Tag Archives: Admin Console

Provide custom Google Meet background images for your users

What’s changing 

We’ve heard from our users that having backgrounds that match your brand guidelines are important for visual polish during critical meetings. Now, admins can now provide a set of images for the background replace feature in Google Meet. This will enable users to easily select an image that properly represents their company's specific brand and style. 




Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Note: Use this Help Center article to learn more about how to properly set image access so your users can use your custom backgrounds. 

Resources

External label for Google Meet participants

What’s changing 

“External” labels will be available in Google Meet. Users will see a label in the top-left corner of their meeting screen indicating that participants who are external to the meeting host’s domain have joined the meeting. In the people panel, external participants will be denoted with the same icon. 




Getting started 

  • Admins: External labels will be on by default and can be configured in the Admin console at Apps > Google Workspace > Google Meet > Google Meet Safety Settings. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing Meet settings for your users. 
  • End users: No end user action is required — you’ll see warning labels for external participants when configured by your admin. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits customers 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

 Resources

Managed Android devices must upgrade to Android Device Policy during March 2023

What’s changing 

In 2019, we announced that a new Android management client, Android Device Policy, would replace the legacy Google Apps Device Policy client. We’re now in the final stages of this upgrade. 


All devices with the Google Apps Device Policy will lose access during March 2023 if they have not already upgraded. Existing Google Apps Device Policy app users must switch to Android Device Policy before then to continue syncing work data. Note that, per our last update, the new user registration flow on the legacy Google Apps Device Policy will be blocked and users may see errors during the registration process as of January 2022. Admins can act directly from the alert in the Admin console to identify users who need to upgrade.




Visit the Help Center to learn more about migrating to Android Device Policy and our previous announcement for more information.


Getting started 


Rollout pace

  • Devices on the old agent will lose access during March 2023. 
  • Android Device Policy is available now and all users should upgrade to avoid disruption.  


Availability

  • This change impacts Google Workspace customers who use basic and advanced mobile management.


Resources


Client-side encryption for Gmail is now generally available

What’s changing 

Beginning today, client-side encryption for Gmail is now generally available for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers. For customers currently enrolled in the beta, your experience will not change. 




Workspace already encrypts data at rest and in transit by using secure-by-design cryptographic libraries. Client-side encryption takes existing encryption capabilities to the next level by ensuring that customers have sole control over their encryption keys—and thus complete control over access to their data. For more information, read the latest Workspace blog and our original beta announcement.

Getting started 

  • Admins: 
  • End users: Once enabled by your Workspace admin, to add client-side encryption to any message, click the lock icon and select additional encryption, and compose your message and add attachments as normal. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – February 17, 2023

2 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers.


360 degree video backgrounds available for Google Meet on mobile
Adding to our existing library of immersive backgrounds, Meet users on mobile can use several new 360 degree video backgrounds. These backgrounds—which include a beach and a temple—use your device's gyroscope to create a dynamic experience that moves with you. Note that Admins can turn backgrounds on or off for their users. | Available on Android and iOS devices for all Google Workspace users and users with personal Google Accounts. 
Editable widgets now available for Chat app cards 
Developers can now include interactive widgets like checkboxes, radio buttons, and dropdowns in Chat app cards that are posted in the Chat message stream. This will allow you to quickly modify information sent from Chat apps, such as: 
  • Changing the assignee on a task card or changing the due date on a task card
  • Selecting or deselecting options on a card
This feature is available now to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only.



Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


New setting for content managers to modify shared drives now on by default
Last December, we announced an upcoming shared drive setting for content managers to modify shared drives. Starting today, all content managers will have the ability to share folders by default, in addition to their current capabilities of editing, reorganizing, and deleting shared drive content. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Client-side encryption for Google Calendar is now generally available
Client-side encryption for Google Calendar is now generally available to eligible Workspace editions. Additionally, based on feedback from beta, we’ve extended client-side encryption to support Key Migration and Google Takeout. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers only. | Learn more.


Improving accessibility of the “connect device” feature on Google Meet hardware devices
We’re updating the home screen on Series On Desk 27 and Board 65 devices to feature a “Connect device” button as a quick action. | Learn more. 


Google Calendar and Assistant Reminders will migrate to Google Tasks soon
As previously announced, in the coming months, we’ll migrate Reminders from Google Calendar and Google Assistant to Google Tasks to create a single experience for managing to-dos across Google. | Learn more.


