Google Hangouts Meet vs GoToMeeting

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Hangouts Meet vs GoToMeetingIn March 2017, Google introduced a new online meeting experience called Hangouts Meet.

This capability is a major differentiator between consumer Gmail and business G Suite.

Almost all the component functionality (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Maps) that is available to a G Suite user is also available to a consumer Gmail user.

However, a Hangouts Meet meeting can only be initiated by someone who is part of an organization that is using G Suite and for which the Meet capability has been enabled for the G Suite organization. Continue reading Google Hangouts Meet vs GoToMeeting →

Google & Excel – How to Move Spreadsheets Between Two Environments

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Google Excel Spreadsheet InterchangeLet’s begin with a distinction between Google & Excel:

– Excel is a spreadsheet application that is a part of Microsoft Office 365.

– Google Sheets a spreadsheet app that is available with free consumer Gmail and also with G Suite (GMail for organizations).

Some people use only one or the other. Other people use both.

If a Google user who does not have Excel installed receives an Excel spreadsheet via email, the user can preview the spreadsheet within Gmail and then convert the spreadsheet to Google Sheets.

There are several ways to move spreadsheets and spreadsheet data between Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Here are examples of Google Excel information exchange. Continue reading Google & Excel – How to Move Spreadsheets Between Two Environments →

25 Ways To Accelerate Your Business With G Suite

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Accelerate Business With G SuiteThere are many aspects to G Suite that can add energy to a business. Most of them are not available with standard web host email. Some are available with consumer Gmail.

Through continuous improvement, Google regularly adds new productivity features and functionality to G Suite.

Unless noted, all of the functionality below is included with G Suite at no extra cost. Google packs a lot of business value into G Suite beyond email, word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Continue reading 25 Ways To Accelerate Your Business With G Suite →

A Roundup of Google’s Chat and Hangouts Apps

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Google Chat AppsIt’s a bit difficult to keep with Google’s various iterations of chat and Hangouts products.

However, Google has been honing its strategy and has come up with two well-thought-out business productivity offerings that complement G Suite’s core offerings.

Here is a roundup of the current Google Hangouts and Chat products, including the newest kid on the block. Continue reading A Roundup of Google’s Chat and Hangouts Apps →

Where is G Suite Data Stored?

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G Suite Data StorageGmail and G Suite use the same global data storage as Google’s search engine.

Google currently has 15 data global data centers. The first data center was built on the Oregon side of the Columbia River in 2006.

Google stores subscriber data (email, documents, spreadsheets, etc.) in small pieces. Each of those pieces is copied several times and stored in multiple geographic locations. Continue reading Where is G Suite Data Stored? →

G Suite Enterprise Adoption: The Shift Continues

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Google has made significant inroads into the small business market with G Suite. For new business owners who have been using consumer Gmail, moving to G Suite is an easy transition.

However, Google has faced several barriers to widespread G Suite enterprise adoption. Here are some of those barriers and what Google is doing to address them. Continue reading G Suite Enterprise Adoption: The Shift Continues →

A Sales Productivity Tool for G Suite and Gmail Users

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Sales Productivity in GmailFor anyone who is in sales and who uses either G Suite or Gmail, there’s a new sales productivity platform from Cirrus Insight that’s worth taking on a test drive.

Cirrus Insight’s flagship product was a Chrome extension for Gmail to Salesforce integration. Recently, the company expanded its offering to become a a broad and useful feature set for any user of Gmail or G Suite — regardless of whether they are using a specific CRM application.

Through a combination of internal inventions and acquisitions, Cirrus has assembled a “dream suite” of tools that most salespeople will appreciate.

Here is an overview of a few of the ways that salespeople can benefit from the Cirrus platform. Continue reading A Sales Productivity Tool for G Suite and Gmail Users →

Google’s FeedBurner: Still Alive And Somewhat Well

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Google FeedburnerFeedBurner is a web feed tool that was launched in 2004. The best know web feed format is RSS (Really Simple Syndication).

FeedBurner was acquired by Google in June of 2007.

Several years later, Google’s inattention to FeedBurner made it clear that FeedBurner did not have any direct or even indirect monetization potential.

Because of Google’s lack of attention to the app, bloggers began to predict the demise of FeedBurner. Continue reading Google’s FeedBurner: Still Alive And Somewhat Well →

The Five Most Viewed G Suite Videos

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Most Viewed G Suite VideosThere are over 1,200 G Suite videos on the YouTube G Suite Channel.

While most G Suite videos are English language, there are videos in a variety of different languages.

