G Suite update season is fully upon us, so it seems. First, we got the long-awaited material redesign of Google Calendar, which is available to everyone now that it meets the needs of Google's most important G-Suite customers. Next up, it's Gmail's turn, and although its own makeover is not yet ready, add-ons are being introduced that allow you to integrate third-party apps and increase productivity without needing to leave Google's email client.
A developer preview of this functionality was released earlier in the year, so we knew it was incoming. Add-ons are squarely aimed at businesses looking to link to other services they use, and a number of popular apps are ready to be installed today:
- Asana: Turn communication with clients, customers and teammates into tasks that can be tracked with your team in Asana, all from your inbox.
- Dialpad: Message or call colleagues on your device, any time. Automatically view recent communications or save a new contact straight from Gmail.
- Hire: Add candidates, manage candidate information and upload resumes without leaving Gmail. You can access full job applications from the Hire add-on.
- Intuit QuickBooks Invoicing: Create and send professional invoices directly in Gmail. Let customers pay you online and track invoice status and payments no matter where you are.
- ProsperWorks: Easily access prospect or customer data, and log activities from calls, demos and meetings. You can also scan related opportunities, tasks and events.
- RingCentral: See the online/offline status of RingCentral contacts, review recent call history, make outbound calls (requires RingCentral for Mobile) and view and send SMS messages.
- Smartsheet: Add email content and desired attachments directly to Smartsheet without leaving Gmail.
- Streak: Add email threads to deals, view enriched contact info and quickly respond with snippets directly from Gmail with the Streak add-on.
- Trello: Turn email into actionable tasks in Trello to give your team a shared perspective on the work that needs to be done.
- Wrike: Create Wrike tasks from emails, view and update task details, and send and receive Wrike task comments.
- DocuSign(coming soon): Sign and execute contracts, agreements and other documents directly in Gmail using the DocuSign add-on.
Developers can create a Gmail add-on for their app or for their organization, and it will work natively both on the web and in the Android app. More information about the framework can be found on the G Suite Developers Blog.
If you're keen to check out the new add-ons, and maybe add some to your company's Gmail app, head over to the G Suite Marketplace to get started.
Source: Google