External Google Chat NOW AVAILABLE!

We’ve been waiting to make this announcement for quite some time, and now we can finally do it. So, here it goes: external Google Chat is finally here! Those who understand Google’s complicated history with chat apps will know just how big a development this is, and we can’t wait to use it. Fintan takes us on a quick walk through Google’s exciting news, pointing out some handy new features along the way. Check out the full video above and don’t forget to like, subscribe and share!

Before we dive into the details of Google’s announcement, let's take a step back and cover some basics. What is Google Chat, and why should you care? Well, Google’s history with chat apps is long and complicated, and exploring that fully would require a lengthy blog series of its own. Google’s previous chat app was Hangouts, however this has just been replaced with Google Chat. 

External Google Chat? Yes, Please!

Launched in the past year, Google Chat has traditionally only allowed chats between users in the same domain (company). Whilst this may have worked for larger companies, for smaller companies who need to collaborate with others this was really frustrating. With these limits in place, Google Chat really did lose some of its value. Those days are over, and now companies of all sizes can fully adopt the Google Chat application. 

But what’s the big deal with Google Chat, anyway? Here at Damson Cloud, it's clear to us that this is Google’s response to more collaborative platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Not only do these other chat apps allow individual conversations, but they also allow for the creation of separate chat rooms. These are great features that allow embedding of documents, insertion of links, comments etc. With Google Chat, things are certainly taking a step towards being more social and we love it.

Rooms allow you to create specific spaces for specific topics, conversations or teams. These shouldn’t be confused with basic group chats: they’re a lot more complex and definitely more interactive than that (and that’s partly thanks to bots). Bots allow automation, meaning that you can automate various systems, including your project management tools. When a task is updated, notifications will sound in the chat application (users of Slack will be familiar with this). There will be lots of exciting uses for this, and businesses will be able to build out those bots and integrations going forward.

Google Chat Resources: Thank Us Later

At Damson, we’re absolutely buzzing for the Google Chat update, and it means that we can start helping companies roll the system out fully in their organisations. We’ve been holding back until now because we haven’t had this external chat. Now, it’s time to get down to business!

On this topic, we wanted to highlight some great resources recently put out by our friends at Cobry. Gordon and Rowan have recorded a little walkthrough of the Google Chat application, and if you haven’t seen the new system yet, this is a great place to start. Like us, Cobry are working on a series around working from home, and we definitely recommend checking this out if remote working life is throwing up some challenges. 

The team at Cobry have also published an awesome training document for customers, going through all the new features on Google Chat and how your team can get set up on the system quickly and effectively. Get in touch with the team at Cobry and they might just hook you up - just don’t tell them we told you…

Of course, Google has published its own announcement around Google Chat - how could we forget? Click here to read the Google Blog announcement, containing some handy resources and information around getting started and the pace of the update’s rollout. There’s also a support page, which we always recommend checking out.

More About Damson Cloud

That’s it from us this week. We’re super excited about the number of feature releases we’re seeing within Google Chat and Google Meet, and for many first-time remote workers, these developments will make working from home that little bit easier. We’ve been releasing a series of resources around working from, including creating a productive remote team; video conferencing etiquette and a Google Meet user guide. Let us know if there’s anything we missed so far in the comments, and don’t forget to check out our archive for more tutorials, guides and feature reviews from the team at Damson Cloud.

One final plug before we leave our followers until next week. We’ve been working on putting together our Google Workspace Summit, and our experts will be sharing their years of knowledge, strategies and insights. If you’re interested in moving to the cloud or want to know what a move to Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), Google communication and collaboration platform, would look like for your organisation then this event is for you. Book your place now!

As a longstanding member of the Google Cloud Partner program, Damson Cloud specialises in bringing people and ideas together through new ways of working. We champion change management and digital transformation using some of the internet’s most trusted solutions, including Google Workspace, Happeo and Jamboard. To find out more about our services, check out our library of tutorial videos or our blog.