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AI in Google Workspace – Docs

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AI in Google Docs

Google Workspace is a comprehensive and secure platform that empowers organizations to be more productive, collaborative, and creative. This series explores the power of AI built within Google Workspace across each of the workspace apps. In this post, we cover AI in Docs

AI in Docs

Google Docs is an editor built for collaboration. Using simple prompts, Gemini AI in Docs helps you create professional, stylized, and structured documents with images, tables, and more. Get help refining your content, see the latest summary of your work, and ask questions to improve and finalize your document. Gemini in Docs can help you build better docs.

Here are 3 Gemini features in Docs you should know:

Create Your Doc

Gemini in Docs lets you build a stylized, structured document using content in Drive from a single prompt. Gemini in Docs helps you transform your long-form document with cover images, in-line images, stylized text, tables, and more.

Create an Image

Create unique inline and cover images with Gemini in Docs. Personalize your documents, add your branding, or elevate promotional content. With Gemini in Docs, you can also apply different styles, such as photography or watercolor.

Help You Write

Gemini in Docs can help you write. Use Gemini in Docs to:

  • Brainstorm
  • Create an outline
  • Build your first draft
  • Fix grammar and punctuation
  • Help adjust the length and/or tone of your content.

And More …

Gemini in Docs can reference files from your Drive and Shared Drives when generating responses in Docs. You can also summarize files from Drive and emails from Gmails. Access to your content empowers Gemini to help you create and refine. 

We Will Help

At Cumulus Global, our priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable managed cloud services. We work to ensure that you get the most value from the IT and cloud services you need and want, without overspending, to best support your business objectives.

Unsure of where to start? Check out our IT Assessment or schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor. We will help you adapt while keeping your IT services secure and cost-effective.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

AI in Google Workspace – Meet

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AI in Meet

Google Workspace is a comprehensive and secure platform that empowers organizations to be more productive, collaborative, and creative. This series explores the power of AI built within Google Workspace across each of the workspace apps. In this post, we cover AI in Meet.

AI in Meet

Google Meet offers business-grade video and voice conferencing designed to enhance collaboration. Gemini AI in Meet takes care of the details, enabling you to focus on participating instead of meeting management and logistics. Beyond providing a smarter meeting experience, Gemini in Met can help you look and sound your best.

Here are 4 Gemini features in Meet you should know:

Take Notes
  • In addition to generating a transcript, Gemini in Meet will automatically take notes during a meeting.
  • While a transcript captures every word spoken, notes provide a summary of discussions, highlight key points, and identify action items.
  • Notes offer a great way to share information from meetings with others and to help create minutes. Notes are placed in a Doc and save it to your Drive. Gemini also notifies you on Gmail for quick access to your notes.
Captions with Real-Time Translation
  • Gemini in Meet provides real-time captions and can translate captions into more than 65 languages, breaking down language barriers and helping everyone feel included.
Adaptive Audio
  • You can join hybrid meetings without conferencing hardware or rooms.
  • Attendees can use their laptops in any space. Gemini AI in Meet will synchronize microphones and speakers to avoid echoes, feedback, or distortion.
Show and Tell
  • Gemini in Meet includes tools to enhance your appearance and audio, with lighting and look adjustments and audio filtering/noise cancellation.

After the Meeting …

  • Gemini in Meet can create summaries of key points and identify action items. You can create custom summaries to identify information such as most discussed or “best of” topics.

We Will Help

At Cumulus Global, our priority is ensuring that you have productive, secure, and affordable managed cloud services. We work to ensure that you get the most value from the IT and cloud services you need and want, without overspending, to best support your business objectives.

Unsure of where to start? Check out our IT Assessment or schedule a meeting with a Cloud Advisor. We will help you adapt while keeping your IT services secure and cost-effective.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America.

Pragmatic Security: Balancing Security Measures for Small Businesses

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Security vs UsabilityWhile on vacation recently, I did something that I did not think has been possible since July 1970. I boarded a commercial airline flight without having to go through security. No ID check. No metal detectors. The gate agent scanned the barcode on my ticket and I walked on board. The experience was, at first, confusing as I went from curb to gate with no security checks. I asked the gate agent why there was no security check; the answer was pragmatic security.

Pragmatic Security in Action

Airport security intends to prevent hijackings. I was traveling in New Zealand, which you know is an island country.  The nearest country, Australia, is at least a 3½  hour flight by jet. My plane was a dual engine turboprop with about 70 seats with and a range of 930 miles. It is impossible for the plane to leave the country.

