Salesforce integrates key Google Apps services and provides several AppExchange apps that enhance and customize Google-related functionality.

The following services for Google Apps are integrated with Salesforce and require a simple activation by a Salesforce administrator:

Add Google Docs to Salesforce
  Google Docs allows you to create on-demand documents, spreadsheets and presentations, edit them in your browser and work together in real time with other collaborators. When the Add Google Docs to Salesforce service is activated, you can:

  * Use the Google Docs, Notes, & Attachments or Google Docs & Attachments related list on any Salesforce record to create, edit, or view Google docs and associate them to a record.
  * Share a Google doc with any Google Apps user in your organization.
  * Associate Google docs with Salesforce records even when you are not working in Salesforce by using the Add Google Doc to Salesforce browser button.
  * Add Google docs to Salesforce Content, which allows you to manage all types of content in a centralized location.

Google Docs Tab
  When the Google Docs tab is activated, you can use it to conveniently access the Docs home page for your Google Apps account without leaving Salesforce. The Google Docs tab hosts your Docs home page, which is a list of all Google documents, spreadsheets, and presentations that you created or that other users have shared with you. If the Add Google Docs to Salesforce service is also activated then you can create a Google doc from the Google Docs tab and associate that doc to any Salesforce record with the click of a button. 
 

Gmail to Salesforce
  Gmail is a Web-based email application that operates on all standard browsers and can be used with your company's domain. Use Gmail to Salesforce to automatically log emails you send from your Gmail account as activities on lead and contact records in Salesforce.
 

Gmail Buttons and Links
  Gmail Buttons and Links adds Gmail links next to email fields on all records and adds Compose Gmail buttons in Activity History related lists on leads and contacts. When you click a Gmail link or the Compose Gmail button, Salesforce automatically logs you into your Gmail account and automatically populates the To field. If Gmail to Salesforce is activated, Salesforce also populates the BCC field with your Email to Salesforce address.
 

Google Talk Sidebar Component
  Google Talk is Google's instant-messaging tool. When the Google Talk Sidebar Component is activated in Salesforce, Google Talk displays below the sidebar search fields where it can be toggled on, off, or expanded into its own window. You can also log a chat record as an activity on a Salesforce lead or contact record. 

Implementation Tips

  * For detailed information about Google Apps, refer to Google's online help.
  * Google Apps in Salesforce is available for Google business accounts but not consumer accounts. You can identify a consumer account by the "gmail.com" domain in an email address; for example, myname@gmail.com is a consumer account. The Google Apps domain you set up in Salesforce must be the domain you registered with Google for your organization; for example, mycompany.com is a business rather than consumer account.
  * After creating a Google Apps account for your organization, create Google Apps accounts for your Salesforce users by clicking Export to Google Apps from Setup | Manage Users | Users.
  * Notify users of their Google Apps usernames and passwords.
  * Notify users about the changes they will see in Salesforce when Google Apps services are activated. For example, activating the Google Talk Sidebar Component adds Google Talk to the sidebar for all users in your organization.
  * To view all the Google apps available on Force.com AppExchange, visit www.salesforce.com/appexchange/.
  * By default, Google Apps users on your organization's domain can share Google docs with Google Apps accounts outside your domain. The control panel for your Google Apps account contains sharing settings that enable you to restrict document sharing to within your domain.
  * When the Add Google Docs to Salesforce service is deactivated, Google docs cannot be accessed from Salesforce records , and any Google docs in users' Recycle Bins that were deleted from a record are permanently removed from Salesforce. If the Add Google Docs to Salesforce service is reactivated within 30 days, Google docs that were associated with Salesforce records before the deactivation are restored to their previous location. Deactivating the Add Google Docs to Salesforce service does not affect Google docs in Salesforce Content workspaces; deactivation does not remove Google docs associations in workspaces and does not permanently delete Google docs in Recycle Bins.
  * Customer Portal and Partner Portal users with access to the Contribute tab in Salesforce Content can create new Google docs and associate existing Google docs to a Salesforce workspace. Portal users without access to Salesforce Content can associate an existing Google doc to a record, but they cannot create new Google docs from within a record because they do not have access to the Google Docs, Notes, and Attachments related list in the portal. Portal users cannot use the Add Google Doc to Salesforce browser button.
  * Customer Portal and Partner Portal users cannot access the Gmail Buttons and Links or Google Talk Sidebar Component services.
 
Best Practices

  * Test your Google Apps integration using a sandbox or Developer Edition organization.
  * Manage Google Apps users as you would Salesforce users. For example, if you deactivate a Salesforce user, also deactivate his or her Google Apps account in the control panel for your organization's Google Apps account. For information about administering your organization's Google Apps account, refer to Google's online help.
  * To locate a Google doc quickly in Salesforce, search for the doc using Sidebar Search.
  * If Google Talk is in the sidebar, refreshing a Salesforce page causes Google Talk to momentarily disconnect and reconnect. Recommend to your users that they open Google Talk in its own window if they want to have longer chats.