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Tips and tricks for managing your business with Google’s solutions
Custom email, apps and more for Google Domains
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Last year
we introduced Google Domains
in the U.S. to make it easy for your business to get online with a domain name and website. We wanted to make finding, buying and managing domains for your business simple, and we partnered with best-in-class website builders like Blogger, Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly and Wix to help you create your site — no technical experience required.
Since then, we have helped people register hundreds of thousands of domain names and create tens of thousands of websites, many of whom are businesses like yours looking to build and expand their online presence. Through your continued feedback, today we’re introducing upgrades to improve the Google Domains experience by adding:
Custom email addresses
-
create an email address like, you@yourdomain or sales@yourdomain via
Google Apps for Work
.
Over 90 new domain name endings
- purchase domains with new endings like, .life, .world, .business, .cool, .pizza, .gifts, and .football (
here’s the new full list
).
Domain ownership transfer
- allows you to always make sure the right person is managing the right domains (
learn more here
).
Custom email addresses are a key part of building your online identity. Email addresses such as you@yourdomain help you establish credibility when you communicate with customers. Setting up a custom email address with Google Domains is an optional service for $5/month/user, and with that you’ll also get the full
Google Apps for Work
productivity suite. Google Apps for Work includes helpful business tools like video meetings, shared calendars, online document editing and 30 GB of file storage.
New domain name endings offer more choice and flexibility as you pick a memorable address for your business website. New endings are continuously opening up to the web, like .legal, .accountant and .services, and can help you create a name that matches who you are and what you do. Check out some of the people on Google Domains already using these new domain name endings:
sublimation.kitchen
,
smilesnap.social
,
thecooler.ninja
, and
marcblair.photography
.
It’s our mission to help your business easily get online and succeed with a domain name, and we want to make sure we continue to offer you the best tools and experience possible in our beta. So, if you have any input, questions or feedback,
please don’t be shy
!
See you online at
www.google.com/domains
.
Posted by Ben Fried, VP and CIO
Google Apps brings Brazos Bookstore into the 21st Century
Monday, May 14, 2012
(Cross-posted on the
Official Google Enterprise Blog
.)
Editor’s Note
: Today’s guest blogger is Jeremy Ellis, General Manager of Brazos Bookstore, a neighborhood institution based in Houston, Texas.
Brazos Bookstore
has been part of the Houston literary community since 1974. In addition to selling a diverse collection of books, we pride ourselves in connecting our community with authors from our area and around the globe. When the store’s ownership changed in 2006 and the possibility of shutting down became known, the community of Brazos fans petitioned to keep our doors open. Thanks to them, we’ve been able to continue our long-standing tradition where we host author events, readings and exhibitions from writers such as Walter Cronkite, Julia Child, Kofi Annan, and P. J. O’Rourke, to name a few.
When I joined the staff in September 2011, Brazos was still operating in many ways as it did in the 70s and 80s. Employees would schedule the author series on a single paper calendar, and only one of our computers had email set up. All of our software was outdated, and the programs that were available ended up causing more roadblocks than value.
We needed a system that could better manage our day-to-day operations. Since I was already familiar with Google from personal use, moving the bookstore to
Google Apps for Business
was a natural transition. Today, all seven of our employees are able to access their email and calendars from any computer in the store, at home, and on their smartphones. This accessibility not only eases communication between the staff, but also keeps everyone up to speed on events, shipments and other activities at the shop.
Scheduling author visits on Google Calendar is easy, instant, and live, and it’s saved us from double-booking authors. I’m now able to easily collaborate with our buyer when we’re planning in-store events, which has streamlined the process for ordering books and helps me track book sales from author readings.
Google Apps has given us the organizational tools we need to continue serving Houston’s literary and arts culture. Our vision over the past forty years hasn’t changed, and now we have the technology to support our store for the future.
Posted by Jeremy Ellis, General Manager, Brazos Bookstore
Google Apps highlights – 12/16/2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
(
Cross posted from the
Official Google Blog
.)
This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “
Google Apps highlights
" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.
The elves got an early jump on the holidays this year by leaving us some surprises in Google Apps over the last few weeks. Sharing from Gmail got a whole lot easier, and Google Calendar can make better use of precious screen space. We also have 10 new Google Apps customer stories to share from the tens of thousands that have gone Google in recent weeks.
Gmail gets more social
Last week we sprinkled a touch of
Google+ into Gmail
, making it easier to connect and share with people from your inbox. You can add people to circles right from an email thread through Gmail’s people widget, share photo attachments with friends and family on Google+ without leaving Gmail, and view a filtered version of your inbox only showing messages from people in your circles. We also improved Gmail’s address book by incorporating contact information shared by your friends, family and colleagues in their Google+ profiles.
