Google Adds New Features Aimed At Remote Workers To Gmail For Business

Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG subsidiary Google is revamping its email service for business users by integrating core tools such as video, chat, email, files, and tasks.

What Happened

The move to add more features to Gmail, for its business product GSuite, was announced at Google Cloud’s annual customer and partner conference on Wednesday, CNBC reported.

Google is making its video-conferencing application “Meets” accessible from within Gmail for business, and also adding Google Docs and Google Chats service for team communication.

The move touted by Google as “a better home for work” is spurred by the increased adoption of digital technologies by stay-at-home workers, which have become commonplace due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why It Matters

The rehaul of Gmail for business is likely aimed at preventing users from turning to similar offerings by companies such as Microsoft Corporation MSFT, Slack Technologies Inc. WORK, and Zoom Video Communications Inc. ZM.

Gmail has over 1.5 billion active users, but Microsoft’s Office is still the market leader in the productivity software segment. GSuite overall has 6 million business customers, according to CNBC.

The Chats tool from Google, which is akin to Slack, will be made available on both Android and iOS platforms, the company said. It is also bringing new security capabilities for Google Meet, which will give hosts more control over meetings.

Price Action

Alphabet Class A shares traded 0.1% lower at $1,515.12 in the pre-market session Thursday. Class C shares were slightly up at $1,514.33.