Google is definitely looking serious about toning up its services, after its Gmail users suffered two and a half hours outage and its Google Chat users were attacked by phishers, on Tuesday. 

Google has introduced its new "Google Apps Status Dashboard" that will immediately alert its users, in case the problems with the hosted services occur. 

According to Tessa Prescott, a member of the Google Apps sales team, with Google Apps Status Dashboard, the users will be able to check on the current availability of the Google's services including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Sites and Google Video. 

In a blog post, Prescott wrote, "We made a commitment last year to increase transparency and communication with Google Apps customers in several ways. We heard your feedback around the need for better communication when issues like Tuesday's Gmail outage occur. The Google Apps Status Dashboard represents an additional layer of transparency that we believe will be particularly useful for our business users, and it's also relevant to users of our consumer products."

According to reports, Gmail outage on Tuesday affected users around the world; they were not able to access their e-mail accounts. 

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at U. K.-based security firm Sophos PLC, reported that Google Chat users experienced phishing attack on Tuesday; the phishing attack was aimed at stealing Gmail usernames and passwords, spread through Gmail's Google Talk instant messaging system.

Prescott, in her blog, told that "the new dashboard is available to users around the world to check for information on Google Apps availability".