Embedded Files
As knowledge workers, the tangible results of our work are mostly documents, presentations and spreadsheets. We rely on our clients' input, to the point of them touching the documents, which may create problems if ownership over data gets muddled. Is there a golden middle? Can we open Google Workspace securely without being bureaucratic? It turns out we can. With Visitor sharing, we have onboarded thousands of clients and started successful collaboration stories to deliver outstanding value, in turnaround times that were previously impossible. All in a secure way that exposes emailing Office documents back and forth look for a security nightmare from the 90s.
Visitor sharing is revolutionizing the way we work with clients.
Emailing documents means losing control
Emailing documents means losing control
Working in regulated industries, we have high standards to comply with. When we collaborate, we cannot email documents, but need to be in control of the documents we collaborate on, all the time. The moment we email Office documents, this control goes out of the window. Unless we protect our emails, for example by using Gmail's Confidential Mode, the document might get forwarded or edited, even if sent as an image or a PDF document.
Using Confidential Mode means "look, don't touch" which has its value for final deliverables, but not for collaboration. So what do we do until the document is final? How can we collaborate with people outside of our company but still remain in control of our documents?
Enter Visitor Sharing.
What is Visitor Sharing
What is Visitor Sharing
Visitor Sharing means allowing our people to share with folks from a domain (like client.com). This has been possible before, but client.com had to be a Google Workspace customer (Colgate-Palmolive or Airbus for example). Visitor sharing opens the door to non-Google customers, so we can allow sharing with any domain. As of now, we can share with any client, Google Workspace or not.
All of this while still maintaining full control of the documents we share and without incurring any cost. Let's dive a bit into how this works.
What is the experience like
What is the experience like
For your company
For your company
The experience is spectacular and very boring at the same time! It is spectacular because the ability to share with someone who is not yet on Google is technically mind blowing. Once you overcome the behind-the-scenes awe and pick up your jaw from the floor, the experience gets very boring. You ... share a document, period. The sharing dialog is the same, everything is the same. There is almost no difference to sharing with somebody from your company.
Visitor Sharing is a Google Drive affair. This means you can share files and folders and can collaborate using our powerful editors.
For the client
For the client
For the client, the experience is strange and spectacular at the same time. It works like this:
The client receives a very minimalist email, telling them that you@company.com shared a file with them. They open the link, but have no password - because they have no account.
Instead of a password, they get a PIN sent to their email account - you may remember this from Confidential Mode. This makes sure the owner of the intended email account logs in.
With that PIN, they log in and can now edit the document, just like you. This PIN procedure is necessary only every 7 days. If you share more documents, they can be opened right away.
Visitor Sharing is not
Visitor Sharing is not
a full account. Visitors will use their existing email accounts to receive emails and click a single link to open a single document or a folder. They do not get access to Drive, Currents, Chat, Gmail or anything else.
a Google account. Visitors will not get joe.visitor@company.com or anything like that. They get a link, open the document in a window, close it and are done.
an account with equal rights. There are a lot of limitations on what Visitors can do - they cannot upload files, for example.
forcing you to use the Google formats. You can use Office Editing if required. You can even use Drive File Stream to use the Microsoft editors offline and have your visitors always see the latest version of your deliverables.
paid. Visitor sharing is free of charge.
How to get started
How to get started
Visitor sharing has a double control loop that is easy to understand and navigate. It also makes it doubly secure for your company.
- Have your client or vendor approved
First, you need to have your visitor approved. Remember that everyone at your company can share with your client? There may be reasons why this is not desired, so make sure this is okay. As this is domain-wide, make sure you have a solid approval process in place.
Once you have business approval, the one-time ticket gets resolved quickly.
2. Share files or folders with your contacts
2. Share files or folders with your contacts
As soon as your client is approved, you can start collaborating. You are the second control loop, because nothing happens without you explicitly sharing. Some best practices:
Remember clients do not get the full drive experience. They get emails when you share individual folders and files. So consider creating a single folder, then add, create or remove files as needed.
Create that folder on a shared drive. Give clients minimal access and increase per file or subfolder as needed.
Clients cannot create files. They have to email you files to include in the folder.
Visitor sharing is very new, but is already a huge success because it gets us out of the sad business of emailing legacy formats back and forth. I am very interested in your visitor sharing experience, especially in your best practices and success stories. If you have any to share, reach out to me, I am gathering material for a future post. Thank you for reading!
#drivePublished 2020-10-27 by Holger Matthies.Modified 2020-10-27 by Holger Matthies.Written listening to Rone - Bye bye Macadam
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