Tag Archives: Google Docs

30 Must-Have Features for Google Docs Workflow Application

Workloads can be complicated and overwhelming. In order to make collaborating easier, Google has introduced the Google Docs Workflow Application.

San Jose, CA, January 29, 2018 – Workloads can be complicated and overwhelming. In order to make collaborating easier, Google has introduced the Google Docs Workflow Application. While many businesses are turning to the time-saving, convenient application, a good number of features do not take full advantage of all that the application has to offer. Collavate has solved that problem by designing constructive workflow in Google Docs and Google Drive.

Collavate makes everyday time-consuming tasks a breeze. You can send automatically send out reminders, submit forms and much more. Say “Goodbye” to wasting time downloading and uploading files too—with Collavate, you can access files and add comments on files without having to do all that. And those are just a few of the benefits Collavate offers for seamless collaboration.

There are so many convenient, time-saving features on the Google Docs Workflow Application because Google has been doing their homework. They have dug in deep to find out what people, just like you, need in order to save time and frustration. Take a look at the 30 must-have features for the Google Docs Workflow Application that will make your workload process a breeze.

1. Workflow Automation

In many businesses, there are many repetitive, unnecessary tasks that take place every day, such as submitting forms and sending reminders. Collavate solves this problem, by providing an efficient workflow automation tool that submits files, reminds reviewers, and organizes feedback. Collavate is meant to be used by businesses of versatile industries, and can be used without coding or built integration.

2. Integration with Google Drive

In today’s corporate world, most files are stored online, in the cloud. Collavate offers an efficient workflow automation solution completely integrated with Google Drive, in which you can submit and comment on files without any downloading and uploading. From there, Collavate displays reviewer feedback.

3. Sequential and Parallel Approval

Collavate offers versatile functionalities for your approval processes. In our workflow automation setup, you can easily create sequential or parallel approval processes depending on your needs. With sequential approval, subsequent reviewers may only provide feedback after the first reviewer has done so. With parallel approval, reviewers may review simultaneously.

4. Multi-level Approval Process

It’s very common to need multiple people’s consent and feedback in order to get work done and to keep it flowing. This may entail approval from teammates or even from individuals outside of your company, like clients or partners. Collavate makes the process simple. You can set up as many approvers as you need, and bring in additional approvers too just by including their email address. The submitted file goes to the first responsible individual on the list who is notified of it by email. Then, it will go to the second reviewer who will also be notified via email, and so on.

5. Integration with Google Docs and Google Sheets

With the free Collavate add-ons for Docs and Sheets, you can submit documents and spreadsheets for review. This new function allows you to send documents from the comfort of your Google Drive screen, without needing to navigate to other pages.

6. Workflow Templates – my template, shared template and public template

Collavate offers templates in three different categories: “my templates”, “shared templates”, and “public templates”. While starting workflows you can easily select templates in one of the three categories. Templates in the “my templates” category are accessible only by you, “shared templates” can be shared among multiple users, and “public templates” include templates that we have created for your use and duplication.

7. Document Permission Control

Collavate maintains the initial document permissions to keep the original document rights. After a process is started with a document, approver permissions can be designated to edit or view/comment in order to protect document rights.

8. Attach reference files with workflow docs

For complex projects, it may be difficult to navigate and see previous work and references. For this reason, Collavate makes it easy to reference other processes. In iFrame mode, simply click “Add References” and add as many processes to be referenced as you would like.

9. Document Centralization

As a Collavate Administrator, you can manage permissions for submitted files. Submitted files will then be conveniently saved in a “COLLAVATE” folder. In addition, templates can be shared amongst administrators in the “Collavate Template” folder.

10. Document Ownership Control

Document control turnover should be easy. That’s why we have streamlined the document control permissions, so you can easily enter a new owner’s email address to quickly designate a new document manager. This feature is particularly helpful while employees are taking vacations or vacating their positions.

11. Resetting and Editing the workflow

While sharing or reviewing a document, it’s easy to accidentally make a mistake. Collavate offers features to edit a workflow that is already in-process, so you can change processes on-the-fly without confusing your reviewers with multiple submissions.

