by Nicole Speciale
Google is in a race with Microsoft and the new battle cry is Artificial Intelligence. Microsoft has been getting a lot of press lately, but Google has been testing some of the newly-released AI features for several years.
The new Google G Suite enhancements are designed to improve work collaboration, communication, and security. The new and improved G Suite launched April 24, 2018, and offers new features that improve Gmail functionality. Here’s what you need to know.
1. AI Features Assist Inbox Management
Google is adding intelligence into G Suite such as AI-backed smart features like Nudging, Smart Reply, High Priority Notifications, and Assistive Unsubscribe. Nudging alerts you when a received email still has not been replied to, and High Priority Notifications will alert you of important emails so they aren’t buried under others.
Smart Reply is very similar to smartphone reply suggestions, or LinkedIn messaging’s suggested one-click response options. These features assure that you are productively managing communications and that important messages are reaching their recipients. We would note that Google has been beta-testing many of these features for quite a while via its mobile app called Inbox by Gmail.
2. Tasks and Note Sidebars Keep You Productive
The days of having to manage separate calendars, meeting notes, and to-do lists are over thanks to the new Tasks bar interface in G Suite. The righthand side panel allows users to easily sort through notes, alerts, and deadlines without having to close out of their email. The Task bar offers the ability to check, add, or adjust calendar events/invites without having to leave the inbox.
Tasks, which includes integration with Google Keep puts G Suite on a path toward becoming more of a Digital Work Hub. The evolution of Cloud Office Suites into a Digital Work Hub is underway and Aragon notes that Microsoft is heading there, too.
3. Heightened Security Factors Keep Content Safe
G Suite’s new security features will help enhance cybersecurity, prevent potential leaks, and protect data. The new Confidential Mode includes message expiration and revocation to prevent unwanted access or hijacking. Security alerts also have a bold new look with call to actions for users.
One of the new security features includes two-factor authentication for messages. If a message is sent to a user whose account could be compromised, this new authentication method requires account validation via a second method such as a code sent to a personal smartphone.
Bottom Line
The new and improved G Suite is all about enhancing efficiency, while keeping content and information up-to-date and secure. The new G Suite updates fit in well with the fast-paced, multimodal work approach most of us subscribe to daily.
Personally, I’m most looking forward to the Nudging feature and High Priority Notifications to help manage my inbox. It can be hard to find time to sort through an inbox amidst other work tasks, but now it looks like we have some help in that department.
Editor’s Note: Aragon will be doing a more in-depth evaluation of the new G Suite as part of its upcoming research agenda.