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Hangouts Leveraged On-Air

Google’s hosted video conferencing solution is giving businesses capabilities that other solutions don’t.  Developers are keying in on some of the API’s Google has opened on Hangouts to give it additional features.  These features will benefit all types of organizations, helping them get their word out online using live video.  Whether it be in a Hangout “on-air”, or an internal meeting, having Google Hangouts is a major benefit of choosing Google over Microsoft in the cloud services game.  We have recently come across a couple different utilizations of Hangouts by some local organizations that are excellent examples of using the web to market themselves.  

The local baseball team just opened up a multi-million dollar park a few years ago and since their championship last year, have thrived with sponsorships and ticket sales.  This year they started using Hangouts On-Air to broadcast their games so folks could watch from home if they like.  We can see them expanding to not only away games but live broadcast of all league games in HD very soon.  Using Hangouts add-ons they display an overlay with game info for viewers.  We see potential here for advertising revenue and setting up multiple camera angles with additional cameras.  The main challenge will be wireless connections.  A wi-fi network at every park would be ideal but Verizon has lots of LTE beamed around this area so an easy Plan B exists on that front.

We have been working with a local school system that has keyed in on the capabilities of Hangouts and has plans to implement many different uses.  Principals and Administrators will be able to reach out to teachers and classrooms with live video.  Teachers will be able to organize together and collaborate on curriculum development and also broadcast lectures publicly.  This adds a new level of transparency for the system while helping them use their educational methods and skills on a larger scale.  Students will be able to get together in small groups and collaborate on class projects and homework.  Children with special needs might be better served as well.  

The power of Hangouts is starting to transform business relationships and benefit our educators in so many ways.  Many Gmail consumers haven’t realized that they have an agnostic “Facetime” application that works across multiple operating systems and devices.  But Google Apps users have been leveraging this service since it first appeared in their inbox.  ValleyApps is proud to work directly with such an innovative company as Google.

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Recently Google announced a new way to create and edit Google Forms.  This is just another example of Google’s constant innovation.  Instead of waiting every three years to release new features to their customers it happens every week.  This time the Docs team took an already great service and made it even better.  With the emphasis on collaboration most of us probably wondered why Forms were excluded from that scenario.  Now you can co-edit forms just like any other Google Document, Sheet, or Slide.  The forms editor used to open up in a compact window separate from your browser, now it opens another tab just like any other Google Document, Sheet, or Slide.  Along with these framework adjustments there are a couple other neat features that give us a much improved product.  Google added the capability to copy and paste a “bullet” list into the answer field.  They also added a “go to live form” button for quickly seeing your changes in production form.  One other new feature is the response sheet creation that gives the option to have reponses proliferate a totally separate spreadsheet instead the one the form is built on.  This gives teams the ability to take response data and manipulate it however necessary without disturbing the integrity of the form or it’s raw data.  It also allows for easier sharing of this data outside the form sheet.  Google has done a great job on improving this already great product.  In the demo screencast I go through creating a form, showing the new editing features and results options demonstrated.

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Last week Google announced another offline capability for Docs and Drive.  In addition to Documents users can now create and edit Presentation Slides.  One-by-one big G is creating a total offline experience for Drive.  They have a lot of resources directed towards this functionality because the competition is a legacy software based application instead of being in the cloud.  This gives Microsoft an advantage in the disconnected world but not in the highly connected world we live and work in.   There are a couple features that aren’t available while offline but you could put together 90% of your composition and then finish up next time connectivity allows.  You lose the ability to insert images or wordart.  Being offline renders you unable to export as or import slides as well as make a copy.  There is a bit of setup involved before using Docs and Drive offline but it takes a few minutes and you are ready to work once you get on that plane or travel through data dead zones.  You must be using Google Chrome or Chrome OS to use Docs and Drive offline.  In the Demo I go through the setup for using Docs and Drive offline as well as creating and editing Documents and Presentations.

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Google Apps has been setup for either user based routing or domain-wide routing for a few years now.  This has allowed for flexibility of routing mail during deployment scenarios such as dual-delivery and split-delivery.  Many organizations have wanted to “pilot” Google Apps for short period of time to accustom themselves to the changes and plan on re-configuration of current systems in place.  Over the past 6 months, Google has released a much more granular set of routing controls that allows for extra flexibility in working with dual-delivery and other pre-deployment scenarios.  It also allows for special routing post-deployment as well that can be controlled by admins when needed.  Recently we worked with a company that was using an email system circa 1990’s and had no retention policy in place.  After the arduous task of trying to get as much of their email data into the cloud we were able to setup forwarding so that email was delivered the same as it was before we introduced them to Google Apps.  Most of their staff are from a much older generation that aren’t able to adopt any of Google’s interfaces in such a short period of time.  One really key feature of these new routing controls is the ability to run a granular dual delivery environment and turn users “on” one-by-one.  This is important for organizations that don’t have that IT staff or support system and need that one on one deployment support.  In the following screencast I will be going through and explaining the new Google Apps mail routing controls.  Google will be taking away the old routing controls eventually so this will be important moving forward.

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After talking to hundreds of businesses about how they collaborate with email most of them don’t and the few that do are sharing email folders in their Outlook or using a costly third-party solution.  One of the hangups for switching to Google Apps is that until recently they didn’t have a way to translate that shared email folder.  Last year Google released a new feature for Groups that allows members to collaborate on messages instead of the traditional forum style.  Not only can they read and respond to these group messages but they have management capabilities that allow for assignment of each email that comes in as well as tagging or categorizing that message.  In the screencast demo I work through setting up a Collaborative Inbox and using it at a basic level.  There are a myriad of settings changes available to Group admins that allow for different functionality changes.  This is just one of many innovations that Google brings on a weekly basis.  To learn more visit this Google help article.