New features in the Gmail iOS app
Just yesterday we added several new improvements to the
Gmail app for iOS 4+
. Now you can set up a custom email signature for mobile messages, manage your vacation responder, and view nested labels from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. We also added scribbles, a fun way to spice up messages by adding a quick hand-drawn sketch. You can create scribbles using a range of colors, brush sizes, lines, erasers and spray paints from your touchscreen device.
More free calls right from Gmail
Last year we introduced free domestic calling in Gmail within the U.S. and Canada, and we’re extending this free service for
the whole year of 2012
. We’re happy to help you keep in touch with those special people in your life, for free.
Hide morning and night hours in Calendar
If you don’t often have appointments early in the morning or late at night, a new trick in Google Calendar might be useful. Now you can
hide morning and night hours
, leaving more screen real estate for the times of day when most of your events take place. Give it a try in Calendar Labs.
Who’s gone Google?
Businesses and schools are switching to Google Apps in droves these days. From tiny startups to large enterprises and nonprofits to college campuses, we love hearing the inspiring stories that our customers share. Here’s a new batch of stories for your reading pleasure:
TripIt
,
IPSEN
,
Ebby Halliday
,
Ticket River
,
VigLink
,
HeyZap
,
The Great Books Foundation
,
Utah K-12 schools
, the
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
and
UC Santa Cruz
. Welcome one and all!
For more details and the latest news, check out the Google Apps Blog, and keep an eye out for this series here after the holidays. We launched more than 150 improvements go Google Apps in 2011, and we have a ton more in store for 2012!
Google Apps highlights – 11/18/2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “
Google Apps highlights
" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.
The last few weeks have brought a fresh new look in Gmail, more mobile access options and simpler meeting scheduling tools. Millions of organizations using Google Apps can now use Google+ on their business and university accounts, and we launched a couple Apps-related Google+ Pages ourselves.
Gmail’s new look
Back in July we
previewed
Gmail’s new look, and a couple weeks ago we started letting people
switch to the new design
with one click. The refreshed interface makes it easier to follow conversations and spot the sender with profile pictures for each message. The new look also supports
dynamic screen densities
, so Gmail displays properly whether you’re viewing on a large desktop monitor or a smaller mobile screen. We also added a selection of beautiful
HD themes
to the existing gallery. Finally, we made it easier to perform advanced email searches using a panel of powerful search options that reveals with a single click.
Gmail app for iOS devices
This month we introduced the
Gmail app
for
the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
, complete with mobile alerts for new mail, a responsive touch screen interface and Gmail mainstays like fast search, conversation view and address auto-complete.
Suggested meeting times in Google Calendar
We’ve heard how frustrating it can be to spend 15 minutes finding a good time for people to convene for a 30 minute meeting, so we made it easier to find a good meeting time in Google Calendar. The
suggested times
feature automatically reviews the availability of meeting invitees, and proposes event times that work for the whole group.
Google+ for organizations using Google Apps
Businesses, schools and organizations with Google Apps can now
use Google+
. Employees and students can create profiles, +1 things they like on the web, share interesting content with their circles and have live multi-person video chats with classmates, colleagues and friends. Organizations can also
create their Google+ Pages
—an organization’s identity on Google+ for customers, students or fans. We’re using Google+ Pages ourselves, so take a look at the
Gmail
and
Google Enterprise
pages, and circle us if you’d like to stay in the loop.
24x7 telephone support and improved mobile device management
This week, we introduced a couple other new benefits for Google Apps customers. Organizations of all sizes around the world can now
call our support hotline
at any time for all core service issue. Also new this week, we improved our
mobile device management
capabilities with an interface for administrators to view and deny mobile devices connecting to Google Apps, granular mobile policy controls, and the ability to visualize mobile usage trends across the organization.
Who’s gone Google?
Organizations large and small continue to amass around Google Apps. We’re thrilled to welcome a whole host of new customers including the Trinity Mirror Group (Britain’s largest newspaper publisher), startups such as
JobFlo
and
UserTesting
, organizations including the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
, and colleges like the
University of Michigan
and
UT Austin
. Welcome to all!
Google Apps highlights – 10/22/2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “
Google Apps highlights
" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.
In the spirit of helping people work better together, over the last few weeks we made big improvements to Google presentations, introduced a version of Google Docs optimized for Android tablets, and enabled more dynamic content in Google Sites. We also celebrated the fact that Silicon Valley has gone Google!
