Google launches gallery of 300 document templates

[hari]

As Google continues to increase its competition with Microsoft, businesspeople and other consumers have a new source of Web-based templates for all kinds of documents.

More than 300 are found at Google.com in the Google Docs Template Gallery, launched last week and covering everything from project management schedules and travel expense reports to gas mileage calculators. The templates are accessible from any computer and require no fee or special software, just a Google password.

Among the most-used templates so far are those for resumes, cover letters, a 2008 monthly calendar, a service invoice and budget planners, according to Google.

"I know for a fact that I'll be using the gas and travel expense templates for myWorkster, especially in today's economy," said Doug Baruchin, director of operations for myWorkster.com, a Plainview-based online networking resource for students and higher-education professionals.

Of course, Microsoft also offers templates through Microsoft Office Online and, at least for now, they seem to have a larger assortment, said Paul Trapani, co-founder and president of XT Group, an information technology consulting firm in Bethpage.

"Most clients use Office and I think will continue to do so for compatibility purposes," especially where employees have a comfort level with Office and systems in place for collaborating with clients, Trapani said.

Still, he said, he would not hesitate to recommend the Google templates to "a bunch of 20-year-olds" or to nonprofits looking to avoid the cost of installing the Microsoft product on each computer.

Dawn Amato-Rudolph, creative director of Slightly Mad Communications, a Melville-based advertising firm, said what she especially appreciates about the new Google templates, as well as the original Google Docs Web-based word processing and spreadsheet program, is the ability to edit, share and store the documents online.

"If I need to make a change while I'm on the road, I can, and I don't need to e-mail the file to my assistant," she said. "She will see the changes I have made and can make her own changes. There is a handy chat feature to help with workflow.

"This is really a huge help for a busy office."

Still, she said she would not store any highly sensitive data online as who knows what Internet interruptions might occur. Plus, Amato-Rudolph said, "even though I know it's password protected, we know hacking is an easy thing."