From moviemaking to emergency response, Google Chat keeps teams connected

Today, communication at work is more fluid and dynamic than ever. It happens in conference rooms and living rooms, across time zones and devices. To thrive, users need tools that are as agile as they are. Google Chat helps people communicate quickly and efficiently, no matter what device or location they’re working from. Discover how Google Workspace customers are connecting, solving problems, and getting more done with Google Chat.

Emergency response and collaboration 

From snowy mountains to green river valleys, Eagle County in Colorado is an adventurer’s paradise with well over 1 million people visiting each year. The climate and geography, at the heart of the Colorado Rockies, also make Eagle County susceptible to natural disasters, including avalanches and wildfires.

As any emergency responder will tell you, the speed of response, based on accurate information, is fundamental to preserving life and property when disaster strikes.  This is even more critical with so many people involved. “You can have roughly 50 teams and maybe 500 people responding to a fast-moving incident,” shares Brandon Williams, Innovation and Strategy Manager at Eagle County. 

To facilitate immediate communication in the middle of a rescue or emergency operation, Eagle County uses Google Chat. Birch Barron, Director of Emergency Management, recalls how critical it was to be able to show the reach of a fast-spreading wildfire. “During an emergency, one of the crew tackling the blaze used the video calling feature in Google Chat to show the flames on the horizon so the team had a sense of the scale and direction of the event,” he says. Whether tackling a fast-spreading wildfire or collaborating on a project with an impending deadline, Google Chat has the capabilities to help users quickly solve problems — all in one place. 

Watch this video to learn more about how it's done at Eagle County.

Reducing friction and collaborating across teams 

As companies shift to hybrid work, one challenge is figuring out how to effectively solve problems across large numbers of people. With Google Chat, organizations can work quickly and efficiently together - even when they are collaborating across locations or time zones.

At Sony Pictures Imageworks, a major film production involves hundreds of employees dispersed in different locations who must communicate seamlessly, both internally and externally, to meet demanding studio deadlines. That’s why they rely on Google Chat. 

Mike Ford, Chief Technology Officer found that “…our previous productivity and collaboration tools added friction. Employees spent too much time toggling between communication apps and tracking down the latest document versions rather than moving projects forward. Reducing the amount of friction from thought to implementation is what we strive to do every day, and Google Workspace fits right into this philosophy.”

Breaking down barriers with Chat

In Workspace, customers enjoy being able to email, chat or start a video call depending on what they’re trying to get done. Many customers are finding that an increasing amount of their communication is happening in Google Chat, and its informal nature is breaking down barriers and facilitating more inter-organization communication.

With more than 45,000 employees across 26 countries, electronics manufacturer Sanmina has seen clear benefits of improved collaboration with Workspace. It has opened up innovation by drawing on ideas from different locations and teams and enhanced quality control throughout the manufacturing process. Google Chat is a core part of tapping into that innovation. Sanmina CIO Manesh Patel said, “More and more of our communications take place via Chat, whether in a team environment or one-to-one setting. It’s the asynchronous tool that works alongside Google Meet, for synchronous collaboration.”

Sanmina illustrates how the flexibility of Google Workspace's offering can help teams choose the right medium for their communication. For some topics, that’s an email or video call, but for immediate and real time communications, it’s happening increasingly in Chat.

Eagle County, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and Sanmina, are just a few examples of how modern companies are solving complex problems and getting work done quicker with the help of Google Chat. As more companies adapt to the new era of work, Google Chat will continue to become more powerful and flexible to meet the evolving needs of Workspace customers.