Here are the five most popular English language videos. Three of the top five are 30 seconds in length, which means they are online commercials. Commercials are usually embedded in multiple pages across Google properties and other web properties. Continue reading The Five Most Viewed G Suite Videos →

GOOGLEFINANCE Function: Create Your Own Comparative Charts

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GOOGLEFINANCE Function ExamplesThe GOOGLEFINANCE function is part of Google Sheets. Google Sheets is available in both consumer Gmail and organization-wide G Suite. The function allows users to create trend charts and comparisons for any assets that have a valid Google Finance ticker symbol.

Here are several examples of how the GOOGLEFINANCE function can be used in Google Sheets to compare the performance of stocks and indexes against one another. Continue reading GOOGLEFINANCE Function: Create Your Own Comparative Charts →

California Wine Country Maps in Google My Maps

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California Wine Country MapsBelow are several California wine country maps that we created in Google My Maps. Included wine country maps are: Napa Valley; Sonoma Valley; Alexander Valley; Lodi; and Paso Robles.

Google My Maps is available to both users of consumer Gmail accounts and to G Suite users.

Google My Maps allows for mass importing winery locations from a spreadsheet. My Maps also allows for manually adding each winery. Continue reading California Wine Country Maps in Google My Maps →

Chrome Enterprise: How Google Will Get More CIOs To Embrace Chromebook

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Google Chrome EnterpriseSince Google introduced Chromebook in 2011, the adoption of Chromebooks by businesses has been more of an interesting idea than a widespread reality.

We first wrote about the business potential for Chromebooks soon after they hit the market.

Our contention was that with so many applications moving to the cloud, that many employees would no longer need a heavyweight local operating system such as Windows or macOS. Technologies such as Citrix could be used to access Windows applications from the Chrome browser. Continue reading Chrome Enterprise: How Google Will Get More CIOs To Embrace Chromebook →

10 Google My Business Best Practices

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Google My Business Best PracticesWhether your company is a small local B2C business or a large B2C company, it’s worth paying attention to your Google My Business (GMB) listing.

According to Google, “listings on Google My Business can only be created for businesses that either have a physical location that customers can visit, or that travel to visit customers where they are.”

This means that most businesses can (and probably should) have a GMB listing. A Google My Business listing is a free source that can direct more visitors to a business’s website, almost no matter what type or size of business. Continue reading 10 Google My Business Best Practices →

Google Apps vs G Suite Search Popularity

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Google rebranded Google Apps to G Suite in September of 2016. According to Google Trends, since the rebranding, “google apps” has continued to be the more dominant search term.

Continue reading Google Apps vs G Suite Search Popularity →

Embed a “Live” Google Sheets Pricing Table in a Proposal Doc

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Embed Spreadsheet Pricing Table in DocumentFor salespeople who regularly send out long form proposals that contain pricing tables, there has always been a conundrum.

That is, a pricing table within in a document can’t be dynamically updated as easily as a spreadsheet table. The word processing capabilities within a spreadsheet are limited.

Often, a proposal’s pricing table is revised several times before the final version of a proposal is sent to the prospect or customer. This can require manual effort. Either the new bottom line in the document table needs to be hand calculated when line items are changed — or the spreadsheet table must be re-copied/pasted a into the document. Continue reading Embed a “Live” Google Sheets Pricing Table in a Proposal Doc →

G Suite Pricing: What Your Business Can Expect to Pay

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G Suite PricingThe current G Suite pricing is different than it was when G Suite was known as Google Apps for Work.

Prior to December 6, 2012, Google offered a free business version of Google Apps. Businesses that signed up for that version are grandfathered at no cost for up to 10 users.

Google still offers free versions of G Suite to qualified educational and government institutions as well as to qualified nonprofit organizations.

For businesses, G Suite does come at a cost. Continue reading G Suite Pricing: What Your Business Can Expect to Pay →

Chromebook for Business Use: An Alternative to Windows and macOS?

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Chromebook for Business

Update: On August 22, 2017, Google announced Chrome Enterprise, an effort to accelerate Chromebook for business use.

Chromebook runs on Google’s lightweight operating system, Chrome OS. Chrome OS is so lightweight that it doesn’t support running traditional locally installed business applications.

This is changing to to some degree, as several recent model Chromebooks support installed Android apps. Example models are the Acer Chromebook R 11 Convertible and the Google Chromebook Pixel.

Many developers will need to make changes to their Android apps in order to fully support Chrome OS. Even if an app is made compatible with Chrome OS, it may not be as robust as its Windows or macOS counterpart.

Chromebooks ship with under 32GB of local storage. But this is more than enough space to run multiple Chrome extensions.

Chrome OS updates are easy and fast to apply. This makes Chromebook an attractively secure choice in light of recent ransomware attacks, in which older unpatched operating systems were exploited. Continue reading Chromebook for Business Use: An Alternative to Windows and macOS? →