Google is rebranding G Suite, its set of online collaboration and productivity tools for businesses that include Gmail, Drive, Docs, and Meet. The new name is Google Workspace, a name that the company already hinted at when it first introduced a number of new Google Meet collaboration tools and integrations for the service earlier this year. Now these new tools are coming out of the preview and with that, the company has decided to also give the service a new name and introduce new logos for all the productivity apps included, which are now used - and paid for - by over 6 million. businesses.
G Suite, as a brand for Google's paid offering, was originally launched in 2016. In a press conference ahead of today's announcement, Javier Soltero of Google, the company's vice president and general manager for what is now Google Workspace noted that the company wanted to ensure that the service people use is the same thing people buy.
"By selecting Google Workspace, we get the brand association with Google, which is very important to us, "she said." These products are flagship products for Google itself and the ability to actually describe the product in the same way, for both a buyer and a user . "Google, he added, wants its customers to see Workspace as a product that brings together all the tools they need to do their jobs.
What is perhaps far more important than the brand, however, is that Google is also rolling out some new features for G Suite In the workplace today. For the most part, these are the Meet, Chat, and Rooms integrations that the company already announced earlier this summer. Google is now integrating all of these collaboration tools into its applications, with Gmail currently being the only service where everyone joins.
New features coming soon include the ability to create and collaborate on documents with guests in chat rooms, and preview linked files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides without opening them in a new tab. Whenever you @mention someone in a document, Workplace will also display a smart chip, as Google calls it, to show you contact details and suggest actions (think about starting a video call or chat - or to send them an email if you're old school).
Gmail and Chat already have a picture-in-picture mode that allows you to make Google Meet video calls in these services. This feature will also be rolled out to Docs, Sheets and Slides in the coming months.
Prices will remain mostly the same, although the denomination is changing a bit here too. The cheapest plan, Business Starter, starts at $ 6 / month, and users who need more storage and support for larger meetings can opt for the Business Standard plan for $ 12 / user / month. New is the $ 18 / user / month Business Plus plan which includes additional security features and compliance tools such as Vault and mobile device management features.