Google presentations reloaded
On Tuesday we launched a completely rebuilt version of our web-based presentations application, so you can
build more beautiful presentations
together with colleagues and classmates. Google presentations now lets you make great-looking slides with animated builds, advanced slide transitions and better support for drawings, tables and themes. Plus, we made it easier to create presentations with others, without the hassles of attachments. Your whole team can work together in the same version of a presentation at the same time, and you can see who’s doing what, chat with others, and see a full revision history at any moment in time.
Google Docs on Android tablets
We’ve made it faster and easier to work with
Google Docs on Android tablets
with a new version of the Android application that takes full advantage of larger screen real estate. The three-panel view lets you browse filters and collections, see your document list and view file thumbnails and details simultaneously. You can get the Google Docs Android app for free from the
Android Market
.
Charts in Google Sites
Charts are often created in spreadsheets, but sometimes you want charts to appear in other places, like your
team or project sites
. In Google Sites, now you can select “Chart” from the “Insert” menu, and navigate to the Google Spreadsheet where your chart or data is located. You can also choose to have your site’s chart update in real-time when someone updates the underlying spreadsheet.
New look for Google Docs and Sites
We started rolling out a new look in Google Docs a couple months ago, and now this new design is available
throughout all our collaboration tools
. In addition to a cleaner, simpler design, we’ve made it more clear when your files are being auto-saved and added new icons to help you see at-a-glance who your docs are shared with. You can also customize the overall “density” of screen information, a great feature if you want to fit more onto a smaller display.
Who’s gone Google?
Successful small businesses tend to stay laser-focused on improving their core businesses, without getting distracted by peripheral activities that don’t make them more competitive. For example, most small businesses don’t want to spend time or money developing in-house expertise to run email and other IT systems. Case in point:
97 percent of Business Insider’s “Silicon Valley Startups to Watch” use Google Apps
.
More than 5,000 businesses and thousands of other organizations start using Google Apps every single day, and more of our customers have shared their stories recently so you can hear why. A warm welcome goes out to
Philz Coffee
,
Mid-Atlantic Door Group
,
Bradford & Barthel, LLP
and the
City of Mesquite, Nevada
.
I hope these product updates and customer stories help you and your organization get even more from Google Apps. For more details and the latest news, check out the
Google Apps Blog
.
Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager
Google Apps highlights – 9/23/2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “
Google Apps highlights
" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.
It’s back-to-school season, and we’ve made Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar and Sites easier to use and more powerful for students and non-students alike—including some important accessibility improvements to help blind users be productive in our apps.
Multiple sign-in and other new preferences in Gmail for mobile
On Wednesday, we added some
helpful new features
for people who use Gmail on a mobile browser. You can now sign in to more than one Gmail account at a time, and toggle between them easily from the account switcher menu at the bottom of the mobile inbox. This can be a good time saver if you have multiple accounts or share a mobile device with family members. Gmail for mobile also now enables you to set up mobile-specific email signatures and create vacation responders right from your phone to let people know when you won't be available by email.
Calling credit auto-recharge
Now you can
automatically add international calling credits
for phone calls in Gmail when your balance gets low. Just visit the "Billing" area of the Google Voice settings page and click "Add credit" to put your account on cruise control.
Allow people to comment but not edit in documents
Sometimes, you might find yourself in situations when you’d like to share a document for feedback, but don’t want to make the document's content fully editable. The
comment-only level of access
launched last week is a nice option for these scenarios. You can let others discuss and add their thoughts to your document—without allowing them to change your work. You can allow document comments from specific individuals or groups, from anyone belonging your organization or from the general public.
Format painter, Fusion Tables, drag & drop images and vertical cell merge
Comment-only access isn't all that we've added to Google Docs over the last few weeks. Other
notable improvements
include a text format painter in documents, which is a fast way to copy and paste font, size, color and other text styling. Spreadsheets now support vertically merged cells (in addition to horizontal merges). In drawings, you can drag images from your desktop to the drawing canvas, then continue editing your graphic. We also added Fusion Tables as a new document type in the documents list.
Fusion Tables
are a powerful way to gather, visualize and collaborate on large data sets that might be unwieldy in a typical spreadsheet.
Fusion Table data visualized on an interactive map
Accessibility improvements in Google Calendar, Docs and Sites
We think technology can do a better job getting out of people’s way and helping you be more productive with less complexity and fewer frustrations. In this spirit, we’ve recently made a series of improvements to make our applications more accessible to blind users. We have more work to do, but Google
Calendar
,
Docs and Sites
now offer better support for screen readers and improved keyboard shortcuts. We hope these changes make our applications more useful to all users.
Who’s gone Google?
Organizations are moving to Google Apps for a diverse set of reasons—including cost savings, streamlined teamwork and better mobile access. We’ve even started hearing from schools and businesses who have made the switch to
reduce their impact on the environment
. No two organizations choose Google Apps for the exact same reasons, but in total, the momentum of Google Apps keeps growing.
