Gmail

Enrich your meeting briefs with email conversation context.

Gmail integration transforms your meeting preparation by surfacing relevant email conversations, communication patterns, and customer relationship history. This recommended integration significantly enhances the depth and quality of your automated briefs.

Why Gmail Integration is Recommended

Gmail integration enriches your meeting briefs by providing:

• Recent email conversations with meeting attendees

• Communication history and relationship context

• Customer sentiment insights from email exchanges

• Action items and follow-ups from previous conversations

• Attachment references and shared document context

• Response patterns and engagement indicators

While not required for basic functionality, Gmail integration dramatically improves the relevance and actionability of your meeting preparation.

What Formata Accesses

When you connect Gmail, Formata requests permission to:

✅ Read email content

• Email subject lines and body content

• Conversation threads with meeting attendees

• Email timestamps and metadata

✅ Analyze communication patterns

• Frequency of exchanges with specific contacts

• Response times and engagement levels

• Email thread context and relationships

✅ Extract relevant insights

• Key topics and discussion themes

• Outstanding questions or action items

• Customer concerns or positive feedback

Formata operates with read-only access and never sends emails, modifies messages, or accesses unrelated conversations.

Setup Process

Setting up Gmail integration takes about 30 seconds:

Step 1: Initiate Connection

1. Navigate to the Integrations page in your Formata dashboard

2. Find the Gmail section

3. Click Connect Gmail

Step 2: Authorize Access

1. You'll be redirected to Google's authorization page

2. Review the permissions Formata is requesting

3. Click Allow to grant access

4. You'll be automatically redirected back to Formata

Step 3: Confirm Connection

Once connected, you'll see:

• ✅ Gmail: Connected status in your integrations dashboard

Total setup time: 30 seconds

How Email Analysis Works

Formata intelligently analyzes your email data to enhance meeting briefs:

Email Selection Criteria

Emails that enhance briefs:

• Conversations with meeting attendees - Direct exchanges with people in your upcoming meeting

• Recent communications - Emails from the past 30 days get priority

• Thread context - Complete conversation threads for full context

What Gets Included in Briefs

Communication highlights:

• Recent exchange summaries - Key points from latest email conversations

• Outstanding questions - Unanswered inquiries or pending responses

• Action items - Follow-ups mentioned in email threads

• Sentiment indicators - Positive feedback, concerns, or urgent issues

• Attachment references - Important documents shared via email

Privacy Safeguards

Emails that are excluded:

• Personal conversations - Non-business related communications

• Internal discussions - Emails only involving your team members

• Unrelated accounts - Communications about different customers

• Very old emails - Historical conversations beyond relevance window

Privacy & Security

Data Protection

• Encrypted processing: All email data is handled with enterprise-grade security

• No data storage: Email content is analyzed and summarized, not stored long-term

Selective Access

• Meeting-relevant only: Only emails related to upcoming meetings are analyzed

• Business context: Personal emails are automatically filtered out

• Attendee-focused: Priority given to direct conversations with meeting participants

User Control

• Revocable access: Disconnect integration at any time

• Transparent processing: Clear indication when email insights are included in briefs

Troubleshooting

"No email insights in briefs"

Check these common issues:

1. Recent emails: Ensure you've exchanged emails with meeting attendees in the past 30 days

2. Integration status: Verify Gmail shows as "Connected" in your dashboard

3. Meeting setup: Confirm attendee email addresses match your Gmail contacts

"Missing important email context"

Possible causes:

• Email age: Conversations older than 30 days may not be included

• Different email addresses: Attendee using different email than in calendar invite

• Internal emails: Discussions with only internal team members are filtered out

• Spam/filtering: Important emails may be in spam or filtered folders

"Too much irrelevant email content"

Solutions:

• Formata learns from your patterns and improves filtering over time

• Very personal or off-topic emails should be automatically excluded

• Contact support if consistently seeing irrelevant content

"Gmail authorization expired"

To reconnect:

1. Go to Integrations in your dashboard

2. Click Reconnect next to Gmail

3. Follow the same authorization process

4. Email analysis will resume automatically

Email Security Best Practices

For Individual Users

• Review permissions periodically through your Google Account settings

• Monitor brief content to ensure appropriate email context is included

• Report issues if personal emails appear in business meeting briefs

For Team Managers

• Establish guidelines for team members connecting personal Gmail accounts

• Consider G Suite/Workspace integration for better business email management

• Review data policies around customer email content in meeting briefs

For IT Administrators

• OAuth management through Google Admin Console for enterprise accounts

• Access monitoring via Google Workspace security reports

• Integration policies for third-party app connections

Managing Your Integration

Updating Permissions

To modify Gmail access:

1. Visit your Google Account permissions
2. Find "Formata" in your connected apps

3. Review or revoke permissions as needed

Reconnecting

If your integration becomes disconnected:

1. Click Reconnect next to Gmail in your dashboard

2. Complete the authorization flow again

3. Email analysis will resume with next meeting brief

Disconnecting

To remove Gmail access:

1. Click Disconnect in your Formata integrations dashboard

2. Optionally revoke access through your Google Account settings

Note: Disconnecting Gmail will reduce the depth of context in your meeting briefs but won't affect basic brief delivery.

Next Steps

Once your Gmail integration is connected:

1. Schedule a test meeting with someone you've recently emailed

2. Review your first enhanced brief to see email context in action

3. Add Google Drive integration for even richer document context

4. Fine-tune notification preferences based on enhanced brief quality