Info Advantage Blog

Google has just released a handful of new extensions for their Gmail client aimed to help aid professionals that use Gmail for their day-to-day business. Here’s a brief look into the new extensions, and what they can do to help rev up your productivity.

Asana – Allows you to turn important emails into tasks and assign specific responsibilities and track them directly through Gmail. With Asana you can create tasks, assign team members to the task, set due dates, and include attachments. Any updates will be synced automatically without having to leave the mailbox.

Dialpad – A business communication tool that allows you to call or text directly from Gmail. You can use these features on a variety of devices, and even switch a call from desktop to mobile if you’re on the go. You can also view history, or save contacts directly from a Gmail message.

DocuSign (Coming Soon) - Allows you to sign and execute any business documents, such as contracts or agreements.

Hire – A recruitment tool that allows you to distribute job opportunities, find the right candidates, and manage the interview process from the Gmail client. It integrates with many of the other Google solutions, including Google Search, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Hangouts.

QuickBooks Invoicing – Enables you to send Quickbook invoices directly into a GMail message, allowing your clients to pay online with credit cards or bank transfers.

ProsperWorks – A CRM tool focused on design, usability, and automation that lets users use Gmail as the core of their workflow. The Add-on allows users to view contact and activities directly on your email, and works on a variety of different platforms.

RingCentral – This extension chooses contextual information within a user’s Gmail threads. It also allows you to see the online/offline status of contacts, review call history, make calls, and send SMS messages.

Smartsheet – Helps users keep track of important emails and add attachments to new or existing rows in Smartsheet.

Streak – Another CRM tool that lets you run the entire sales process through your email. It is flexible enough to aid with sales, recruiting, customer support, project management and even fundraising.

Trello – A list-making tool that can turn emails into to-do’s automatically. This can be used for tracking sales leads, managing customer feedback, event planning, and more.

Wrike – A project management extension that allows you to write, view, and edit tasks. You can also write and receive Wrike comments directly from you Gmail account.

Companies are always looking to improve their operations by eliminating unnecessary costs. It’s a part of business, no matter how you look at it. However, as automation technologies grow more advanced, some of the more mundane (and even some professional) positions are at risk of getting replaced by cheaper, more efficient robotic systems.

We see this all the time in certain industries like manufacturing and retail, where there’s no longer a need for specific positions due to autonomous systems taking their place. While this trend is capable of increasing these organizations’ bottom lines, it simultaneously puts people out of work. Surprisingly, the quality of work by automated systems could be largely variable and unpredictable. So, until the details get sorted out, it’s likely that automated systems will have to be babysat, with humans jumping in to save the day should something go wrong.

This presents another possibility; rather than replacing workers, automated technology could be used to augment their capabilities. For example, there are writing programs that are capable of putting together articles much faster than the way the human mind can. However, these articles are often devoid of emotion and can’t connect on the same level as a human author can. So, for now, there are certain jobs that automation can’t touch, but how long will it take for automation technology to catch up?

Please keep in mind that we’re not insinuating that technological advancement is bad; we’re just trying to raise awareness for how it affects the worldwide economy and job market. It doesn’t matter if a specific technology can eliminate work for manufacturers and businesses if it puts hundreds of thousands of people out of work.

Yet, in many cases, technological advancement can be exceptionally beneficial. Consider, for a moment, how outsourcing can help your business. When you outsource to a third party, you’re essentially receiving a good or service from someone else. You’re purchasing their professional skills for the good of your business. So, in a manner of speaking, you’re augmenting your business’ IT with a valuable automated service in the form of our talented technology professionals.

At Info Advantage, we aren’t looking to replace your internal IT department. Rather, we want to work with them and help your business achieve its greatest potential. Regardless of your current IT’s role in management and maintenance, we can pick up the slack where they fall short. We’re firm believers in working together for the betterment of our clients. If your internal staff doesn’t have the time or skill necessary to perform regular IT maintenance, Info Advantage can step in and handle this responsibility for you. If the opposite is true, and your team doesn’t have time to implement new innovative solutions, we can perform this role for you.

Ultimately, our professional IT technicians are more potent and valuable than any robotic IT system can be. To learn more about co-managed IT, give us a call at (585) 254-8710.