By Curtis Bagnall, Solution Engineer at Umbrella Managed Systems
Google started out as a company to help you find information whenever you need it. An individual who has mastered the art of Google-fu could become a jack of all trades. I myself have been able to make countless fixes on my car, as well as becoming a temporary washing machine mechanic thanks to the power of Google. But Google is so much more than just a search engine. With appliances, watches, TV, automobiles, and even houses becoming a “Smart” version of themselves, there are a lot of amazing possibilities that could determine how we will live in the future.
Google Home
You may or may not have heard of a gadget called Google Home. It’s a device that’s controlled by your voice. And it can find and tell you today’s weather, determine the drive time you’re facing to get to work, and play the music of your choice.
There are so many other things that it can do to make your life easier. For instance, you can set voice commands that lock up your house at night; control which lights are on in the house and how dim or bright you want them to be; set and schedule the AC or heat temperatures; start and check the status of your washer and dryer appliances; start making a pot of coffee; record something on TV; and even place orders when you’ve run out of stock on an item. Google is making multi-tasking at home easier than ever, and more services are being added all the time.
Google Chrome
Have you ever sat at a new computer and needed to access something you’ve bookmarked previously, but were unable to due so because they were saved on your old computer? With Google’s Chrome web browser, you can access all your bookmarks and other settings and saved information from many devices such as Computers, Laptops, Phones, and smartwatches. It also caches your searches and interests allowing you to find what you need faster and suggest things you may be interested in. In my line of work, this makes it very easy for Umbrella to help our clients when they get a new computer, or must temporarily move to a different location.
Google Cloud
Umbrella has partnered with Google’s cloud services. This allows us to move our client servers to the cloud and design them in a way that best suits their businesses. Cost is continually going down for this service, and more features keep getting added. We’re big supporters of what Google has done to make technology more accessible and easier for people to use.
Want to know more about how we can help you integrate Google technologies into your business? Give us a call!