1

Hi all,
Does anyone know if there is a google chat for business? only google chat, none of the other google services.

We have users who have customers who use gchat, but we are an O365 shop, Id prefer that the users not sign up on their own using their personal accounts for work activities.

Or any other ideas on how to handle this technically?

3 Spice ups
2

Do you mean just for communication functions like Microsoft Teams? But Teams integrates services like Calendar, OneDrive, and Google seems to be doing the same.
This one may meet most of your needs.
Google Chat for Business and Enterprise | Google Workspace

3

I would think not as they are sold as a “package”…I would think O365 have its own chat as well ?

Nowadays it is based on email address and not the chat client/software used…

Users should never be allowed to use personal resources from official channels. Stopping users would or could mean some form of communication with users, finding out their pain-points and educating them on the alternatives.

4

Agree that I don’t want them to use personal, and I actually in the meantime heard back from google that there is no chat only option where I can control it, would need to buy a package.

We have some customers who insist on using gchat, we are not a google shop, so looking to see what options there are. might have to buy some full google packages for those users it seems

5

Agree with the statement, they are sold in the form of “packages”, and it is almost impossible to separate GoogleChat only.
Perhaps you can seek the help of Google Support to see if you can disable other services in your “packages” and just keep Googlechat.

6

But wait a moment ??
Is the issue on your side or on your customer side ?

  1. You should not need Gmail, Google-suite, MS365, O365 or all the email with chat brands out there ? Luckily you only need to face-off between Google & MS…what if more parties come in ? It would be a never-ending story and a super deep pit-hole for costs ?
    But sadly as we are a Google-suite company, we never had issues as all we need is email address as people using MS365 etc can join meetings ?

  2. Is your issues on potential data leak and/or security point of view ?

7

thanks for your suggestions.

8

Both, but mostly data leak…

9

But as I mentioned that we are on Gmail (Google workspace) and G-Chat comes out of the box and we do not have issues joining chat initiated by customers on MS365 or O365 ?

10

Currently, Google Chat for business is typically bundled with Google Workspace, not as a standalone service. Considering your O365 setup, Clerk Chat might be a good alternative. It offers robust chat functionalities and integrates well with various platforms, making it easier to maintain a professional communication line.