Outlook and Gmail are some of the top contenders when it comes to the emailing world. These two platforms can be considered the two heavyweights of emailing with a respective number of users for each which is the best for your business? In this blog we will discuss what Outlook and Gmail are and the key differences between the two platforms.
Who needs email?
Almost everyone needs an email account these days, whether it is for personal use or for a business, emails are becoming one of the most used forms of communication. Email is an extremely useful form of communication for a business as it is fast, convenient, and easily replicated. Emails provide benefits as it allows you to send electronic data such as documents, text files, photos etc.
What is Outlook?
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software which is primarily an email client. It does however include calendaring, task managing, contact managing, note taking and even web browsing. All these tools are useful for a business and as Outlook is not limiting itself to just emails it is a viable option when deciding what you want to use for your business. Users can register a free account on Outlook.com or can use a paid version by subscribing to Office 365 or purchasing through the Microsoft Office suite of products.
What is Gmail?
Gmail is a free service that is provided by Google that allows you to send and receive email. Along with the provision of emails Google also integrates other service with Gmail including Drive, Docs and Calendar. Gmail is one of the most used platforms with 1.5 billion active users worldwide. You can access your Gmail account through the web or on your mobile phone and this is a free service that is provided when you create a Google account.
Why Microsoft Outlook is better
Integration across email, calendar, and contacts
Outlook is often viewed as one of the most effective ways of communication by many workplaces as it is simple and the frequency of changes to the service are minimal. The consistent experience of the inbox allows you to get going on your daily tasks without much thinking. With Gmail they are always experimenting with new views and layouts for inboxes and composing emails which can throw people off.
Offline access to emails
With Outlook you are capable of viewing and respond to emails whilst not being connected to the internet. Now the email won’t send when you aren’t connected to the internet but as soon as you are connected to Wi-Fi or a hotspot that email will send instantly. If you are using Gmail, you are only able to access past month’s email when there’s no internet connection.
Sharing and delegating calendars
If you are using multiple calendars, then using Outlook will allow you to have much better control over managing calendars. Once a calendar is delegated it is easy enough to manage the delegated calendar alongside their own calendar in a simple side-by-side view reducing the confusion of making changes to the wrong calendar.
Why Gmail is better
Gmail hates spam
Gmail is one of the most reliable services that will block the most spam. As no one likes spam in their inboxes switching to Gmail can greatly reduce the amount of spam emails you will receive in your main inbox.
Smooth integration with other Google Apps
Although Gmail’s main purpose is to allow you to send emails to people Google does ensure that Gmail will allow you to do more than this. With its smooth integration with other Google tools and services such as Google Docs, you can create content, save it, and then send it away in an email through Gmail all without having to leave Google.
Clever Features
Gmail boast numerous clever features to better improve the experience you have with its services. Snoozing emails, send and request money via Google Pay and sending emails with expiration dates are all some useful features that are offered with Gmail.
In summary
Gmail and Outlook are both respectively the most popular emailing software’s out there and their uses can vary depending on your needs for each. Gmail can offer you a clean interface and streamlined email experience whereas Outlook will offer you a feature-rich emailing service which has more options to make your email work for you.
If you are looking to switch from Gmail to Outlook, then our IT Support team can help make that process simple and easy. If you are looking to get 365 licences for your business and then requiring a setup on your machines, our IT Technicians can help you through the process, just get in touch to discuss your needs with us today.
