Continuing our search for the various components, apps and software we feel all our customers should be using to improve the everyday office tasks, this month’s investigation has lead us to Google Mail, more commonly known as Gmail. With over 425 Million users, this solution is clearly no secret, so why do so many users and businesses use Google Mail? Don’t worry; within this blog we’ll answer all your concerns and questions’ explaining what Gmail is… What the key features are and how you can get using it.

What is Gmail?

Originally launched in 2004, Gmail was a free, web-based email service developed by Google.  After years of development and testing, Gmail was officially released to the public in 2007 along with other Google features offering an initial storage capacity of 1GB per user.

Since its launch, Google have released a variety of Gmail accounts including personal & business users. For personal user, Gmail have upgraded the storage limit to 15GB allowing you to share the storage capacity between a range of Google products including Google Drive, Google Mail and Google+ based on what items you’ve stored where. While Gmail is a free service, Google do provide an additional storage capacity. Users can rent additional storage from a small starting fee of £3.36 per month for an extra 100GB ranging up to a maximum fee of £536.87 for a whopping 16TB

Moving onto Gmail for businesses, Google now provides an attractive Google Apps packages for all sizes of business for a fixed monthly or yearly fee starting from £3.30 per month or £33 for a yearly subscription. The Google Apps for Business package offers a wide-range of features including setting up your own custom email address (e.g. user@mycompany.com), unlimited users, video chat, and online document editing plus 24/7 customer service. To view the full list of key features and prices, click here…

What are the beneficial features?

Spam Filtering

Spam, we all hate it and you’ll find that most email services provide spam filtering in some capacity these days, but a couple still manage to get through! Gmail is very efficient in detecting spam; in fact I don’t think I’ve come across many if at all spam messages since I converted to Gmail! Gmail provides a first-class service as all in-coming messages are subjected to Google’s spam filters so messages that are flagged as spam are automatically placed in to your spam folder.

If for some reason a particular email address is flagged as spam but you know they’re a reliable source, it’s very easy to access the settings on your Gmail account and create an approved senders list which means when they send an email in the future it will bypass the spam folder.

For instructions on how to adjust and approve your sender’s list, please visit the following link

Virus Protection

Gmail automatically provides a unique free of charge anti-virus service that scans every email and every attachment delivered to your mailbox, every time you open an un-read message and everything you send from your outbox to not only prevent the spread of viruses but to also protect millions of users using Gmail to improve their experiences.

If Gmail detects a virus, don't panic! The system automatically rejects any infected messages and notifies the sender immediately. If a virus is discovered within the attachments then the system will automatically block the attachment but will still allow you to view the original message if it’s included within the email.

Offline Support

Normally when you want to check your email, you need internet connection right? Well Google have completely changed the online experience, where even if you don’t have a network connection you can still access your mail.  By simply downloading Google Gears, you can now access your synchronized messages by simply opening your browser.

Gmail Search

When viewing your Gmail inbox, sometimes it can be a pain to troll through all your existing emails looking for one particular one right? Well Google have developed a very cleaver search engine feature at the top of your emails meaning if you search for a particular keyword, a list of email containing that keyword will appear limiting your displayed results meaning you can find that email faster. This has certainly been a useful feature within the office!

Talk/Video Chat

The benefit of sending and receiving emails over time allows you to build up a respectable contact list. With this in mind, Gmail have added an instant messaging service allowing users to add and invite contacts to chat when online. Following further developments, in 2012 Google announced the introduction of Google Voice, an integrated app allowing users to communicate between each other with voice & video chat.

Google Wallet

Google continue to think outside the box as their latest mobile payment app is now integrated within Gmail. Similar to PayPal, Google Wallet allows users to make fast, secure payments to stores.

How to install Gmail for Business?

So digesting the advantages and key features Gmail provides, if you feel Gmail would improve your everyday office and business tasks, why not get in touch with untitled™? Why untitled™? Well because untitled™ not only use the system on a daily basis, but are also certified licensed Google App re-sellers meaning we can install Gmail for your business.

For more information about Gmail, or to enquire about setting Gmail up for your business, why not get in touch with our accounts director and Gmail guru, James Cox at jc@untitledtm.com or by simply telephoning 0845 363 7082… We look forward to hearing from you!