insert them directly onto the screen.
Google Cloud Search
Google Cloud Search is certainly one of the most appreciated tools by companies that use Google Workspace services.
Thanks to the power of Google, you can indeed search for all the information and data you need at any time, whether it is in your Gmail inbox, your Docs, Sheets, Slides files, in your Drive or Calendar.
