WordSpreadsQuickly.com

Google’s refined and integrated consumer instant messaging service Gchat officially soft launched Wednesday afternoon with no fanfare. It’s wasn’t like a Star Wars film release; people weren’t lined up around the corner to get in. But some were eager to get an invitation code for Google Talk as well. Just a few hungry informationist seeking a first look and a chance pounced on the opportunity to say “I did that.”

Note: Google indicates that chat is coming soon, however, if you sign up for Google Talk you’ll get access to Gchat via your Google Mail account. Think of it as having to sign up for three products at once via one simple signup. Oh so very smart: bundle, bundle, bundle should be the word for the day.

Prior to this unannounced launch, Google had been rather pedestrian with how they approached IM and presence. I believe Google’s first shot at consumer IM focused too heavily on photo sharing and not enough on communication. The new release of Google Chat seems to have addressed those hurdles as well as solving a personal pet peeve of my mine which is archiving IM conversations.

I wrote a piece a few years back that was published by Internet.com on how IM would shift how we approached the marketing communication process, and how important the voice of the customer would become. I still believe IM will be one of many catalysts that will drive this change, and RSS (real simply syndication) is likely to be another.

If you’re new to the instant messaging space world don’t worry. Instant messaging or IM is simply a faster way to contact someone via little conversation windows that you use to type short messages to another person who is also online. In the enterprise, IM is often used to facilitate quick decisions among others.

CEO’s who are just adopting email take note of Google’s own overview of Google Talk:

Google Talk is a downloadable Windows* application that lets you send instant messages to your friends and make free phone calls over an internet connection. Google Talk offers excellent voice quality and works with any computer speaker and microphone.

* Not a Windows user? No problem. You can also connect to the Google Talk service from any platform using third-party clients (http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html).

Here’s what I liked about Google Talk/Google Chat – I focus on chat because I’ve yet to make a call using the Google Talk service only a few IM conversations:

Easy archival. The rapid and private quick decision making that can occur in IM conversations is mind blowing. The problem has been no easy way to save conversations. Here’s a snap shot of a saved conversation:

I also like Google’s introduction of a new privacy featured called “off the record.” This element blocks the receiver from being able to save your conversations to email. Very nice especially when you’re chatting with reporters over IM that may be on deadline. Of course this doesn’t stop one from simply copying and pasting content into another application. Here’s Google’s confirmation messaging when “off the record” is selected:

You are now off the record (from now on, chats with stowe.boyd will not be saved in stowe.boyd’s Gmail account or yours)

If I was giving Google a grade on Gchat, I’d give them a strong C +. I like the fact that I don’t just have to use the tool inside Gmail but at this stage Google Talk is lacking features to really get a feel for what the tool can do.

One thing is certain. Real-time interaction will be the cornerstone of all connected communications. That’s why Google moved into the instant messaging (IM) space, and that’s why everyone was so interested in what Google was going to do with instant messaging.

Presence is the unrealized enterprise and consumer benefit and it simply means knowing the availability of anything. Think of presence as the “Clapper” – you know that goofy product — as seen on TV — when you can’t seem to get to sleep. Make a loud clap and PRESTO — there is light! Enable things with presence and presto we find things and stay connected to them in ways we never imagined.

Presence indication and differentiation in the marketing communication process will be HUGE in terms of recognizing individual interests and needs. When combined with machine-driven alerts and RSS as a publishing and distribution platform [Note: Think MessageCast which was purchased by Microsoft.] there are likely to be some very exciting times ahead.

TAGS: instant messaging, Google Chat, Google Talk, Presence, IM, marketing