We recently shared the news that
61 of the top 100 universities
ranked by
U.S. News and World Report
have gone Google. On the business side, there are now more than
4 million companies
using Google Apps, and businesses are joining at a rate of over 5,000 per day. In all, there are more than 40 million users that regularly use Google Apps in their organizations.
I hope these product updates and customer stories help you and your organization get even more from Google Apps. For more details and the latest news, check out the
Google Apps Blog
.
Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager
Better control in Google Sites with page-level permissions
Thursday, August 18, 2011
(Cross-posted from the
Google Docs Blog
.)
Today we’re introducing page-level permissions, a new feature that will allow you to control who can view and edit your Google Site on a page by page basis.
Using page-level permissions, you can make some pages private for certain users while keeping other pages public for everyone to see. For instance, let’s say you have a Google Site that you’ve shared with your team and your manager. You can allow your team to see one set of pages, let your manager edit another set of pages, and keep yet another set of pages private for only you.
Only site owners have the ability to enable this feature, which is turned off by default for new and existing sites. To turn on page-level permissions, go to
More Actions > Sharing and Permissions
.
From there, click
Enable page-level permissions
. Then, in the dialog box, click
Turn on page-level permissions
.
Once page-level permissions is enabled, you’ll have
three options to choose from
:
allow a page to inherit all of your site-level permissions
elect to include future site-level changes to a page
prevent a page from inheriting any future changes made at the site-level
Using page-level permissions should give you greater control over who can edit and access your Google site. To learn more about setting page-level permissions, take a look at our
getting started guide
. Let us know what you think in our
support forums
.
Celebrating small businesses and integrated, easy-to-use web tools
Monday, May 16, 2011
Posted by Joanne Schneider, Google Apps
Small Business Team
In honor of
National Small Business Week
, we’d like to take time this week to share ways that
Google Apps
and the
Google Apps Marketplace
can help small businesses work more productively and efficiently.
Today, we’re highlighting a few of the
Small Business Web
apps in the
Google Apps Marketplace
, and how our customers run their businesses on them every day. Google shares the Small Business Web’s dedication to providing tools that have enterprise-grade functionality, as well as align with small businesses’ priorities.
Apps that work together
Particularly for companies without a dedicated IT team or person, the list of necessary business tools can quickly become unmanageable. Web apps that provide deep integrations with Google Apps and with each other are especially useful for growing businesses that don’t have time to manage multiple, distinct applications.
Olark
lets customers live chat with website visitors directly from the Gmail interface through Google Talk, and provides easy access to chat transcripts. Peter Macaulay of
KitchenwareDirect.com.au
says, “The ability to live chat with customers without leaving the Google Apps interface is a huge productivity advantage. The simple and elegant implementation meant we were up and running in a matter of minutes. Staff members are easily able to set their availability for chat, enabling them to easily multi-task.”
WORKetc
is another app that makes Gmail into the front end workspace, but for CRM, project management, and customer support. It let’s you easily share emails related to particular projects with relevant team members without forwarding or copying other email addresses. D. Hogan of
Varis Energy
says, “Any emails that need to be shared with my team get tagged in the WORKetc gadget that is built right into Gmail. This immediately lets everyone else who is assigned to a project or lead have access to the new information from the received email.”
Access all the time
As compared to larger businesses, small businesses are even less suited to managing servers, and tend to have many employees on the road or in non-office locations. Accessing their data and documents from anywhere, on any Internet-connected device is a core benefit of using web-based tools like Google Docs.
OfficeDrop
digitizes paper documents to make them text-searchable in Google Docs.
Greg Skidmore of
Belpointe Asset Management
says, “Each month we send a box of paper files to OfficeDrop and have them scanned directly into Google Docs. If I have a document that I need scanned right away, I use OfficeDrop’s scanning software,
ScanDrop
, and upload it immediately.”
Easy to Use
Small business owners and employees often wear a lot of hats and they’ve asked for solutions that are easy to learn and use. Michael Bower of
Michael Bower Digital
says, “I always need to know where my money is, without wasting time organizing my paperwork. As my business grew, I was losing control of my cashflow. Both Google Apps and
FreshBooks
have just enough features to keep my workflow and invoicing organized, allowing me to focus on my work.”