Improving the Google Contact management experience
We’re introducing a new feature available in the Google Contacts sidebar that lets you create new contacts and edit existing contacts. Whether you want to edit contacts faster or create contacts more easily, this update streamlines the contact management experience. | Learn more. 


Control the visibility of warning banners in Gmail with a new admin control
We’re giving admins more control over whether warning banners for incoming email messages are displayed for their end users. Specifically, admins can choose to disable spam filters and hide warning banners for: All users and a specific allowlist of senders. | Learn more. 


Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains:
Scheduled Release Domains:
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

Control the visibility of warning banners in Gmail with a new admin control

What’s changing

We’re giving admins more control over whether warning banners for incoming email messages are displayed for their end users. Specifically, admins can chose to disable spam filters and hide warning banners for:

  • All users
  • A specific allowlist of senders

These settings can be found in the Admin console at:
Apps > Google Workspace > Settings for Gmail > Spam, Phishing, and Malware > Add Another Rule 




You may consider turning off these warnings when conducting anti-phishing training with your end users. These new options provide more flexibility around the visibility of these warnings across your organization however you choose to configure them. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: Warning banners can be turned on or off at the domain and OU level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to add custom spam filters to Gmail.
  • End users: No action required — your admin configuration will determine whether you see spam warning banners in Gmail. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers 
  • Not available to legacy G Suite basic and Business customers
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources 

Google Calendar and Assistant Reminders will migrate to Google Tasks soon

What’s changing

As previously announced, in the coming months, we’ll migrate Reminders from Google Calendar and Google Assistant to Google Tasks to create a single experience for managing to-dos across Google. 

Users can create tasks from Calendar and using the hands-free power of Assistant, similar to how they previously created Reminders. Additionally, unlike with Reminders, they can create tasks from other Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Docs and Chat, or directly from the Tasks app.

If you’re a Google Workspace customer with the Tasks service ON in your organization, your end users can voluntarily migrate beginning April 12, 2023. This migration prompt will appear for users with personal accounts starting on March 6, 2023.

Enterprise end users will be prompted to migrate their experience beginning April 12, 2023. 



For Google Workspace customers: Starting on May 22, 2023, Assistant and Calendar Reminders will begin to automatically migrate to Tasks for users that have not already migrated. To help ensure a smooth transition, we recommend the following steps:

Admins:

If you use a Google account for work or school:
  • You’ll see a prompt in Assistant and Calendar to move reminders created in these apps to Tasks beginning on April 12, 2023.
  • If you want a copy of your reminders data and Takeout is enabled for your organization, export your Reminders data before June 22, 2023.

If you use Google with a personal account:
  • You’ll see a prompt in Assistant and Calendar to move reminders created in these apps to Tasks beginning on March 6, 2023.
  • If you haven’t already migrated, Assistant and Calendar reminders will begin to automatically migrate in Q2. We’ll share more information on this timeline in a future update on the Workspace Updates blog.

Why it’s important

Once the migration is complete, you’ll be able to view and manage all of your to-dos in one place: Tasks. You’ll be able to leverage features in Tasks such as organizing to-dos with multiple lists and adding descriptions for extra organization. Tasks can be accessed on the web in Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Calendar, Docs and Chat, making it easy to create tasks without the need to switch tabs or apps. If you use Assistant, you’ll also be able to create Tasks directly from Assistant.


Additional details

Reminders created in Keep will not be migrated to Tasks — they will still be available in Keep, but they will no longer be displayed in Google Calendar once the migration is complete.


Rollout pace 


Google Workspace users:
  • Voluntary migration: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) beginning April 12, 2023
  • Automatic migration: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) beginning May 22, 2023


Users with personal Google Accounts: 
  • Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) beginning March 6, 2023

New built-in interoperability between Google Meet and Zoom

What’s changing

As previously announced in October, we’re introducing video conferencing device interoperability for Google Meet with Zoom, which will allow you to:

  • Join Zoom Meetings from Google Meet hardware devices
  • Join Google Meet meetings from Zoom Rooms

Please note that Zoom interoperability supports core video conferencing features. Some advanced features, such as polls, wired present, and dual-screen support may not be available when using Meet hardware to join Zoom Meetings and vice versa. 



