Alphabet Inc's Google said its corporate Gmail customers would now be able to edit documents and other files without leaving the email service, as it aims to lure clients from rivals by making its tools more integrated.
The announcement was made at Google's cloud unit's annual customer and partner conference, which has been turned into a virtual gathering over several weeks because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Google has been trying for more than a decade to catch up with Microsoft Corp's Office, which dominates the global market for corporate email and document-editing tools.
Both companies have been adding video-calling features and other collaboration tools to attract new business from companies operating from home during the pandemic.
Google contends it has found an edge with potential customers by promoting Gmail as a single hub for workers to access text chats, video calls and now documents.
Microsoft, which declined to comment on the matter, has limited tie-ins between its email and chat tools, Outlook and Teams, but it has continued to post fast Office revenue growth.
Google introduced some options already on Microsoft Teams, including the ability for chat users to list an "out of office" notice and pin conversations to make them easier to find later.
