Gmail’s New Meet Integration Offers 16-Person Chat, Streamlined Security & Personalized Options All from Your Inbox
Google’s recent assimilation of Meet with Gmail couldn’t have come at a better time – simplifying life for their users while giving popular competitors a run for their money
With features like 16-person chat, tab/audio sharing, cutting-edge protection, and several other options, Google’s integration of Gmail with Meet is going off without a hitch.
Growing out of Google Hangouts, Google Meet has several of the same elements as its predecessor but incorporates key characteristics from competitors. Clearly borrowing Zoom’s aesthetic, Google takes things a few steps further, ironing out some of Zoom’s security flaws and offering a seamless user experience from the comfort of your Gmail Inbox. As part of Google’s G-Suites personal cloud, Google is not charging customers for upgrades to Meet-related features like large video calls during a six-month period ending in September, allowing customers to familiarize themselves while providing communications services during the COVID-19 crisis.
“I’ve seen time and time again customers and prospects coming from other solutions that have not been able to keep up or had concerns in security and reliability,” says Google VP Javier Soltero, pointing to New York City public schools’ jump to Meet from Zoom after the latter’s susceptibility to hackers led to cyber-classroom interruptions. Soltero goes on to say not developing safeguards for free tools is “inherently wrong.”
Concerns of this matter are critical in business, as any breach in communications and security could have deep impacts. Considering international demands for social distancing to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus, Google’s new development comes at a pivotal time to assist corporations, institutions, and – most importantly – the everyday user.
Soltero believes this level of security is an evolution and will assist the global Google community “so the products they use at work, they can use at home.”
And critics seem to agree.
Raul Castanon, senior analyst for workforce collaboration at 451 Research/S&P Global Market Intelligence pointed out, “The integration of chat and video communications into Gmail should provide a more streamlined experience in G Suite that better aligns with user workflows, reducing friction for the end-user.”
“This should close a gap with key rival Microsoft, which has leveraged its dominance with its productivity suite to gain market traction for Teams,” Castanon elaborates. “It should also strengthen its position against standalone ‘best of breed’ competitors Slack and Zoom, which have emerged as a competitive threat.”
John Kriney, OptFirst’s CEO, also heralded the introduction, calling it a “brilliant move.” By “optimizing their opportunities” and simplifying the user experience, John sees the benefit to clients while capitalizing on ad revenue opportunities.