12. Reprocess rejected file

Need to add a finishing touch to your document? After receiving feedback from your reviewer, you can easily edit the document and visit the existing workflow file to click “Reprocess”. This helps to keep your submissions organized, and allows reviewers to easily identify your edits.

13. Adjust Workflow Settings

We understand that as an administrator, you want to customize the permissions and functionality of our workflow management tool. With this need in mind, we’ve created a “workflow functions settings” panel, in which you can enable/disable many features such as signatures, lower-level approvals, resets/edits, deadlines, and reminders. In addition, you can also edit initial access privileges to control ownership of documents during processing.

14. Workflow Deadlines and Reminders

To ensure that your reviewers provide feedback on a timely basis, you can add deadlines. Collavate offers versatile deadline functionalities, allowing you to add a deadline for reviewers collectively, or individually. In addition, you can even specify a reminder, that alerts your reviewers before each document is due.

15. Workflow Document Numbering Policy

While processing great quantities of documents, it’s important that you can customize your own document number policy. For your convenience, we’ve provided numbering codes such as current date, company, and team name that you can use to number your documents. From there, you can easily organize and locate processed documents.

16. Save Frequently Used Approvers

Contacts that are frequently added as grouped reviewers can be set as “Favorites”. Setting up favorites can save time by avoiding the need to individually enter multiple reviewers each time.

17. Customizable Workflow Action Labels

We’ve provided several default tabs for your workflow processes. However, we understand that your needs are unique, which is why we’ve made it possible for you to define custom tabs. Labels can easily be edited to better fit user understanding and use purposes.

18. Workflow Capability on Mobile, Tablets & Desktops

Collavate is available across mobile phones, tablets, and desktops. Now, users can access, review, comment, and edit documents on the go, across multiple devices without transferring any files.

19. Workflow File Tagging for Classification

When creating new documents, users can classify their files into multiple categories through tags. From there, users can browse files according to tags and view tags to gain insight to files.

20. Add Workflow Group as Reference

Collavate makes it easy for you to share your processes with relevant team and group. That’s why we’ve provided the CC and Group CC functions, to allow you to easily forward your processes with a simple click. If you would like to designate a group or team to view a process, Group CC makes that process easy and efficient by allowing you to specify a group email.

21. Export Workflow Records

Now, you can easily save workflow history for your own personal records. We’ve provided a feature to condense all workflow history into a CSV file, keeping your workflow history organized. This is especially helpful when managing financial documents and signatures.

22. Establish workflow file as Permanent record

After creating a document, it’s time to share a polished copy. Collavate makes this process easy, by allowing you to convert all documents to PDF form for your downloads.

23. Share Workflow Results to Third Parties

Even after your process is complete, you can still access and share it with third parties. Simply specify the user’s email in the “Share” tab, and enter a custom message if you would like.

24. Workflow Automation and Connect to Database Reports

In many cases, workflow document contents and values are required to be collected and analysed for administrative purposes. For example, employees vacation usages or expenses should be calculated after internal approval. In order to avoid repetitive tasks, Collavate offers a feature to connect a workflow document to a report sheet. This allows workflow process information to be automatically transmitted to a template or spreadsheet, allowing workflow creators to easily view logged information such as submission time, submitter, and time of approval.

25. Workflow Dashboard

With Collavate, it’s easy to organize your processes to see the work that you have yet to complete. You can see all processed docs including approved and rejected files and check new docs to be reviewed or in-progress. This helps users to eliminate redundancies by giving users one centralized location to view tasks.

26. Workflow Activity Tracking

Collavate aims to promote discussion within the workplace, which is why we’ve made it easy for you to comment on edits, decisions, and tags within the “Activity” drop-down tab in workflows. There, you can view submitted workflows, edits to the workflow process, workflow decisions and even tags added and collaborate with other users there.