These are just a few examples of the many Small Business Web app vendors in the Google Apps Marketplace who provide the functionality and integrations a small business needs. Over 30 Google Apps Marketplace apps have already joined the Small Business Web and declared their commitment to helping small businesses focus on what they do best. They include:
Finance
Bill.com
billFLO
EchoSign
Expensify
FreeAgent
Freshbooks
Harvest
Kashoo
Outright
Shoeboxed
CRM
Assistly
Batchbook
CRM
Capsule
CRM
Connect2Field
Disqourse CRM
Get
Satisfaction
PipelineDeals
SAManage
Solve360
CRM
Tactile
CRM
WorkETC
Doc Management
Box.net
FormLizard
OfficeDrop
Collaboration
MindMeister
Teambox
uberVU
YoolinkPro
Sales and Marketing
Mailchimp
Olark
SiteKreator
VerticalResponse
zferral
We celebrate National Small Business Week to recognize the importance of small businesses for promoting a healthy economy, and we’re excited to help them continue to grow and succeed through the smart use of technology.
Going Google across the 50 States: Arizona partners make their dream business a reality with help from Google Apps
Friday, March 11, 2011
[Cross-posted from the
Google Enterprise Blog
]
Editor's note
: Over 3 million businesses have adopted
Google Apps
. Today we’ll hear from David Marsh, co-Founder of The Standard Agency, a talent management and creative agency in Arizona. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our
community map
or test drive life in the cloud with the
Go Google Cloud Calculator
.
Our dream business started at the kitchen counter, literally. My partner and I had been involved in the music industry for a decade and knew the framework for managing talent was broken – people are at extremes either bringing in tons of money or making close to nothing. So, we took a business idea that we developed at the kitchen counter and founded
The Standard Agency
to manage musicians, models, actors, athletes and other talent who need representation. We offer a one-stop shop that includes everything from design and online promotion to booking gigs. In working and collaborating on so many different projects we also found there was a demand to provide a deeper understanding and appreciation of how design and social media impact businesses. This caused us to expand to offer related marketing services to small businesses who need help establishing themselves online and offline.
Our business quickly went from an idea to a reality and to be able to immediately have professional email and other business tools through Google Apps was key. Knowing Gmail was part of Google Apps was a huge selling point for me as I consider it the best solution to keep email organized. Set up of Google Apps was quick and flawless and all the applications are easy to access from any device. I’ve worked with other companies that have had to jump through hoops to get email on their mobile phones. For me, Gmail automatically worked on my phone and it’s the primary way I access email. Plus, we don’t have constant downtime and servers to maintain as I’ve experienced elsewhere.
Google Calendar has been essential for scheduling and tracking timelines for various marketing projects. I don’t think my partner would have been able to use any other calendar out there. He’s far more efficient and productive because his calendar is easy to use and it syncs across his phone, laptop, and tablet.
When it comes to our extensive network of contractors and employees, most of whom live out-of-state, Google Docs is the cornerstone of how we work. We use Google forms extensively for everything from fan surveys to elicit feedback after events, to online resumes to collect information from new job applicants. We also create Google docs for almost everything including legal contracts which are common in our business. Contracts often go through multiple rounds of revisions and with a Google doc, the right people can access and collaborate on the most up to date version, no matter where they are.
If it wasn’t for the ease of use and low cost of Google Apps, I don’t think my partner and I would have taken off running as fast as we did. It created a strong sense of confidence and familiarity that we needed to start up our business. Two years later, we all use Google Apps daily and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Posted by David Marsh, co-Founder, The Standard Agency
Going Google across the 50 States: Google Apps proves the perfect choice for Mississippi creative agency
Monday, March 7, 2011
Editor's note
: Over 3 million businesses have adopted
Google Apps
. Today we’ll hear from Rob Rubinoff, Interactive Director at Mad Genius, a branding and creative agency headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our
community map
or test drive life in the cloud with the
Go Google Cloud Calculator
.
Mad Genius
is a creative fusion of branding, advertising, social media, HD video production, animation, media strategy, web design, web development, and more – a true soup-to-nuts creative agency. Each of these elements come together to create momentum-building ideas that drive results and help us stand apart from other agencies. Our clients range from national insurance companies to regional restaurant chains to local universities, and we have a talented group of people that help these organizations take their brands to the next level.
We started in 2005 as the offshoot of a film production company, and have been growing rapidly ever since. Two years ago, we landed one of the largest advertising accounts in Mississippi, which was a major milestone for us. However, it also meant that we had to move quickly to hire more people to staff the project. At the same time, we moved to a bigger office and started to re-evaluate the technology that powered our company. That’s why, as Interactive Director, I became a big advocate of Google Apps: the benefits of the cloud were what we needed.
We were originally using spotty POP3 email through our domain registrar, which was a legacy solution from when we were part of a larger company. Everyone had different versions of email clients, calendar, and other office software, and this created daily problems. There were times when we literally had to walk down the hall to schedule a meeting because we couldn’t share calendars with everyone in the company.