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ValleyApps Mobile Workforce Management Tools

Google introduced Google Maps Coordinate earlier this year at Google I/O.  This online service encompasses coordinating a mobile Android based workforce using smartphones and tablets.  The manager of a business works through a web interface using a Google Map to get real-time info on mobile assets.

  He or she can send work orders, view time-tracking for that order, and send/receive information on demand through a mobile app installed on the asset’s mobile device.  Workers can see a list of their jobs, and check in to show that they have started. This reduces miscommunication between the worker and dispatcher. Workers are able to minimize down time between tasks and complete a higher number of jobs per day. 

Using Google Maps Navigation, workers can easily find their way to each job.

Using their mobile device, workers can view detailed information about the job, as well as add their own notes which are immediately stored in the cloud. This eliminates paper-based workflows, duplication of work and saves teams from losing information.

The location history of each worker can be shown, which helps to make more informed decisions about how teams operate and improve the efficiency of the mobile workforce. Administrators can see all details regarding a specific job. Over time, this builds a rich database of job details, which you can reference for continual improvement.

 A custom point of interest (POI) enables you to add information to a map such as customer sites, the location of facilities, or areas to avoid. This means that workers can be accurately directed to the right place, saving time and increasing efficiencies. As more POIs are added, the learning curve is reduced for workers new to a particular area.

 When combined with Google Apps for Business, management can initiate mobile video or voice conferences and manage device security if it’s lost or stolen to protect company information.  Coordinate API's allow for customization to focus on what's most important for your business process.  

We are working with a local Verizon Wireless Sales Professional to bring you all inclusive packages.  See below for some pricing estimates.  Here is a quick introductory video to illustrate how the system works. 

Pricing Estimates: Maps Coordinate - $18/month per user Google Apps for Business - $5/month per user Verizon Mobile Smartphone - $50/month for voice & 4G Data(1GB per device) Verizon Mobile Tablet* - $20/month for 4G Data(1GB per device)

*Tablets upfront cost evens price comparison to smartphone service for first 13 months, after that you save $30+ per month **Prices are rough estimates and exclude mobile fees, taxes and additional features

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Strengthen Your Small Business

Cloud computing isn’t the newest trend in the Information Technology field these days, it’s become the standard.  Much research is being done to determine how much benefit businesses can get from moving their IT infrastructure to the cloud.  Working with Google and Analysis Group, MIT research scientist Andrew McAfee recently conducted a study to understand the comparative costs of a business moving to the cloud versus remaining with a traditional on-premise IT system. In this comparative cost model, McAfee finds that the typical small- to medium-business (SMB) will significantly reduce its IT costs by doing away with its on-premise technology and moving to the cloud.

For example, a business with 16-100 computers can expect to save 37% by moving to the cloud – even if there’s no IT labor reduction. With savings achieved by moving to the cloud, these businesses are able to invest in areas that help expand or strengthen their business, whether it’s opening a new branch, starting a new product line, or hiring more people. Bill Hipsher, Director of Business Development at USstoragesearch.com confirms, "Over a one-year period, Google Apps cost one-quarter of what we were spending on our on-premise IT before moving to the cloud – and over our business lifetime, it drops to just one-tenth of the cost. The hardware, software and time savings helped us expand our call center, which led to the creation of more than 30 new jobs this year." In his study, McAfee also notes that SMBs' technology use is a strong indicator for the future of IT. Because SMBs are more flexible in their decision-making and aren't bogged down by legacy costs, they're able to choose an IT system that best suits their business. Thus, moving to the cloud frees up money for SMBs to drive business and job growth, and can set a precedent for how large businesses adopt cloud technology. At ValleyApps we are proud to work with SMB’s, Non-Profits, and Schools across the country to realize the benefits of moving away from their legacy IT systems.  Visit our website to learn more about how we can help you benefit from cloud computing in your organization.

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ValleyApps Deployment Team Invited to Google's Main Campus

Last week the ValleyApps deployment team visited Google’s main campus in Mountain View, California.  Nestled between San Jose and San Francisco, right down the street from Stanford University, Google’s campus is spread out over a few dozen city blocks.

  Everytime we visit it’s like experiencing a different culture.  Google invests a lot of money in providing an ideal work environment that is energy efficient, comfortable and stimulating.  We were hosted by Barry Schmell for 3 days of deployment training.  Barry invited a few of Google’s best deployment engineers to join the sessions.  This was the biggest benefit to us as we were able to share their vast experience with deploying Google Apps.  In many ways ValleyApps follows Google’s methodology but we were able to take away many additional resources and ideas to improve our practices and strategies.  Thursday & Friday were spent learning Project Management skills applying the Google deployment methodology from project start to finish.  The one big thing I took away from these additional sessions was that I need to do a better job of documentation, whether it be tracking milestones and deployment data or communicating with the client, we will do a better job of conveying our methodology and best practices.  As a Premier Google Partner we have experience with over 50 deployments of Google Apps as well as setting up other IT systems mainly focused on Cloud services for our clients.  We have teamed with Google on a few deployments and taken over where other partners have failed a couple times to get things back on track for success.  Whatever your situation, we can handle moving you to the cloud, as long as you can handle the cost savings and modern communications tools that come with Google Apps for Business.

-Andrew Royer VP/Deployment Specialist [email protected]