Gchat - the live chat function within Google's email program, Gmail - is a feature similar to AOL's Instant Messenger service and Facebook's chat function.
Gmail's popularity has grown and grown - with no signs of soon stopping. Most recent college graduates switch from their .edu email accounts directly to a Gmail account - if they weren't already using Gmail regularly in college.
Google - the world's number one search engine - has programs to perform almost every function a user can think of. Within Gmail, there are other programs included - like the ones for viewing attachments. Google Docs allows users to view documents in a better format than HTML. There are also Power Point and Spreadsheet viewing programs which make attachments easily available without downloading.
Google's Gchat
Back when the online community started to become a common place in the mid 90s, America Online was a huge Internet service provider. It offered a main area with links to all different parts of the World Wide Web, and allowed users to enter chat rooms - as well as chat privately via instant message with select users.
Now America Online is not as widely used, and other ways of accessing the Internet have taken over - mainly high-speed wireless access and DSL lines in homes.
Gchat is Google's version of AIM, and with such a high number of Gmail users, it's a great way for people to keep in touch with family and old friends.
The program allows users to take chats "off the record" so they cannot be saved or recorded in anyway, creating a new level of privacy for chat users.
Gchat at Work
Since so many business are now based on computer servers and Internet use, it's incredibly easy for employees to get distracted during the workday. One of the biggest distractions is email, and taking it a step further, Gmail's Gchat.
Some large corporations like CareerBuilder, LLC, have blocked Web sites for the safety of the company, and of course to limit distractions and help boost productivity.
Other companies might not block the Gmail Web site, but just disable the Gchat function so employees have access to email, but not to live chat.
There are still companies that don't block the chat function, and many of them are laden with generation Y employees - if not owned and run by them. At these companies, employees tend to stay on Gchat all day long with no repercussions from management, and still manage to achieve a high level of productivity. Such is the standard for generation Y - the youngest generation currently in America's work force.
The bad news for the companies trying to stifle chat use and increase productivity? There are Web sites and programs out there that will allow employees to override the Gchat ban, as well as access some other commonly blocked Web sites like Facebook and MySpace.