We talked to local IT providers who offered email solutions that would have cost us thousands of dollars. We also priced out our own Microsoft® Exchange server, which was not only costly, but also seemed like it would necessitate dedicated IT support. Everyone here already wears a lot of hats, so simplifying IT was essential, as was finding a powerful calendaring solution. What we needed was Google Apps.
Initially, there was concern that we might lose emails and disrupt operations during the switch to Google Apps, but we transitioned over the course of a week with no hiccups and continual access to email. Within another week everyone was used to the new system, and the office was thrilled. One of the immediate and tangible benefits came when our executives were able to access email from their desktops, laptops and mobile phones, with everything synced across each device.
Within the Google Apps suite, shared calendars have been huge for us; email and documents are icing on the cake! As we grow our accounts and expand our team (last year we opened a second office in Tampa, Florida), we need to be able to let people know what’s going on throughout the company, and Google Apps makes that not only possible, but also easy. We can view other people’s calendars, easily schedule meetings, and have created a half dozen shared calendars to track things like conference room reservations and vacation days. Plus, project management is vital in our business, and thus the ability to import iCalendar data into our project management system is key.
With Google Docs, we no longer send PDFs back and forth, which is a huge time saver, and we can brainstorm with team members in either office using a Google doc, since it’s basically like a giant shared notepad. We even use Google Docs to collaborate with clients and can elicit feedback and data in a format that is easily shared or uploaded into our system, avoiding data entry errors.
When it comes to groundbreaking agencies like ours, folks usually think New York, Los Angeles, Chicago; they don’t often think Mississippi. But the work we do is changing minds – and Google Apps is helping us get it done. We take pride in being innovative. We’re a young company, with passion for the work we do and a fresh approach to the way we tackle business. With our home base in Mississippi, our new office in Florida, and clients throughout the region, we need virtual speed. Google Apps has proven to be the perfect partner in keeping us connected and moving forward.
Posted by Rob Rubinoff, Interactive Director, Mad Genius
Now available with Google Apps: User Managed Storage
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
[Cross-posted from the
Google Enterprise Blog
]
Editor’s note: Last year we
launched an improvement
that makes over 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users.
This series
showcases what’s new and how your organization can benefit.
Welcome to User Managed Storage
As more and more people discover the power and flexibility of creating and collaborating using
nothing but the web
, an increasing volume of user content is stored in the cloud. As part of our effort to support our users’ move into the cloud, we’re pleased to announce that over the next couple of days we will be making
User Managed Storage
available to Google Apps customers.
User Managed Storage is a service that has allowed users to purchase more storage space when they fill the allotted quota on their personal Google Accounts. Over the next couple of days, we will be rolling this service out for users of Google Apps accounts as well, allowing the purchase of extra storage for Google Docs, Picasa Web Albums, and photos from Blogger. Any of these products that is over its storage quota can use the extra storage on a first-come, first-served basis. Users that upload lots of files to Google Docs, sync their Office documents to the cloud using
Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office
, or store and share pictures using Picasa or Blogger can now expand the storage space available for these files.
Pricing for this service is the same as for personal Google Accounts:
Plan
Price
20 GB
$5 USD per year
80 GB
$20 USD per year
200 GB
$50 USD per year
400 GB
$100 USD per year
1 TB
$256 USD per year
2 TB
$512 USD per year
4 TB
$1,024 USD per year
8 TB
$2,048 USD per year
16 TB
$4,096 USD per year
The User Managed Storage service is enabled or disabled by the domain administrator, and the end user purchases additional storage using his or her Google Checkout account. Additional storage added using User Managed Storage cannot be pooled or transferred to another Google Apps user account and cannot be used for Gmail.
Data stored using User Managed Storage is subject to the same ownership policy as other data in the Google Apps account.
Learn more and get started
User Managed Storage
can be enabled by your domain administrator from the Google Apps Control Panel at
https://www.google.com/a/[your_domain.com]
(replace [your_domain.com] with your actual domain name). Note that the Google Checkout service must also be enabled to allow end users to purchase additional storage. If your organization isn’t using Google Apps yet, you can learn more and sign up today at
http://www.google.com/apps/more
.
For more information please take a look at our
Help Center
.
We continue to work to enable Google Apps users to be more productive using nothing but the web.
Sign up to be notified
when additional storage features become available.
Posted by Gaurav Jain, Product Manager, Google Apps
Note: User Managed Storage may not be available in all areas. A Google Checkout account is required to purchase User Managed Storage and Google Checkout must be enabled by the domain administrator.
