Skip to main content

Quick Links

  • Share your knowledge
  • Jobs & RFP's
  • Log in
Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project
  • Forum
  • Events
  • Topics

    Topics

    Go to Topics Overview
    • Client Facing
      • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
      • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
      • Social Media
      • UX / Design
      • Accessibility
      • Websites
      • Call Centers
      • Self Representative Litigation
    • Organization
      • Tech Initiative Grant (TIG)
      • Project Management
      • Tech Policies
      • Training
      • Data & Evaluation
      • Remote Work
      • Security
      • Disasters
  • Tools & Resources

    Tools & Resources

    Go to Tools & Resources Overview
    • DATA Analysis Tool for All
      • Data Overview
      • Data Resources
      • DATA Origins
      • DATA FAQ
      • Analysis Guide
      • Tips & Recommendations
      • Location Quotient
      • Partnerships
      • Give Feedback
    • Other Resources
      • Toolkits
      • Articles
      • AI & Legal Information Database
      • Legal Aid Tech Stack
      • Consumer Self-Help Solutions
  • Tech Assistance

    Tech Assistance

    Go to Tech Assistance Overview
    • Tech Assistance Program
    • Legal Aid Tech Vendors & Service Providers
  • About

    About

    Go to About Overview
    • News
  • Share your Knowledge
  • Jobs & RFPs
Search

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Tools & Resources
  3. Articles
  4. Advantages of Google Apps

Articles

yellow, green, and blue angled lines

Advantages of Google Apps

Last Updated: 12/6/24

Facebook
X

Administering Google Apps is easy

  1. The admin interface is dead-simple to use, and pretty self-explanatory.  Everything you want to control for your domain has a button or switch in the back end.  
  2. The Admin Control Panel makes it far easier to navigate to key admin functions than any Microsoft server software. You can add, delete or suspend users, transfer ownership of all documents, create aliases, and change minimum password requirements.
  3. As of 2011, you can also give technology responsible people (TRPs) in your branch offices the ability to add/delete users without messing up other domain settings.

Spend staff time on training and improvement, not on maintaining systems

  1. Properly maintaining an email and calendar server with 99.9% uptime is time-consuming and requires a skilled admin to be available nearly 24/7 to troubleshoot errors.  Google Apps frees that time and delivers a plethora of additional tools.
  2. The most popular alternative to Google Apps in legal services has been Microsoft Exchange.  Consensus is that any shop will have to dedicate a portion of a tech just to maintain Exchange and anticipate problems.
  3. The time needed to just keep things running can now be used to train and support users.

Google Apps is free for non-profits

One of the major advantages of Google Apps is that it is very cheap. In fact, most legal aid organizations will be able to use Google Apps for free, since they have 501(c)(3) status and under 3,000 users (more on Google non-profit status eligibility). If you are not eligible as a non-profit, Google Apps is still relatively cheap, and you can find their full billing Info on their website.

This includes the following features:

  • Gmail, Calendar, and other Google Services
  • Email migration tools
  • Extensibility APIs
  • Customer Service

Compare this price to the cheapest options from Google Docs’ competitors:

  • WordPerfect Office: $179.99/seat (no non-profit discount)
  • Microsoft Office: $199.99/seat ($30/seat with non-profit discount)
  • Apple iWork: $79.00

These tools replicate only a tiny part of the Google Apps ecosystem - the word processor. Full enterprise systems such as Microsoft Exchange with Sharepoint add significant additional costs.

Google Apps’ unique capabilities can help legal services organizations

Beyond replacing functions provided by other software, Google Apps offer distinctive features meant to change and improve office functioning. These apps can enhance the following items:

  1. Collaboration: Features like document-sharing, simultaneous editing, shared calendars, and chat make group work easier, and encourage office members to become more aware of each others’ work.
  2. Searching: Documents and emails in Google Apps are designed to be searched rather than sorted by the user. This means that users can spend less time organizing files, and don’t have to know and remember a particular system of organization to find what they are looking for. As demonstrated by the LSNC Findability Project, moving to a system where nearly all office data is searchable through Google Search Appliance (GSA) can help offices significantly increase their effectiveness.
  3. Integration: Google Apps are designed to interact with each other, and are more powerful in combination.

Related Articles

default featured image

When Do I Use GoToMeeting versus GoToWebinar?

Both products are excellent, but they serve different purposes. There are three considerations that would determine which...

Digital Scanning Digital Signatures

Scanning and Digital Signatures (Remote Legal Services)

This webinar looks at common tools for digital signatures and scanning from your phone or at home.

group discussion

Roundtable- Remote Legal Services & Remote work

Come talk with community members about remote work and remote legal services. These are informal discussions with other...

More Articles
Join the Community! It's your best resource to get the answers you need.
Sign up today
dark purple dots
Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project

Key Resources

  • Browse by Topic
  • Tech Assistance
  • Tools & Resources
  • Log in

Get Involved

  • Share Your Knowledge
  • Events
  • Give us Feedback

Connect with us

Like on Facebook
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe on YouTube
Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project can leverage technology for better client service with LSNTAP's training, resources, and online community. Empowering them to serve their communities more effectively.

Our Partners

Logo for Michigan Advocacy Program white logo for Legal Services Corporation