27. Workflow Revision History

Want to revert back to a version from a month ago? Collavate is one of the few workflow platforms that makes this functionality easy and smart. Under the “Revisions” tab of a workflow, you can easily download file versions of the previous edits, as well as see the the number of edits made by each contributor. You can even add a revision lock, that keeps the current version as is. Unlocking the lock will allow you to edit the file.

28. Workflow with Signature

Sometimes a signature is required. With Collavate, you can get a digital signature from those who are involved, when the file is approved. Collavate allows users to upload their signature images in order to digitally sign their processes. Once this feature is enabled, you can insert on your profile menu and when you approve, it will be signed with digital signature. All that needs to be done in order to activate the digital signature option is for the domain administrator to turn on the feature by turning on the Signature Setting in the Admin Menu under the Workflow tab.

29. Workflow Delegation

In the event that an approver is unavailable, the approval of a document can be delegated to someone else. Collavate has a function which allows a lower level reviewer to approve instead of an upper level individual who is absent. There is also an option that allows everyone to approve. The features can be enabled or disabled.

30. Workflow Gadgets for website

Workflow gadgets are very useful for seeing the entire workflow status at a bird’s eye view. If your company has an enterprise portal site or a company intranet website, you can embed Collavate workflow widgets to utilize as dashboard. To do so, you will be sure to edit the size of your widget so it’s the perfect width and height for your sidebar which will vary from user to user. Save the widget under whatever name you choose. On the dashboard, click on layout and then right click to add a gadget. The pop up will appear and you will scroll to find the HTML/JavaScript. Click on and then configure by entering the title you want and then, paste the code copied from the content section. Then you can go live.

From integration of worksheets to workflow with signature and workflow designation, once you have tried what Collavate has to offer, you will wonder how you ever got along without it. It’s not only convenient, it saves time and money too. Collavate has been working hard to make your work easier. With all the features now available, collaborating has never been so simple.

Contact:

Harry Jung

Collavate Inc

San Jose, CA 95129

+1 (650) 515-3733

hjung@collavate.com

http://www.collavate.com

Avoid Google Docs Phishing with Cyber Security Awareness Training for Boards, CEOs and Employees

Edgar Perez, author of Knightmare on Wall Street and The Speed Traders, provides essential cyber security awareness training to reduce the risk that employees and partners can fall victim to sophisticated phishing or social engineering methods and unknowingly serve as entry points into the firm’s information and data systems.

New York City, NY, USA — An unusually sophisticated identity phishing campaign that targeted Gmail users and sought to gain control of their entire email histories was revealed by Google last week.

The worm, which arrived in users’ inboxes posing as an email from trusted contacts, asked users to check out an attached “Google Docs,” or GDocs, file. Clicking on the link took them to a real Google security page, where users were asked to give permission for the fake app, posing as GDocs, to manage users’ email account. To make matters worse, the worm also sent itself out to all of the affected users’ contacts reproducing itself hundreds of times any time a single user fell for it.

While the worm caused havoc for millions of users because of its unusually sophisticated construction, firms that trusted cybersecurity expert and trainer Edgar Perez would have been spared the expensive and embarrassing experience of having their information compromised. Mr. Perez’s programs target boards, CEOs and employees and turns them into the company’s first line of defense. For more information about public and in-house programs, please visit http://www.MrEdgarPerez.com.

Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders (http://www.thespeedtraders.com) and Knightmare on Wall Street (http://www.knightmareonwallstreet.com), is a recognized futurist, keynote speaker and director of programs targeted at board members, chief executive officers and senior executives looking for new ways to gain and maintain a competitive business advantage.

