I’ll be honest, Google Apps, Gmail, Google Drive and anything associated with Google beyond a web search was very foreign to me. For over a decade my only resource for e-mail was Mac Mail, my preferred web browser was Safari and I only knew of Google as the place to go to search for whatever I wanted on the web. When Small Dog switched over to Google Apps for Business for many of our services, I was a hold out and avoided the change as long as I could.
It’s been a long road (only due to my resistance) but I have learned to truly enjoy and utilize the benefits of Gmail, Google Apps and Google Drive. I still use Mac Mail as my primary mail program, and I keep all my contacts in my address book and iCloud, but I use other Google-based features on a daily basis. Prior to using Google, when I looked at e-mails on the road from my phone, I had to wait until I was back at my computer to file them away in their respective folders. Now I can quickly file away e-mails when I am done with them. I can do this from either the Mail app on my mobile devices, or via the Gmail app. I do admit I still prefer the Mail app, but the Gmail interface is growing on me.
In the past year, if it wasn’t for Google Apps, I would have found completing some tasks incredibly difficult and time consuming. No matter where I am, no matter what device I am using I can access my e-mail, my files, share files with others, my calendars and more! I’ve needed to work with outside consultants and designers for work and have been able to quickly and easily share files. I’ve had staff need me to share spreadsheets and documents. Thanks to Google Drive I can uploaded and download files much larger than those I might be able to share via e-mail.
I think my two favorite features of Google Apps are quickly filing e-mails and being able to have multiple users view and edit documents at the same time even while in different locations. The ability to view and share documents for multiple users to view, edit and share has honestly been invaluable. You can easily set up files as read-only or read and edit. One thing that I have discovered is that when you are using mobile devices such as iPhones or iPads, you do need to make sure you download the correct application and not just Google Drive in order for all users to not only view your documents, but edit them as well. Recently I was sharing a document with my husband. He had downloaded Google Drive and I shared my Google spreadsheet with him. He could see the document, but he was not able to see any changes that I was making without closing the file and re-opening it. He was not able to make edits either even though I gave him editing rights. It took a few minutes, but I discovered he needed to download Google Sheets in order to have full access to the file. This was one part of the Google interface that I did find to be not as intuitive as I would have liked. When you’re using your computer to create the files, you can access everything (for the most part) via Google Drive. On mobile devices you need to access some files via its specific app.
It’s taken some time, but I’ve come to see the benefits and features of Google Apps. Many folks have been using these features for years and I know I am a little late to the game on this. Change isn’t always easy when it comes to computers, interfaces, operating systems and the like no matter your age and comfort level with computers! Are you interested in Google Apps for Business for your business? Small Dog Electronics has consulting services that have plenty of experience setting up Google Apps for businesses large and small.