Google Meet imposes a one-hour meeting limit … and other tech news for small businesses

Here are five tech events that happened in the past week and how they’re affecting your business. Did you miss them?

1 – Google Meet has put pressure on free users by imposing a one hour meeting limit.

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Google will now limit group video calls for its free users to one hour, officially ending the company’s pandemic promotion that previously limited group video calls to 24 hours. Initially, Google Meet was supposed to provide unlimited video calling from its launch in April 2020 until the end of September of last year. However, Google has extended the deadline twice. The free version of Google Meet still allows more flexibility compared to the free version of Zoom by allowing up to 100 participants for a one-hour meeting, while Zoom has an attendance limit of 100 guests for a 40-minute meeting. . (Source: ARS Technica)

Why this is important for your business:

I’ve used all video conferencing a lot over the past year or so, and now I’m going to say publicly that I like Google Meet the best, just for how easy it is to connect and the quality of the video and audio. That said, Zoom is still great and provides more tools for meetings than Google currently does. In my experience, Microsoft Teams has been less cohesive and more difficult to manage, especially when my corporate clients initiate meetings that require Microsoft logins.

2 – Twilio unveiled new tools for live audio and video streaming.

Twilio this week kicked off a new launch for its cloud-based platform that will help businesses integrate live interactive video and audio streaming directly into their applications. The new offering, called Twilio Live, is currently available in beta and will put customer engagement at the heart of the company’s concerns. (Source: ZDNet)

Why this is important for your business:

Twilio has become a very popular messaging service for many of my small business clients and with these additions it turns into a very powerful platform for a business that wants better customer service through collaboration which now includes the video and audio streaming. Twilio Live caters to various industries such as education, gaming and retail.

3 —Square is planning a new iPad point of sale with tap-to-pay, according to a report.

According to a new report, Square is developing a new point-of-sale (POS) system for iPad that will have tap-to-pay functionality. The latest version of Square Stand will integrate the technology directly, enabling a more efficient process than the previous version which required an external device. Retailers pay a 2.6% fee for each transaction, in addition to 10 cents each time consumers dive, touch, or slide. Currently, Square costs $ 169, although the report does not include the cost of the most recent system. (Source: Pymnts)

Why this is important for your business:

Square has grown from a credit card payment platform to a full-fledged player in the point-of-sale technology industry, used by thousands of small merchants around the world. These upgrades will certainly keep it among the leaders and its offering should be considered by any merchant looking to implement or even replace their existing point of sale system.

4 – Zoho launches AI-infused business intelligence platform.

Last week, Zoho announced its new AI-infused business intelligence platform that will include tools to help with data preparation, eliminating the need for businesses and organizations to obtain the tools separately. The new platform, known as the Zoho Business Intelligence Platform, will combine an enhanced version of Zoho Analytics, Zoho Show Presentation and the Zoho Sites portal builder with Zoho DataPrep. The company’s goal is to streamline and simplify the sharing of data and analytics using a visual dashboard while allowing users to create and run queries with data using either the conversational AI platform ZIA, or graphical tools. (Source: Venture out)

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Why this is important for your business:

Full Disclosure: My company is a Zoho Partner. We sell their products and I am a huge fan of the company. Either way, this news is yet another example of another popular small business software company that doubles down on analytics and reporting to deliver the best possible data to its users, wherever they are. find. My clients have spent years amassing terabytes of valuable data and they all complain about the lack of reporting tools available to really leverage that data. It should definitely help.

5 — Microsoft puts Windows in the cloud and adds integration and more applications to Dynamics 365.

Microsoft is rolling out Windows 365, a new service that will run on any updated web browser, allowing businesses to access Cloud PCs from a variety of devices. Only businesses will have access to Windows 365 with a subscription cost per user per month. The service will launch on August 2^sd and pricing details are not yet available. Microsoft will also be integrating new Teams features into Dynamics 365. (Source: The edge and XDA)

Why this is important for your business:

This is great news for Windows users because it means you can use any device whether Windows is installed or not and through Microsoft’s cloud service have full access to your Windows desktop and live as if you were sitting at your desk. The new integrations will streamline collaboration processes for businesses, allowing users to troubleshoot, share information, and work together in Teams chat.

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