Gmail for G Suite now adds chat and video calling feature to take on Microsoft and Slack

Search giant Google has a knack for making products and services official days after leaks of the same surface online and the same holds true for the new redesign for Gmail. The company unveiled a fresh look for Gmail for G Suite business users a few days before the Google Cloud Conference kicks off.

The company says that the app is no more Gmail rather a combination of all of Google’s communication platforms: Gmail, Chat, Meets, and Rooms.

When will the new Gmail be available to all?

Currently, the new Gmail design is available as an early access preview to only a select number of users and will roll out to all G Suite users later this year. As for the consumer version of the mailing application, it seems there will be few changes in the short term. The company says that it is actively thinking about how it will get the experience to all of the customers who want it and are not part of the G Suite.

What does the new Gmail offer?

Javier Soltero, who works at Google, says that the new Gmail design works like an “integrated workspace” that will make it easier for users to switch between different modes of communication without having to launch multiple applications at the same time. You get a similar experience in Microsoft Team that not only offers you a well organised mailing system but also gives its users the option to scheduled voice and video calls and meeting that is well integrated within the app.

At the moment, Google will direct all of its focus on putting all of its communication tools under one app ie Gmail and the same should be available to you both on the smartphone and desktop version of the app.

The benefits of such a system would be that you will be able to set a Do Not Disturb across all your communication platforms at the same time. You will also be able to search chats as easily as you would on Gmail. The company says that these integrations will allow users to “quickly join a video call from a chat, forward a chat message to your inbox, [or] create a task from a chat message.”

The primary objective for Google to launch such a campaign is to take on the likes of Microsoft Teams and Slack at their own game so that it can provide its customer base with a holistic ecosystem for all of its organisational needs. Whether something like this appeals to users is what we’ll get to see at a later date.