SPEAKER’S KEYNOTE TOPICS

• The Importance of the Cybersecurity Framework for Directors and CEOs
• Establishing or Improving a Cybersecurity Program
• Social Engineering: The “Weakest Human Link” in Cybersecurity
• Finance in the New Global Economy
• The Present and Future of High-Frequency Trading
• The Impact of Brexit in the U.K and the World
• The Biggest Risks for Financial Markets
• Blockchain and its impact on Finance
• China: To Rebalance or Not to Rebalance

SPEAKER’S RECENT TESTIMONIALS

• “I would like to show my appreciation on your willingness to share your insights about cybersecurity. We would certainly have you in mind as we move forward to deal with this very important issue.” Nik Hasyudeen, former President of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (Malaysia)

• “Your presentation was the real highlight of the Emerging Markets Investments Summit. You clearly have the connections in the industry and are very well connected.” Alex Ritson, BBC News Presenter at The Newsroom, World Business Report and Business Matters (United Kingdom)

• “It was such a pleasure to have you participate in our conference. The feedback was great and the information you shared with the audience was invaluable. Once again, thank you for your contribution in making the event a success.” Holly Chudzy, Corporate Events Coordinator, Peters & Co. (Canada)

ABOUT EDGAR PEREZ
Mr. Edgar Perez is a published author, business consultant for billion-dollar private equity and hedge funds and Council Member at the Gerson Lehrman Group, Guidepoint Global Advisors and Research International, with subject matter expertise in cyber security, investing, trading, financial regulation (Dodd-Frank Act) and market structure.

He is author of Knightmare on Wall Street, The Rise and Fall of Knight Capital and the Biggest Risk for Financial Markets (2013), and The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, published in English by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011), Published in Mandarin by China Financial Publishing House (2012), and Investasi Super Kilat, published in Bahasa Indonesia by Kompas Gramedia (2012).

Mr. Perez is course director of Cybersecurity Boardroom Workshop, How Boards of Directors and CXOs Can Build the Proper Foundation to Address Today’s Information Security Challenges, and The Speed Traders Workshop, How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX; he has presented his workshops in Singapore, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Warsaw, Kiev, New York, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai. He contributes to The New York Times and China’s International Finance News and Sina Finance.

Mr. Perez has presented to the Council on Foreign Relations, Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University (Kiev), Quant Investment & HFT Summit APAC (Shanghai), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Washington DC), CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, University of International Business and Economics (Beijing), Hult International Business School (Shanghai) and Pace University (New York), among other public and private institutions. In addition, Mr. Perez has spoken at a number of global conferences, including Cyber Security World Conference (New York), Inside Market Data (Chicago), Emerging Markets Investments Summit (Warsaw), CME Group’s Global Financial Leadership Conference (Naples Beach, FL), Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum (New York, Chicago), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul) and Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London).

Mr. Perez has been interviewed on CNN’s Quest Means Business, CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Worldwide Exchange, Cash Flow and Squawk Box, FOX BUSINESS’s Countdown to the Closing Bell and After the Bell, Bloomberg TV’s Market Makers, CNN en Español’s Dinero, Petersburg – Channel 5, Sina Finance, BNN’s Business Day, CCTV China, Bankier.pl, TheStreet.com, Leaderonomics, GPW Media, Channel NewsAsia’s Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities. In addition, Mr. Perez has been featured on Sohu, News.Sina.com, Yicai, eastmoney, Caijing, ETF88.com, 360doc, AH Radio, CNFOL.com, CITICS Futures, Tongxin Securities, ZhiCheng.com, CBNweek.com, Caixin, Futures Daily, Xinhua, CBN Newswire, Chinese Financial News, ifeng.com, International Finance News, Finance.QQ.com, hexun.com, Finance.Sina.com, The Korea Times, The Korea Herald, The Star, The Malaysian Insider, BMF 89.9, iMoney Hong Kong, CNBC, Bloomberg Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Valor Econômico, FIXGlobal Trading, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

Mr. Perez was a vice president at Citigroup, a senior consultant at IBM, and a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co. in New York City. Previously, he managed Operations and Technology for Peruval Finance. Mr. Perez has an undergraduate degree in Systems Engineering from Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Lima, Peru (1994), a Master of Administration from Universidad ESAN, Lima, Peru (1997) and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, New York, with a dual major in Finance and Management (2002). He belongs to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. Mr. Perez is an accomplished salsa and hustle dancer and resides in the New York City area.

