As I become more familiar with the features and settings of Googlemail [or gmail as it should now be known in the UK], I begin to realise just what an advance it represents over traditional email clients like Outlook – especially for the small business user.

Business owners have changed their dependencies drastically in the last few years – in the past folks relied heavily on paper filing systems, a telephone and a diary or Filofax system – these days if you were to ask a business owner ‘what are the most important business tools you use daily?’ he or she would probably say, Email and Mobile Phone!

When it comes to email, we’re all used to using the trail of sent and received messages on our computers as a source of easy reference, and the email address book is taken for granted – it’s the first place we look to find a contact. But what happens when your hard disk drive fails?

Notice I use the phrase ‘WHEN’ your hard disk fails, it isn’t ever a case of ‘if ever’ – its always when! Hard drives are mechanical and as such they will all fail eventually – despite having great reliability rates – Don’t forget that your most critical information is stored on a 3.5 inch wide, metal box that’s  full of whirring bits and pieces!

Gmail solves this issue – and many more – all your emails and all your contacts are safely stored on the Google servers, with fully redundant back up servers – not only can you take your email with you wherever you go, you never have to worry about backing up your messages or your address book again.

Gmail is available as apersonal email account for single users or as part of the Google Apps package for business users:
One point that is often overlooked, and is the only downside to Gmail as far as I can see – there is no simple way to upgrade from a personal Gmail account to a Google Apps account – Imports and Transfers can be done but they are time consuming and rely on a fair amount of human intervention.
Life is much easier if you decide which system suits you from the outset!

Gmail for an indivdual user is a fantastic step up from traditional email clients – but Google apps offers many more features to the business user – including the ability to send all your mail via your own domain name in the style of me@mydomain.com

If you’re seriously looking at Gmail and are in business at any level, I suggest taking the Google Apps option right from the start, it’s not expensive and will repay the inital investment many times over. it’s  somewhat trickier to get set up,  but is full of potential for the future – with new add ons and applications being developed every day. Accounting, CRM and project management modules are available that integrate seamlessly with the dat already stored in your Google account and there are thousands of new applications being developed.

Integrated GMail

This is an amazingly useful FREE plugin for the Firefox browser – allowing  ‘one page access’  to all your google apps.

This means you can have your calendar, task list and email clients all open on the same page simultaneously – a real time and energy saver.

I hate all that swapping from page to page and opening new tabs – this free software makes that a thing of the past!

Highly Recommended

What Is Integrated Gmail?

A Firefox Addon that allows you to make the Inbox Collapsible and load your choice of Google Calendar, Reader, Notebook, Groups, Maps, Picasa, Sites, News and Portfolio seamlessly into the gmail interface with the inbox (rather than a separate tab or in the sidebar) using a collapsible box.

It even supports custom URLs (with navigation buttons) and Google Gadgets (including Remember the Milk.) If your are inbox minimalist, you can enable minimalist mode to clean up the inbox even more. Works with Google App Accounts and Gmail Themes.

What people are saying about Integrated Gmail?

• “I love this add-on! It saves me tons of time when I can add info from an email to my calendar without switching tabs, or look up a phone number in google voice to send to a friend in a wave. Freakin’ awesome!”
• “Probably the best add-on for Gmail. Saves me from always having the calendar open on another tab and now I read my blogs! Support is great…had a problem, Michael emailed immediately and voila…all is good again!!!”
• “This is a fantastic add-on that saves me tons of time every day. Our corporate e-mail is hosted on Google Apps and I can’t imagine having to work without this plugin. On top of that, the developer is incredibly helpful and responsive. This is definitely a “must-have” add-on for Gmail users.”

http://integratedgmail.com/

Using the combination of a spreadsheet and forms published on the Internet proves to be a  ‘killer application’  for me in Google Docs!

I use this combination wherever I can  – it saves endless time, headaches and hassle.

For Example
I  regularly organise the meeting for a charity concern – the potential 100 or so attendees are spread all across the North East of England. Trying to get an RSVP or any kind of  response to a phone call or email enquiry is like drawing teeth! Doing things the old-fashioned way just takes so long and is tedium personified!

These days I set up a new spreadsheet for each event,  create a form using the tools in Google Docs and then take the code provided to embed into an easy to remember web page. I then circulate the URL via the email newsletter and wait for responses. I issue reminders at relevant times and gradually the sheet starts filling itself in!

One day before the event I export the data into Excel and use it to print attendance badges – Bingo!

No need for folks to even register or sign in at the event, they just collect their badge and walk straight in.

Think about using the same system for all kinds of tasks where you have a ‘one to many’ relationship and need to gather information from the ‘many’ – quickly, easily and accurately.

How about timesheets for remote workers or requisition of parts or consumables from out of town locations?

Signing up for courses and events is an obvious fit for this application, and the video on this page gives a great demo of how easy it is!

Want to know more? Do you have an IT problem I can help you with?

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