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With Google Chat comes the freedom to work the way you want. Did you know it supports four brand-new chat clients that get continuous updates? Maybe one of them is what you needed to reinvent the way you work. Maybe you will shift between them depending on what you are working on. Let's get you started!
A new dawn at PwC: Chat has united the network.
What is each application good for?
What is each application good for?
This is up for you to find out. They all send and receive messages and you will not miss out, but their form factor makes for subtle differences. Try having everything stored neatly away in a browser. Try having a dedicated app for chatting, try having it in Gmail. Try it on your iPad like a partner.
When we started work on deploying these clients for you, I was sure nobody would use anything but the desktop application (my favorite). I was humbled to find out that many people we invited for testing did not know how to install it and used other clients - some because they did not like change, but most because they legitimately preferred other clients. So my challenge to you: There must be a reason all of those people are using different clients than the desktop application (which is clearly the best!).
Web app
Web app
chat.google.com is the standard way to access Chat. Every feature is made first for the web app - in fact, some of the other clients merely repackage the web app.
Upside: It is very easy to use. Just open a tab - done!
Downside: It is yet another tab! It may get lost if you already have a lot of tabs open.
Tip: If you like the web app, consider pinning it.
Desktop application
Desktop application
The desktop app is a way to run Chat that does not feel like Chrome*. It does not run in a tab, but in separate window without "back" button, "home" button etc. The desktop application is the only way to give you that "Windows" feeling. If you like "alt-tabbing", this is for you. If you like having a dedicated, full-screen experience, this is for you too.
*For techies: a progressive web app.How to enable: See how to install the desktop application.
Tip: Installing it will create desktop and start menu shortcuts. You can also pin it to the taskbar. The desktop application's phone-like badges indicate conversations with unread messages. It is the only Chat client on desktop computers that has these badges.
Gmail
Gmail
The Gmail integration feels completely different from Chat - you decide if this is good or bad. It can be good in a hyperactive team (or during hyperactive periods) where all you do is huddle in chat rooms and emails. War rooms perhaps, or crazy peaks of handing in proposals.
One of the key differences is that this client opens separate windows for each conversation. Google calls them moles - probably so you can whack them.
How to enable: In Gmail, go to Settings > Chat and Meet > Chat: Google Chat.
Mobile application
Mobile application
Chat on mobile has been around for a while and supports every single feature so you will not miss a beat if you step away from your computer. Your team, your projects, your chat rooms - it's all there.
How to enable: It is already installed for you if your device is enrolled with PwC. If you have never used it, be sure to open it to start receiving messages.
Give yourself a chance to be surprised
Give yourself a chance to be surprised
Those four clients exactly match what was available in Hangouts before (back when that still was a thing 🥳). It would be easy to just pick the one you were going with. But why lose the chance to discover something new, since these programs have been written from the ground up?
Perhaps you will learn something new about the way you work. Or some aspect of the tools (or seeing your colleagues use them) will change the way you work. Maybe you use one configuration for one type of work (say when you need to focus), and shift gears for others. You never know until you try!
If you want to know my way of working: I come from an ICQ world and then moved over to Trillian (those were the days!), so I like skinny windows. Since day one, I have been running the desktop app on my secondary monitor, as skinny as I can make it, always visible. In fact, I set it to 80% zoom so I can fit in more. (Chrome is smart enough to remember that setting). I'm curious to see what you will eventually land on, there is definitely a poll in your future. Until then, do play with the clients because they are all nice. This is today's takeaway - try them all, don't just carry your old habits over. A fresh breeze in your toolkit may lead to new insights, it's like working out of a new office. You never know what you might discover. Thanks for reading!
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