Competing with Microsoft, Google integrates all work and communication tools into Gmail

A week before the Google Cloud Conference, the company introduced a completely new design for the Gmail app for business users. With this overhaul, “Gmail” is no longer the old Gmail, but a unified application for every other Google communication platform: including Gmail, Chat, Rooms and Meet.

According to G Suite Vice President Javier Soltero, the general idea of ​​this update is not only to bring all the tools together but also reduce the need for users to switch tasks during communication and work.

Currently, the main change is only in placing every tool in an application (on the phone) or in a window (on the desktop). For example, desktop users can monitor chats in one column, view Google Doc documents in another column.

Putting all different communication tools in a single app offers another benefit: helping you set up “Do Not Disturb” mode on all applications and turning off all notifications at the touch of a button. You will be able to search for messages as easily as you can search in Gmail.

For the Gmail on mobile application, the Mail, Chat, Rooms and Meet features are integrated in one window.

In addition to providing more convenient working tools for users, this major update to Gmail in Google’s G Suite suite also aims to catch up with Microsoft and Slack in the enterprise user market.

Similar to Microsoft taking advantage of Office 365 dominance to lure users to the Teams app, Google is clearly tapping into the popularity of Gmail to boost their work tools.

Chat, Calendar and Contact functions are operated right in the Gmail window on the desktop.

For G Suite customers who want to live entirely within Google’s tool ecosystem, this new integration will make it easier for them to manage and share their work with others. However, for other users, this can bring a bunch of unnecessary add-ons that make the operation even more difficult.

Currently, these changes have been introduced to some G Suite customers this week and will be rolled out to all G Suite customers by the end of this year. For regular Gmail users, there doesn’t seem to be much change in the short term. Google says it is “thinking about how and when to bring this experience to every consumer who wants it.”

Refer to The Verge