Hijacking a regional flight in New Zealand is pointless, as you cannot escape the country. The security risk is miniscule.

In New Zealand, flights on regional planes do not have (or need) security checks. To board a jet, however, you will board at a “jet gate” having passed through all of the common security and ID checks.

Pragmatic Security for Your Small Business

The concept of pragmatic security also applies to IT and cybersecurity. Not every business needs every security measure. We can, and should, scale our IT and cyber security to meet our needs and priorities.

That said, the baseline has changed. In New Zealand, the baseline security for flights is that the customer has a ticket.  For smaller businesses, the historical baseline has been “a secure firewall/router, antivirus software, and email filters for spam.”

As we have discussed in other Security Update Series blog posts, we face new security demands from customers, insurance providers, and regulators. As cybersecurity risks increase, so do the solutions we need to implement.

Pragmatically: How Much Security is Enough?

While the answer varies based on your business needs, risks, and priorities, our Security CPR™ model provides a solid baseline. We are also proponents of understanding risks. As we discussed in this blog post, focusing on the most prevalent risks and the most damaging risks is the best place to start.  Designing your security solutions from these two angles provides a solid baseline of protections. Additional measures can be added as needed to meet industry or regulatory requirements.

Call to Action:

If you have not done so already, a baseline security assessment is a good place to start. Our Rapid Security Assessment provides a quick review of core security services. And our Cloud Advisors are ready to assist with any questions or concerns.

Contact us or schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors. 

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America. Starting his first business at age 12, Allen is a serial entrepreneur. He has launched strategic IT consulting, software, and service companies. An advocate for small and midsize businesses, Allen served on the board of the former Smaller Business Association of New England, local economic development committees, and industry advisory boards.

IT Solutions: 3 You Can Live Without

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Business Continuity & Protection

With continued, rapid change and evolution of the cloud services and capabilities, we hear that we “need” many things. The reality, however, is that many of the “solutions” being hyped are not really needed. In our recent blog post, we offered three IT solutions you need. But in this blog post, we will share three solutions you can do without.

1 3rd Party Conference Tools

Both Microsoft and Google Workspace, with Teams and Meet, include robust audio and video conferencing services. There was a time when third-party services like Zoom offered unique features. However, capabilities such as transcription, translation, break-out rooms, and Q&A panels are now a part of Teams and Meet.

Notably, some of the advanced features of Teams and Meet, such as streaming, come with upgraded Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace licenses. These upgrades are generally less expensive than third-party services.

2 Physical Desk Phones

While some of us may have an emotional attachment to the physical phone on our desks, for many, these devices feel like clutter. The way we make and receive calls has changed. Our devices should change as well.

Features like hot links, click-to-dial, and voice dialing are available within the apps and browsers on our computers and phones. Smartphone apps let us make and receive business calls without sharing our personal phone numbers and maintaining separation between personal and business text messaging and voicemail.

Headsets and speaker/microphones give us hands-free access to our phone systems at our desks, from our smartphones, and in our cars and trucks.

3 Unsecure Artificial Intelligence

You do not need unsecure AI. Even so, you and your team likely want to use it.

Chances are, you and members of your team may already be using Chat-GPT, AI meeting assistants, and other AI-powered tools.

The challenge is that most public AI tools are not secure. Using them likely violates confidentiality and nondisclosure clauses in contracts. Using them may also put you in violation of HIPAA, PCI, and other data privacy laws and regulations.

Before jumping into AI as a company, and before “Shadow AI” (unvetted tools) gets out of hand, develop an AI strategy and plan. Begin with identifying use cases and understanding how to ensure data security, privacy, and compliance. Pilot solutions and educate/train your team.

Copilot and Gemini AI both offer artificial intelligence tools that integrate with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, respectively. These are secure tools that use the permissions capabilities of the ecosystems. 

What to Do:

Contact us or schedule time with one of our Cloud Advisors. Without obligation, we are happy to discuss your business and IT services. We can also map out opportunities to save money and leverage AI, along with other emerging technologies.

If you are interested in three solutions you need, jump over to this post.

About the Author

Allen Falcon is the co-founder and CEO of Cumulus Global.  Allen co-founded Cumulus Global in 2006 to offer small businesses enterprise-grade email security and compliance using emerging cloud solutions. He has led the company’s growth into a managed cloud service provider with over 1,000 customers throughout North America. Starting his first business at age 12, Allen is a serial entrepreneur. He has launched strategic IT consulting, software, and service companies. An advocate for small and midsize businesses, Allen served on the board of the former Smaller Business Association of New England, local economic development committees, and industry advisory boards.