Background Information
Google Workspace (Also known as Google Apps, or G Suite) is a collection of cloud-based productivity applications developed by Google with a focus on collaboration.
The Base Workspace Suite consists of Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, Meet and Chat for communication; Currents for employee engagement; Drive for storage, and the Google Docs suite for content creation. Workspace for Education also includes the education suite Google Classroom.
All of these applications can be maintained through the Google Admin Web Portal.
Included Applications
Gmail
Gmail is a web-based email service. The service has become popular with users for the storage that comes with, and threaded conversations along with the search capabilities.
As part of Google Workspace, Gmail comes with additional features designed for business use, including:
- Email addresses with the customer's domain name (@yourcompany.com)
- 99.9% guaranteed uptime with zero scheduled downtime for maintenance
- 30 GB of storage space
- 24/7 phone and email support
- Synchronization compatibility with Microsoft Outlook and other email providers
- Support for add-ons that integrate third-party apps purchased from the Google Workspace Marketplace with Gmail
Google Drive
Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service described by Google as "a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff".
As part of Google Workspace, Drive comes with additional features designed for business use, including:
- Either 30GB, 2TB, 5TB per user, or unlimited storage, depending on the plan
- Advanced admin controls, depending on the plan
- Audit and reporting insights for Drive content and sharing, depending on the plan
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides is a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a presentation program respectively. These programs have an emphasis on collaboration and allow multiple users to view and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations together in real time through a web browser or mobile device.
Google Forms
Google Forms is a survey application that features all the same collaboration tools that are in Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The information generated from these quizzes can be connected to a Sheet for automated data collection.
Google Sites
Google Sites is a creation tool that allows multiple people to create and edit websites, without requiring any kind of coding knowledge or other web design skills.
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is an online calendar intended to help keep track of time and schedules that integrates into Gmail so that users can add events directly from an email.
As part of Google Workspace, Calendar comes with additional features designed for business use, including:
- Smart scheduling of meetings, where the service finds available times and appropriate locations based on coworkers' schedules
- Public calendars for consumers to see a business's upcoming events
- Calendar integration with Google Sites
- Easy migration from Exchange, Outlook, or iCal, or from .ics and .csv files
- Ability to see what meeting rooms and shared resources are available
Google Tasks
Google Tasks lets users capture and manage to-dos anywhere in Google Workspace or using iOS and Android apps, and integrates into Google Calendar
Google Chat
Google Chat is a communication tool that provides direct messaging, and team chats, similar to Slack or Microsoft Teams.
Google Meet
Google Meet is a standards-based Video Conferencing application, that uses proprietary protocols for video, audio, and data transcoding.
Google Currents
Google Currents lets team members "engage and communicate" at "a deeper level", with a stream featuring posts, comments, and Communities based on common goals.
Google Keep
Google Keep is a note-taking service with a variety of tools for notes, including text, lists, voice, and images.
As part of Google Workspace, Keep comes with additional features designed for business use, including:
- Integration with Google Docs to easily access Keep notes while on Docs on the web
Google Vault
Google Vault, an archiving and electronic discovery service exclusively available to Google Workspace customers, was designed to help organizations to manage important information in a simple and cost-effective way.
Jamboard
Jamboard is a digital whiteboard software made for creative and collaborative brainstorming through the cloud.
Google Workspace Marketplace
Google Workspace Marketplace is an online store with business-oriented cloud applications that augments the Google Workspace functionality. Administrators can browse for, purchase, and deploy integrated cloud applications for users.