Google Chat vs. HCL Notes

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Chat
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Google Chat, formerly Hangouts Chat, is a collaboration tool competing with Slack, designed to make it easy for teams to be able to get their work done in one place. From direct messages to group conversations, Chat helps teams collaborate, and with dedicated, virtual rooms to house projects over time — plus threaded conversations — Chat helps users track progress and follow up tasks. Chat currently supports 28 languages and each room can support up to 8,000 members.N/A
HCL Notes
Score 3.5 out of 10
N/A
Notes from HCL (formerly from IBM, acquired by HCL in late 2018) is a collaboration platform based on the Lotus platform.N/A
Pricing
Google ChatHCL Notes
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google ChatHCL Notes
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google ChatHCL Notes
Features
Google ChatHCL Notes
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Chat
8.4
26 Ratings
8% above category average
HCL Notes
6.9
10 Ratings
12% below category average
Task Management8.014 Ratings7.09 Ratings
Gantt Charts8.39 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Scheduling8.716 Ratings8.09 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.512 Ratings5.06 Ratings
Mobile Access9.225 Ratings8.010 Ratings
Search9.223 Ratings6.09 Ratings
Visual planning tools7.613 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Google Chat
8.9
26 Ratings
11% above category average
HCL Notes
9.2
10 Ratings
14% above category average
Chat9.826 Ratings6.010 Ratings
Notifications9.326 Ratings9.010 Ratings
Discussions8.824 Ratings9.57 Ratings
Surveys9.317 Ratings9.14 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase9.015 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting8.07 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts8.215 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook9.06 Ratings10.05 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Chat
8.7
26 Ratings
8% above category average
HCL Notes
7.6
9 Ratings
5% below category average
Versioning8.817 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Video files7.723 Ratings6.05 Ratings
Audio files7.922 Ratings6.05 Ratings
Document collaboration8.321 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Access control9.318 Ratings6.08 Ratings
Advanced security features9.519 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive8.115 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Device sync9.624 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google ChatHCL Notes
Small Businesses
Stackby
Stackby
Score 8.9 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google ChatHCL Notes
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(26 ratings)
7.0
(16 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(2 ratings)
1.7
(5 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(9 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
7.3
(3 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google ChatHCL Notes
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
It is a easy and quick way to chat and send instant message using the Google account, even send files, emojis, create groups. I have used it to communicate even with external people with a personal gmail account and is great to stay in touch with all around. I recommend it for anyone who wants to stay communicated using a google account.
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HCL Technologies
I often work with teams from other country and regions, hence HCL Notes is a very useful platform for internal company management operations. It standardized organisational work standards in most of the offices worldwide. HCL Notes also enables chat with other team around the world that I find very helpful when initiating conversation or just want to have a quick update rather than sending emails and waiting for replies. However, HCL Notes is not very efficient in web browsing and user still need to use other internet service providers.
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Pros
Google
  • When discussing about a specific project, I can quickly share google docs or sheets within the chat which helps my team to view the document in real time and they do not have to leave the conversation.
  • Scheduling a meeting with someone is very easy on Google Chat.
  • We have remote team members in different time zones and instead of waiting for emails we use Google Chat to quickly discuss anything.
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HCL Technologies
  • It has a really strong and robust database that's extremely scalable and holds up well to thousands of users and many different environments.
  • It has a really good enterprise-grade framework for development custom database applications
  • All of the custom database applications along with the email all have a nice uniform look and feel so their easy-to-use.
  • I really like how it's developed and supported on every client OS (Windows, OSX, Linux)! The competitors definitely do NOT offer this (M$).
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Cons
Google
  • Google Hangouts Chat has a room for improvement in customizing the themes background.The themes are outdated and hard to change if you don't know the right key to change it.
  • It could be more user friendly if there will be no hidden features. Formatting messages is very likely to use and fun.
  • With conversations going on about everything all the time, it's easy to get pulled into far too many discussions but sometimes its hard to mention names because it shows many result even the users are not included on the chat room.
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HCL Technologies
  • Notes' backwards compatibility sometimes gets in the way. Menus are cluttered with extraneous, outdated options and features that modern users will never use, and Preferences are often difficult to navigate for those coming from Gmail or Outlook. We have greatly simplified this via Policies, but users still find it daunting to go through all the options that are available.