Going Google across the 50 States: Kentucky window manufacturer leaves desktop software behind
Friday, February 25, 2011
Editor's note
: Over 3 million businesses have adopted
Google Apps
. Today we’ll hear from Steve Stepp, IT Manager of Sun Windows, a manufacturer of high quality windows and doors serving Owensboro, Kentucky and surrounding areas. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our
community map
or test drive life in the cloud with the
Go Google cloud calculator
.
Sun Windows
is a family-owned business that dates back to the 1930’s when V. E. Anderson, Sr. invented and built storm windows in his garage at night and sold them door-to-door during the day. Today, Sun Windows is run by his grandson, Frank Anderson, and offers an expansive product line of high quality, energy efficient windows and doors with a focus on customer service.
The window and door business is seasonal, following trends in new construction and peaking in summer. At the height, we have around 120 employees made up of about 80% production workers who manufacture the products, and 20% office staff and outside sales who use email and other office software regularly. Keeping everyone connected and communicating effectively is one of my main goals.
We originally used a local provider for web hosting and email and there was a lot of downtime when email just wouldn’t work. I’d get phone calls from individuals throughout the company and would have to contact our email provider about once a month. Adding to this, we received significantly more spam than good email. Sun Windows even got flagged as a spammer because all our emails went through the local provider. We’re a small company and everyone wears a lot of hats so these issues took up a lot of time I didn’t really have.
I used Gmail at home and had even set up Google Apps for my personal website so I knew about its robust spam-filtering and other great features. Given all the email problems we were having at work, I decided to switch the company to Google Apps and have never looked back. The amount of spam in our inboxes is almost nothing and having web-based email accessible from any Internet connection is a big plus for everyone. At the time of the switch, I hadn’t even considered the added benefits of other products like Google Calendar and Google Docs.
After setting up email, we quickly created shared calendars to keep various departments organized, track company events and schedule customer visits for the field service unit. Then we slowly started to use Google Docs. Most people in the company were familiar and comfortable with desktop office software but once they realized the power of collaborating and sharing documents online, almost everyone switched to Google Docs. Production line supervisors use a spreadsheet to track labor hours at the plant, and sales reps create and share customer presentations. We’ve also moved existing documents over to Google Docs which we use to store files of any type.
Now when new computers are purchased, I don’t renew our Microsoft® Office licences. The company saves money but even more importantly, I save time in administering licenses, installations, security patches, and training. Google Apps has been one of the smartest decisions I’ve made for Sun Windows and I continually look for new ways to take advantage of it to improve how we work.
Posted by Steve Stepp, IT Manager, Sun Windows
Going Google across the 50 States: Tennessee media firm fights back on spam
Friday, February 18, 2011
[Cross-posted from the
Google Enterprise Blog
]
Editor's note:
Over 3 million businesses have adopted
Google Apps
. Today we’ll hear from Rex Hammock, Founder and CEO of Hammock, a content and custom media firm in Nashville, Tennessee. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit
our community map
or test drive life in the cloud with the
Go Google cloud calculator
.
At
Hammock
, we develop and manage a wide array of content, helping our clients engage with customers to increase loyalty and extend the length of the relationship. Since I founded the company 20 years ago, our work has expanded from print newsletters and magazines to include a range of digital media, such as websites, blogs, event media, and more. We’ve grown to 20 full-time employees and have developed a network of over 1,000 freelancers across the country. Technology has played an important role in what we offer our clients and how we work together as a team.
A couple of years ago, when our Technology Director left the company, we decided to experiment with using an outsourced solution for networking and systems so our internal technology staff could focus on development and creative duties. The experience gave us confidence to outsource other parts of IT so when the email server became unreliable and couldn't filter spam as well as our personal Gmail accounts, we started researching alternative solutions. With the help of an external IT service, we unplugged the email server and switched to Google Apps.
Fixing our spam problem – which Gmail has done amazingly well – would have been enough to make the switch to Google Apps worth it. We did a cost analysis per employee, however, and keeping servers in-house for just email would have been more expensive than the entire suite of Google Apps. Plus, adding calendars, contacts and documents, all of which sync nicely to our smart phones, tablets, and home computers has changed the way we work for the better.
Collaborating across our expansive network of contributors is critical and most of us use Google Docs for sharing and updating documents. Spreadsheets have also helped us manage our own newsletter subscriptions – a Google form is embedded on our website to collect information from individuals who want to receive our newsletter. Information from the form is imported directly into a Google spreadsheet that we access internally.
The ecosystem around Google Apps is helping us further meet our unique needs. We use
Manymoon
, a 3rd party application from the
Google Apps Marketplace
, to help with project management and it has resolved a number of workflow issues. Manymoon is a little like an in-house social network where, instead of setting up pages related to your favorite club or cause, you set up project pages where you can consolidate information and track progress. Because Manymoon integrates directly with Google Apps, it’s easy to add Google documents, calendar entries and emails related to a project.