Media Contact:
Julia Petrova
Media Relations Coordinator
The Speed Traders
+1-414-FORUMS0
jpetrova@thespeedtraders.com
http://www.mredgarperez.com

Secure your Google Docs with Collavate

Google Docs is an innovative Google service that lets users manage, edit, share and create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other file types.

San Jose, CA, September 13, 2013 – Google Docs is an innovative Google service that lets users manage, edit, share and create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other file types. However, even though Google Docs offers numerous benefits to all users, there are certain security concerns that arise when sharing documents outside the domain or when a sensitive document is mistakenly sent to the wrong user.

In addition to these “external” security issues, companies have also expressed concern that important documents can easily and inadvertently be deleted without notice, an event that has happened before. This is why many companies are still afraid or hesitant to use Google Docs when it comes to confidential documents.

One way to tackle the security issue is to have the Google Apps super admin disable outside sharing settings so that no one outside a certain domain level can access the files. However, the problem with this method is that you will no longer be able to collaborate with users outside the domain (e.g. clients or partners) once you switch off these sharing settings. Even if you were to disable outside sharing, users can still mistakenly or purposefully share documents with the wrong users.

If you are a Google Docs user and share these concerns, here’s some good news: a solution for your problems is finally here and its name is Collavate. Read on to learn more about what this Google Docs tool offers you.

Workflow with Document Ownership Change and Archiving
If you have to write a document and get it approved by your supervisor, all you have to do is define a workflow, edit the Google document and then submit it to your supervisor using the Collavate tool. Once the document is submitted, a unique document identification number is automatically generated as a prefix to the document name, and permission to edit the document is automatically sent to your supervisor via email. At the same time, ownership of the document automatically transfers to your domain’s designated document administrator and you will automatically become a viewer without permission to edit the document.

Your supervisor will have editing privileges, and can either accept or reject the document, or revise it and send it back to you. Once the supervisor has completed his or her review and takes action on the document, the supervisor’s editing privileges will end, and s/he will be able to only view the document. All changes to the document are stored in your domain’s Google Drive, and the document and all changes to the document will be properly archived and protected. If you would like to learn more about this security feature, try out the free version of Collavate.

Collavate’s 5-Tier Security Control System
Collavate’s 5-Tier Security Control System is designed to help organizations control access to documents. Each Collavate document is assigned a security access code number from 1 to 5 with 1 being the highest level of security access and 5 the lowest level.

Users are similarly assigned a security access code number by the domain administrator that designates the user’s level of access. So, for instance, if a user has a security access code of 3, that user may access all documents that have a security code number of 3, 4 or 5, but not documents with security code numbers 1 or 2. If users are not in your collaborative group, they will still be able to view the “S-Level” documents corresponding to their clearance level. However, they will not be provided with the option of downloading the documents.

This security level feature is developed and designed to give both individuals and corporate organizations total control of how documents can be viewed by employees as well as the public. By using this feature, you and your organization will be able to easily protect confidential information on Google drive.

Activating Security Levels and Labeling Documents
To further secure your documents, only administrative users can provide others access to the Admin menu of Collavate. If you have access to the Admin menu, you will be able to activate and customize document security by following these three steps.

* Enable the 5-Tier Security Control System,
* Set the security level or labels for Google Documents.
* Assign users to clearance level

Enabling the 5-Tier Security Control System
To enable the 5-Tier Security Control System on Collavate, all you need do is implement the following three easy steps:

* Click on “Admin,” which is located at the right top corner of your screen.
* Go to the “Collavate Admin” menu, which is at the left side your screen, and click on “Docs Security.”
* When the drop down menu of Enable Document Security Level is visible to you, click on it and proceed to switch on the 5-Tier Security Control System.

To learn more about Security level features, click here (https://sites.google.com/a/netkiller.com/docsguide/home/docs-tab/security) to read the Collavate user guide.

Contact:
Harry Jung
Netkiller America Inc.
2033 Gateway Place, Ste 500
San Jose, CA 95110
(408) 641-0114
harryj@netkiller.com
http://www.netkiller.com