Is G-Suite your email and video-conference solution?

There was a time when Voip was a new, exciting technology. Then Skype really pushed it forward until Microsoft mismanaged and degraded skype’s design. Google has been working at displacing Skype and Skypes security vulnerabilities have made it go from a favourite to something I tell people to stop using before they get hacked through it.

Because of that I have to recommend the best communications products at the best value rather than try to sell you something I built. Its not purely price based – as I said, security concerns can cause one product to cost you dearly. I do build and operate mail servers for special needs but this is not right for many clients – so I’m then asked to recommend which one I would use. So I’m writing this for them and I’ll update it, how to save money, get more, look professional and have the right tools to communicate swiftly with customers if need using Hangouts “Meet”.

People use Facebook business pages because … people are there in the Facebook cloud. The same goes for G-Suite – a zillion google users. People are familiar if you start inviting them with the calendar, to a hangouts meeting or a chat. Connections with new customers are more likely to go smoothly when you integrate with known solutions in today’s environment. It also helps you use all Googles tools like Google Business in such a way that everything works together – maps to website to email to video meetings.

I’ve been using and deploying Google’s email services for clients for as long as they existed and I the reason I stayed so long is security. 2 factor authentication, up-time and innovative feature that are often value adding, no extra charge. In doing so I saved my clients a lot of money and myself a lot of work.

When you need assistance I offer is to either do it for you or train people you and your staff how to use of G-Suite. I can help you back up old email and migrate to the new platform and offer hand-holding if you want to work the problem. This blog is in the “increase earnings” category because saving money and time is almost the same as increasing profit.

Google has very good security options

It is a no-brainer move if you feel worried about the security of your current email or have a website and email with a provider that you aren’t satisfied with. If you aren’t satisfied you can easily move to a new provider. With a 2 week free trial you get a lot more opportunity than you do with high pressure marketing. They don’t even ask for your credit card to start testing.

I also know how to configure a trial with an existing domain without interfering with your email server settings.

Want to empower that domain you bought?

When you buy a domain you can start putting it to good use very fast by simply connecting it to Gsuite. A single user account is only $6 per month (see discount coupons for 20% off at bottom) and services can be used simply or grown into something more professional. That is why it is worth employing a freelancer if you don’t have an IT specialist to configure your G-suite well. Email is just the tip of the communications iceberg – you build it out into collaboration as you form relationships and it is just as useful in your personal life as it is for business.

Looking for an Online Office?

Microsoft 365 is the not that much like G-Suite, but both offer online tools office suites. Google Office tools were designed for collaboration from the start. Many years ago I was a beta-user of gmail. Then these quite potent beta “apps” like Google Docs started to come out. I worked for a non-profit and I managed to get a donated 1000 pack for the organization I was in. It was a trade off – as a non-profit organisation running an IT department can be a bit of low commitment. If the money doesn’t come in then if the IT department built custom email and office servers, or relied heavily on Microsoft products the budget can be spent before you get much done.

Low Commitment, Low Cost

Email is crucial to your business and if things go wrong it really comes back hard. We’ll especially if you are a small business you are better off hiring a freelance IT manager such as myself. I’ll share how it went for this non-profit group – every time they wanted to do something collaborative, meetings, sharing documents, spreadsheets – there was a solution in place waiting to be discovered.

To deliver new services I simply found one user to cut learn one of the Google apps and work their way through learning process and then we introduced it to the rest of the organization. It didn’t break down (99.9% up-time) because Google was responsible. That meant less staff – that is outsourcing. It was a bit of a challenge because we didn’t have fast internet to go around but as time passed and our internet speeds increased it was a clear advantage. It was a master stroke then – and it could be the right tool.

It is a very low commitment to use this – you may as well just sign up right now if you own a domain without an email. You can spend weeks trying to get set up if and run into payment obstacles or support delays if you want to use a smaller company. If you are operating a website you will certainly want to consider an email related on the same domain as the website. It helps who you are the owner and caretaker. It makes you look like you have everything in order when you start the SEO process too if your email. You can really easily get out of the deal with Google. Unlike many website providers that are selling you license agreements for Microsoft 356 which I tend to find getting hacked because the product is so complex it is often vulnerable to attacks.

You get an integrated platform

You get video conferencing with “Meet” which is like a more streamlined and refined version of the free app “Google Hangouts”. There is nothing stopping you having several video conferencing solutions but here is one thing to consider. Say you use Skype … well, I’ve had to remove it from my platform and other users because it has serious network and application vulnerabilities. People were getting hacked via Skype and I’ve read that answering the wrong call can lead some people to have their mobile phone hacked. You can further integrate these tools into your website – particularly if you are a service provider.

“Meet” is Google Hangout’s newer incarnation

Google Hangouts has been floating around for years without really making much progress. Yes, with so many projects it can become very confusing what is going on. Secure apps are one of my focus areas – some apps are vulnerable to hacking incursions. Security becomes more important every year if you and costs businesses more time. An antivirus software just doesn’t do enough, you need to plug holes that the malware or virus comes through. Hacking payloads are pre-tested with antivirus to make sure they aren’t detected before sent to you via website links, email attachments so you can get infected. One of my products is working with people to block vulnerabilities one layer at a time and choosing secure video conferencing apps is one of those layers.

It is a fair bet that the new evolution of Hangouts is the G-Sweet variation – meaning that development of the free Google Hangouts is stalled. One confirmation is that there are 2 parts that are integrated in Google Hangouts but are more elaborate as two separate apps now Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat. The latter “chat” is a mobile app and is working to compete with “Slack” a very popular chat and bot tool for teams to coordinate their work.

These codes are still working at the time of writing this blog

Discount Codes – 20% off for 1 year

Anyone is welcome to use these codes – not just my customers.

(Basic G-Suite Plan) Y4TGF4UKVCTNKYT,

(Business Plan) 9AK6QEN94ACXUQH