  • The IBM Notes client for Windows & Mac is essentially the Eclipse Java development platform...so it is HUGE. Performance initially was very slow but IBM has done a good job of speeding things up. As IBM moves more toward cloud-delivered applications, this will not be as much of a problem.
  • Notes and Domino can be complex to manage for administrators who are more accustomed to ActiveDirectory, Group Policy, etc. Editing a notes.ini file to add a feature, or working with XML files by hand to create a SmartUpgrade kit can be daunting to those coming from more modern administrative roles.
  • Some users claim to "hate" Notes mail. While I have heard this less and less over the past 10 years, we have had 3rd party software offer plugins to Outlook and it's rare to see any for Notes.
  • The client update process should be automated more. I would like to see the Notes client update quietly and quickly more like an Adobe software update. If an update fails it should automatically try again without prompting the user over and over.
  • Notes multiple language spell checking is a downloaded add-on Java-based resource that has to be deployed in a convoluted way that is difficult for users to grasp. Therefore any foreign language spell check updates must be done individually per Notes client by IT, which is unfortunate. I would prefer to see that be a "live download" update option for users to get directly from IBM (don't make me download it and put it on my network).
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
The updates, support, general reviews on Google Chat are great everywhere. The development of the features is ongoing and this adds a great value to Google as a big company in the market. Other applications are limiting communication while Google Chat is allowing communication to grow. It is very easy to use it and teach others how to use Google Chat.
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HCL Technologies
I've been in IT business and as a Programmer/Developer for 20+ years with too many programming languages experiences/back ground (C/C++/Visual Basic/Basic Program/Unix/COBOL/Java). Also with 18+ years with Lotus Notes/IBM Domino, I am still and always think Lotus Notes is the best RAD platform available!. When the time where resource is very limited and the expectation is very high and the turn around is too short, IBM Domino/Notes is the platform to use and it's the only choice available.
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Usability
Google
As stated from the starting we found this application is well suited for a small audience and a group of people across the organization can be communicated easily with no additional hectic of doing any setup. When you have a Gmail account ready then you can easily access google chat and continue the communication. This tool is simple,secure and robust helping the global leading partner for their internal precise communication and handling the tasks in a great way
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HCL Technologies
Easy to use for the user, most of the apps we developed, there is not much need for user training. Most of the times, we just do a demo to the users group and they can pick up from there.
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Support Rating
Google
I have not needed to contact the support folks for Google Hangouts Chat, so I can't speak to this with any accuracy. The online instructions are fairly clearly written, so it is fairly intuitive to start with. I did not feel the need to use the support people anyway.
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HCL Technologies
I've been using the production for a very long time and very happy with it. Also, all the online resources and forums for notes is very friendly and easy/quick for getting help. I found out that compared to Microsoft or Oracle or any other platforms, IBM Notes online forum is the best I have seen.
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Implementation Rating
Google
No answers on this topic
HCL Technologies
Implementation is easy and smooth if the requirement is well gathered/documented. Notes is a RAD platform, all projects in Notes is simple in the implementation step.
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Alternatives Considered
Google
Slack has a few more features than Google Chat. Slack, for a long time, had thread chats that grouped a thread of thoughts together, making the main chat group space a lot less cluttered. A while back, Google Chat implemented a similar thing in a different but similar way, making the group less crowded. They are catching up.
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HCL Technologies
Outlook has been considered for years as a replacement platform. Pricing and support staff made it prohibitive. Our long-time use of Microsoft Office productivity suite naturally led us to consider the adoption of Office365. A recent investigation told us that Azure Cloud services propel an O365 solution to the forefront. Early adopters in international divisions have paved the way for Azure and O365.
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Return on Investment
Google
  • In my work it allows us to report troubles that may cost loss of investment thru Google Hangouts Chat we were able to communicate on how to fix it.
  • I hope we can make it on our own choice of colors to heightened workers vibe
  • It is connected to your email
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HCL Technologies
  • Over the years, we have lost countless hours of productivity from the thousands of crashes we have experienced.
  • One benefit of IBM Notes is that it is very simple to train a new user on. Many people prefer and are familiar with Google tools, but those that use IBM Notes have very little trouble acclimating themselves.
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ScreenShots