For some people in the company, there was a reluctance to give up traditional desktop applications. However, it has been easy for me to evangelize Google Apps internally and I think we'd all agree now that the switch has had a positive impact on how we work.
Posted by Rex Hammock, Founder and CEO, Hammock
Google Apps for Business now available for Verizon customers
Monday, January 24, 2011
[Cross-posted from the
Google Enterprise Blog
]
Editor's Note: We're excited that beginning today Google Apps for Business is available through Verizon. We've asked Monte Beck, Vice President of Small Business Marketing for Verizon to share more details.
At
Verizon
we make it easy for companies to get online and be productive in the office or while on the move. We do this by offering business owners a bundled solution of essential services to fit their particular needs.
Beginning today, our small- and medium-sized business customers will also be able to access the same applications that come with Google Apps for Business: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Video, and more.
Most of Verizon’s service offerings are in the cloud and delivered to any business connected to the Internet with a click of the mouse. So it makes sense for us to offer Google Apps for Verizon to allow businesses to communicate and collaborate in the office or on the go.
Google Apps for Verizon – with three free user accounts – is available to business customers that subscribe to a bundle consisting of Verizon Internet service and either Verizon voice or TV service or both. Customers have the option to buy additional accounts. Also included is a domain name free for one year (i.e. yourbusiness.com).
Other small business essentials provided in Verizon’s bundled solutions include an easy do-it-yourself “kit” to develop your business’
professional website
, Internet security, online backup, and more. Most importantly, we offer
WiFi access
– a necessity today to quickly respond to customers and access programs and files while out of the office.
Verizon’s
business bundled solutions
are available in parts of 12 states (CA, CT, DE, FL, MD, MA, NJ, NY, PA, RI, TX, and VA) and Washington, D.C. Those who just need Apps can subscribe to Google Apps for Verizon for $3.99/user/month.
To better help and inform small businesses, my team also developed the
Verizon Small Business Center
, a one-stop online portal with free resources, industry news, expert advice delivered through
free webinars
, networking opportunities,
discounts
, and much more. In combining these free resources with cloud products and services, we’re helping small businesses gain a competitive edge. Even the smallest companies now have access to technology that’s being used by larger businesses at minimal cost.
Google Apps for Verizon helps Verizon’s business customers harness the power of the web in new and exciting ways.
Posted by Monte Beck, Vice President of Small Business Marketing, Verizon
Enhance your productivity with more applications for Google Apps
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
[Cross-posted from the
Google Enterprise Blog
]
Last month we
launched an improvement
that makes more than 60 additional Google services available to Google Apps users. Since the launch, we’ve featured posts from product teams across Google to showcase how you can benefit from the new services.
Our colleagues working on
Google Reader
,
Google Alerts
,
Google News
, and
Google Finance
described how their products give you new ways to discover content on the web. The
Blogger
and
YouTube
teams shared how their services can be used to connect with your customers and communicate information about your products and brand. We also featured posts from the
Google Analytics
,
Google Website Optimizer
,
Google Custom Search
, and
Google Translator Toolkit
teams to highligh tools that help your company build and optimize your web property. Posts from
Google AdWords
and
Google Places
showed how you can make it easier for potential customers to discover your business when they are searching online, and a post from
Google Checkout
described how you can let visitors purchase products from your site once they arrive. And if your business isn’t built around an online transaction model, the
Google AdSense
and
DoubleClick for Publishers
teams outlined tools that you can use to efficiently monetize traffic to your website. We also featured posts on
Picasa Web Albums
and
Google SketchUp & 3D Warehouse
that highlighted use cases for sharing and editing photos and 3D images at your organization. Finally, posts from
Google Voice
and
Google Chrome Sync
featured products that leverage the power of the web to allow you to work seamlessly across multiple devices, so you’re not tied to your desk phone or desktop PC to be productive.
This series has highlighted a few ways that you can use these additional Google applications, and we’re confident that you will discover many new and interesting use cases that fit your business. You can explore even more exciting Google services now available with your Google Apps account at
http://www.google.com/apps/more
.
All of these new services can be enabled by your domain administrator from the Google Apps Control Panel at
https://www.google.com/a/[your_domain.com]
(replace [your_domain.com] with your actual domain name). Your domain administrator can grant
different groups of users
access to different sets of applications, so your company can get up and running today with more than 60 productivity-boosting applications matched to those users that will benefit from them most.
Posted by Jeremiah Dillon, Google Apps team
Note: Some products may not be available in all areas.
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