Switch from Google Currents to Zoho Connect
Once you have made your switch to Zoho Workplace from Google Workspace, your organization's admin should create a Network in Zoho Connect. To set up a Network for your organization, navigate to Zoho Connect from your Workplace Dashboard. When your admin has created a Zoho Connect Network and added you as a member, you’ll receive an email notification. Click Access Network, update your Profile details, and you're good to go.
Sign Up NowGet started with Zoho Connect
Log in to your Zoho Workplace account from workplace.zoho.com using your email address and password. Navigate to Zoho Connect from the Workplace dashboard. Since this is your first time using Connect, you can start by updating your Profile details and adding your picture. You can also access Connect from connect.zoho.com with Workplace account credentials.
Here's a list of things you can do to get started:
Other Zoho Connect features you'll love
Zoho Connect offers a lot of helpful features that not only help you transform internal communications, but also guide you at every step of the way—from ideation to successful planning and implementation of work. Here are some of the important features that you can explore:
Feeds & Groups
Share ideas and updates, run polls, ask questions, post announcements, @mention co-workers and teams, and use hashtags to group relevant posts. Organize teams into Groups to provide them the ideal space to work together. Groups have a set of built-in apps for file and knowledge sharing, and can create simple form-based apps to automate and gather data. Additionally, the integrated Cliq chat bar at the bottom allows members to reach out to any co-worker directly, and make audio or video calls without having to switch apps. With customizable notifications, you can stay up to date on all relevant activities.
Forums
Initiate company-wide discussions around a topic through Forums. Forums is also a great place to source solutions from multiple teams in your organization. Categories in Forums help organize the discussions. Members can follow topics to receive updates about discussions in them, and bookmark posts they want to revisit.
Manuals
Manuals serve as your team's knowledge repository. You can use manuals to curate and organize company policies, best practice guides, and other relevant materials. You can share these manuals within your Group or Network and even with members outside your Network.
Town Halls
Use the Town Hall feature to interact effectively with your network members. Regular town halls with leadership help build transparency and trust, while Q&A sessions with topic experts can develop a culture of learning and sharing.
Boards
Execute work plans by breaking them into simpler, actionable units through Boards. The Kanban view provides an overall picture, while Sections and the tasks under them help divide, assign, and track work progress. With customization options, teams can tailor the Board to suit their work.
Comparison between the features of Google Currents and Zoho Connect
If you have previously used Currents, this feature comparison guide will help you learn more about Zoho Connect and get started right away.
| Google Currents | Zoho Connect |
|---|---|
| Start a conversation | |
You can start a conversation from Home stream. Only three formatting options ( bold, italics, and strikethrough) are available in Google Currents. | The Rich Text Editor Create a Post for your group or a forum and customize the style with rich text formatting. Format your text with the relevant formatting icons or click Markdown help for keyboard shortcuts. To create a post in a group, go to the group and enter text in the "What's on your mind right now?" field. To create a post in a forum, go to forums and click the + icon in the top right corner of the window to enter the text. |
You can +name a person anywhere in the post to get their attention. | @mention You can @mention a person or a group to loop them in a conversation. |
| My Feed | |
All conversations in your Groups and trending messages in your Network are listed in your Home Stream. | My Feed Your My Feed displays updates from Groups you're part of, the Company Wall, and members you follow. Company wall Only updates posted directly in the Company Wall are listed here. To ensure you don't miss any important news, announcements are pinned at the top of your Company Wall for a selected period. You can also filter posts by announcements, polls, questions, and more. |
| Private messages | |
Currents does not allow its users to share a post privately. | Private sharing If you need to privately share a post or comment, click the lock icon in the text editor. Enter the name of the person or group you want to message privately. You can also use the smart chat option at the bottom of your page to reach out to someone directly, through messages, audio or video calls. Private The Private tab in your My Feed lists the Posts that have been privately shared to you or your Groups. |
| Search | |
The search field in Currents is found on the top. You can search for people, posts, communities, and events. | Advanced Search The Advanced Search tab is found on top of your page. Everything from posts to an articles within a Manual is searchable in Connect. You can narrow down your search through advanced filters, as well as search across the Zoho products you use. |
| Notifications | |
Currents notifications are found in the left toolbar. You can turn on and off notification for specific actions. | Zoho Connects' notification icon is in the top-right corner. Click the Bell icon to see all your notifications. You can filter your notifications for a particular feature from the dropdown and mark them as read/unread. |
| Group chats | |
Group chats are limited to the Communities, where you post a message and reply. You can also switch to Google Chat for real-time discussions, though it is not integrated with Currents. | Channels Powered by Zoho Cliq, chat channels guide your team's instant. Channels can be accessed from the panel in the left or the chat bar at the bottom. All Channels created in Connect are automatically synced with Cliq. |
| Community and groups | |
The Community in Currents is a place where members come together and share ideas. | Groups Organize your teams into Groups to provide them an ideal virtual space to work together. In addition to their social features, Groups also includes a set of built-in apps for file management, knowledge sharing, and automation. To create a new Group, click + in the bottom-left part of the left menu |
| Task management | |
Google Tasks is the personal task management software in Google Workspace. It can be used to jot down your daily to-do list. It also integrates with Asana, a project management app, as part of its extended Google Workspace. However, Currents does not have a standalone app that can be used to organize and track your team's work. | Boards Boards in Zoho Connect help you break down and organize your team's work. Work can be divided into sections and tasks can be assigned under each section. Set due dates, priority levels, reminders, and track the progress of work. Boards can be associated to a particular group, used by a set of members, or created for personal tasks. |
| Document sharing | |
Currents lets you attach files to a Post. However, these documents must be stored in your Google Drive. | Files You can attach files to a post on Connect from your desktop. Connect includes built-in file storage powered by WorkDrive. This storage is available at the group level for members of the specific group and at the network level, accessible to all members. New documents, spreadsheets, and presentations can be created through Writer, Sheet, and Show, all from within Zoho Connect. |
You can store files in Google Drive and share the files as links in Currents. | Manuals Manuals in Connect acts as a knowledge base for your organization to share policies, guides, APIs and other relevant materials. Curate and organize your team's information through Chapters and Articles. Manuals can be group-specific, available to all members of an organization, or they can be created for a set of members. |
| Events and Town Halls | |
Calendar in Google Workspace can be used to track your personal and team commitments. However, Google Calendar isn't available in Currents. | Events In Zoho Connect, Events helps you manage personal and team commitments. You can create an Event, send the invitation to people within the network, track RSVPs, and sync them with your Zoho Calendar. |
In Currents, you can conduct a Q&A sessions through a post. However, it does not have a separate feature where you can conduct a Q&A session with the management. | Town Halls Zoho Connect has a dedicated module that allows you to conduct a town hall session—an AMA with the management, or a Q&A session on a topic with the subject matter experts in the company. Sessions can be scheduled and synced with Zoho Calendar, and completed sessions can be archived for reference. Members can follow sessions and bookmark Q&As that are relevant to them. |
| Forums | |
Currents does not have a designated feature where you can hold company-wide discussions and crowdsource ideas. | Forums Forums is an internal discussion space that allows members of your organization to share their thoughts, hold discussions , or crowd-source ideas and solutions from within the company. Forums are not group-specific and can be accessed by any member within the network. Categories in Forums help organize discussions into groups. Members can follow categories and follow or bookmark posts to stay up to date on relevant discussions. |
| Conducting Surveys | |
In Currents, you can conduct polls but cannot conduct a survey. | Surveys You can create surveys within Zoho Connect itself. Use the drag-and-drop builder to create your survey from scratch or you can choose from a list of templates. |
| Save frequently visited websites | |
Currents does offer a way to save frequently visited websites. | Add websites your teams frequently access as web tabs. Click the + icon found below the Group name to add a Web Tab. |
| Video conference | |
Currents does not offer team chat and online meeting features. | Hold a video conference with other network members without leaving Zoho Connect. You can also use the Zoho Meeting integration to conduct audio/video calls and screen sharing sessions. |
| Live streaming and training sessions | |
Currents does not have a feature for conducting online training sessions. | Zoho Connect integrates with Zoho ShowTime to make it easy for you to conduct online training sessions and deliver interactive presentations with your network members. You can also schedule a session and send the invitation to people in your network. Learn more about live streaming and training in Zoho Connect. |
| Notes | |
Keep, available in Google Workspace, can be used to take notes and store information, but it is not integrated with Currents. | Notebook Take notes associated to a post or independently, and sync them with your Notebook app. Click the notes icon in the left menu to save your ideas, thoughts, links, and images, and sync them with your Notebook. You can also share a note as Post in Zoho Connect. |
| Integrations | |
Currents integrates with many third-party apps as a part of its extended Google Workspace service. | Integrations Connect integrates with numerous Zoho apps to increase efficiency. Connect also integrates with multiple third-party apps like Trello, MailChimp, Zapier, and many more. Click the plug icon from the right-side menu to explore the list of integrations. |
| Mobile Apps | |
Current's mobile app is available on Android and iOS. | Download the mobile apps Download Connects' mobile apps for iOS and Android devices to keep your organization connected. |