Left: Zoom Meetings on Google Meet hardware. Right: Google Meet on Zoom Rooms


We hope this latest update makes it even easier for our customers and their users to connect and collaborate with people outside of the Google Meet ecosystem. 


Additional details

There is no additional cost associated with using this new built-in interoperability feature on supported devices.


Scheduled join and join via meeting code will be supported, as will the ability to configure no-knock joining (lobby bypass) in either direction. 


Similar built-in interoperability is already available between Google Meet and Cisco Webex on each platform’s respective devices. And Pexip continues to enable joining Meet meetings from the widest range of third-party video conferencing hardware, including older devices that may not support built-in interoperability. Use this Help Center article to learn more about Pexip. 


Getting started


Zoom interop on Google Meet hardware

    • To configure no-knock join for Zoom Meetings from Meet hardware, generate a token in the Zoom Admin at Account Management > Account Settings > Meeting > Allow my organization's 3rd party conference room systems to join my Zoom meetings as an authorized user and paste it in the Google Workspace Admin at Devices > Google Meet hardware > Settings > Service settings > Built-in interoperability direct access.

  • End users: When enabled by your admin, you can join a Zoom meeting from a Google Meet hardware device by: 
    • Joining an ad-hoc meeting by tapping "Join or start a meeting" on your touch controller and selecting Zoom from the dropdown options. 
    • Joining a scheduled meeting by adding a room to an event with Zoom meeting details.  
      • Note: Calendar events that originate outside of Google Calendar must be duplicated and populated with room details manually, or have their Zoom join details copy and pasted into the description field of a new Calendar event.
  • Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Meet interoperability.
Meet interop on Zoom Rooms

  • Admins: Meet interop on Zoom Rooms will be off by default and can be enabled from the Zoom Admin at Room Management > Zoom Rooms > Meeting > Support Google Meet web client meeting on Zoom Rooms.  For more information, visit the Zoom Support page.

  • To configure no-knock join for Meet meetings from Zoom Rooms, generate a token in the Workspace Admin console at Apps > Google Workspace > Settings for Google Meet > Interoperability tokens and paste it in the Zoom Admin in the Google Meet Interop Token field located at Room Management > Zoom Rooms > Support Google Meet web client meeting on Zoom Rooms. 

  • End users: When enabled by your admin, you can join a Meet meeting from a Zoom Room by:
    • Joining an ad-hoc meeting from your Zoom Room Controller by entering a Google Meet meeting code
    • Joining a scheduled meeting by adding a room to an event with Google Meet details
    • Visit the Zoom Support page for more information.


Rollout pace

Zoom interop on Meet hardware

Admin Setting

End User Availability (on Devices)

Meet interop on Zoom Rooms

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 23, 2022

New updates 


There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements. 


Previous announcements


The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


Updated experience for exporting your organization’s data
We’re introducing new capabilities for exporting your organization’s data, giving our customers greater flexibility over managing their organization’s data export needs. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more. 


Google Voice Standard customers can assign phone numbers in other Voice countries in their region 
Google Voice customers on the Standard subscription in Canada, Europe and the US can assign phone numbers to any supported country in their region:
  • Customers in Europe can assign phone numbers in supported European countries
  • Customers in Canada and the US can assign phone numbers in both countries
This change gives our customers on the Standard SKU the flexibility to deploy Voice across the different countries they operate in within the same region. | Available for Google Voice Standard customers only. | Learn more.


More filter effects available for Google Meet
Google Workspace users can now access a variety of new filter effects on Google Meet on the web and mobile. These filters, such as loghead, strawberry, and working bunny, can help bring an element of fun to meetings. | Learn more. 


Quickly refine search results in Google Chat with search chips
We’re expanding an existing mobile feature to the web that helps you find exactly what you’re looking for much faster using search chips that filter your search results. | Learn more. 



Completed rollouts


The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains:


Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:


For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).


More filter effects available for Google Meet

Quick summary

Google Workspace users can now access a variety of new filter effects on Google Meet on the web and mobile. These filters, such as loghead, strawberry, and working bunny, can help bring an element of fun to meetings. The effects can be found in the effects panel and can be added before or during a call.


Additional details

Admins can control whether these effects are on or off for their users — by default, this setting is:
  • OFF for Google Workspace Education users.
  • ON by default for all other Google Workspace editions, including Google Workspace Individual users.

Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources