Google boasts that businesses can, "Boost productivity with Google-powered documents, video sharing and collaborative sites." Many businesses have backed this statement by adding and using collaboration tools provided by Google as part of their daily, standard operations. This statement can also be backed by the high success rate and growth of Google throughout the years. Google's success has come from several different areas, but one of the biggest areas is collaborative communications tools.
Google provides several different powerful tools focused on collaborative communications. The first, and certainly most widely known and used tool is the Google search engine. The Google search engine was created in 1997 and quickly became the most popular search engine on the Internet with over several hundred million queries per day. Along with the largest index and directory of any search engine, the Google search engine has been constantly updated to add new features such as file snapshots, autofill for popular search phrases, search phrase corrections, and dictionary and calculator features to make it the most user-friendly and effective search tool available today. The power of Google search also reaches world-wide through the availability of searching in many different languages, from multiple other countries, or through the creation of personalized, custom search engines.
A second powerful collaboration tool provided by Google is the app called Google Docs. Google Docs is available as part of Google's low cost ($50 per year) suite of apps. Google Docs is accessed through a free Google email account that provides a means of online collaboration. Google Docs eliminates problems of multiple file versions normally created when files are worked on collaboratively. Google Docs works rather simply by a host securely publishing a file to the Internet through the Google Docs app. Once the file is published, the host will send the link and work permissions to the other group members designated to work on the document. By clicking on the link, the group members can make and see updates that have been made to the file. For backup purposes, previous versions of the file are saved to the same website. This tool is very powerful in that it allows for easy, inexpensive group collaboration that eliminates the confusion of having multiple versions of files when sent out and updated via standard email.
A third Google collaboration tool is the Google app Google Sites. Google Sites is an app contained in the suite of other Google apps that allows businesses or users to create their own working websites. These sites are very easy to create because they are contained within pre-built templates and are GUI-based. There is no need for any knowledge of HTML coding. Google Sites can be created for almost anything and can contain content such as pictures, calendars, and attached files. Many businesses use Google Sites to create intranets that have collaborative features such as file sharing, file updating, messaging, and blogs. Employees can also add individual sites to the intranet that contain personal information or files that they would like to share. Typically only the administrator can update or change the main content of the site, but special permissions can be granted to others in times where additional updates or collaborations need to be done by other members.
Clearly, the tools and apps that Google supplies are very powerful and very useful to many who rely on collaborative communications. It is also clear that these tools play a very large role in the great popularity and success of Google, as well as other businesses that utilize them.
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/collaboration.html
No comments:
Post a Comment