Gmail incorporates voice and video calling to facilitate hybrid work

Google updated its environment of professional applications in its workspace with new functionalities, incorporating the “possibility of making voice and video calls directly from the Gmail app through integration with Meet video calls .”

The telecommunications company informed, through a statement, about the new functionalities in Google Workspace, with which it intends to optimize the hybrid work that is being carried out in organizations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

These updates include the integration of the Google Meet video call service directly from the chat. Users, from their Gmail app, will be able to make video or voice calls without having to leave the application.

When initiating a call, the receiving device will emit a sound, like that of conventional calls, and it will be possible to respond from different equipment such as laptops, with a call notification in the chat. Another added improvement was the option to configure the calendar, which will automatically indicate whether the user will attend meetings in person or remotely.

New spaces

Next November, the technology giant plans to launch the new “companion mode” of Google Meet, which will increase productivity from meeting rooms because it will be able to “show presentations, access the chat and the whiteboard, initiate surveys, ask questions or translate the meeting automatically.”

Other novelties, from the extensive range of updates, are the “Worskpace Spaces”, defined as a collaborative place between users for specific topics, they are already integrated into the tools “Calendar, Drive, Meet, Tasks, Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations and seek to replace chain mail and group calls as a method of organizing work teams.”

Google also announced the launch of “two new specialized devices for videoconferencing: Google One Desk 27, 27 inches, and Series One Board 65, with a 65-inch 4K screen.”

M. Rodríguez

With information from agencies and other media