Tag Archives: apps

Google Voice Improvements: Use in Gmail and transfer calls

Quick launch summary

Google Voice is now available in Gmail when using Chrome or Firefox browsers on your computer. This allows you to make and receive calls without switching tabs. Google Voice in Gmail looks similar to the call panel in the Voice web application, allowing you to answer calls, make new outbound calls, and easily transfer calls.


In addition, you can now transfer calls using the Google Voice mobile and web apps. In a few simple steps, you can send a call to the appropriate person, whether that’s an intelligently-suggested contact, searching in your directory or a manually entered phone number.


Call transferring is available in Voice on Android, iOS, and the web.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.

End users: These features will be available to Voice customers by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about transferring calls or using Google Voice in Gmail.

Rollout pace

Google Voice call transfer


Google Voice in Gmail


Availability


  • Available to all G Suite customers with Google Voice licenses

Resources



Roadmap




Google Voice Improvements: Use in Gmail and transfer calls

Quick launch summary

Google Voice is now available in Gmail when using Chrome or Firefox browsers on your computer. This allows you to make and receive calls without switching tabs. Google Voice in Gmail looks similar to the call panel in the Voice web application, allowing you to answer calls, make new outbound calls, and easily transfer calls.


In addition, you can now transfer calls using the Google Voice mobile and web apps. In a few simple steps, you can send a call to the appropriate person, whether that’s an intelligently-suggested contact, searching in your directory or a manually entered phone number.


Call transferring is available in Voice on Android, iOS, and the web.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.

End users: These features will be available to Voice customers by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about transferring calls or using Google Voice in Gmail.

Rollout pace

Google Voice call transfer


Google Voice in Gmail


Availability


  • Available to all G Suite customers with Google Voice licenses

Resources



Roadmap




Use the new Google Chat app for fast and reliable communication

What’s changing

We’ve launched a new Google Chat standalone app. The app is a Progressive Web Application (PWA), which provides a fast, reliable, and engaging way to use Chat on any desktop device with the Google Chrome web browser.

See more details below, or visit our Help Center to learn more about the Google Chat PWA.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it

The Chat PWA offers a simple and powerful way to communicate through Chat. Once users install the app, it integrates with their device’s operating system to function like a native app and offer the simple and efficient Chat experience users know. For example, they can:

  • Quickly find and communicate with people, rooms, and bots through the app.
  • Communicate quickly with a simple and intuitive interface.

The Chat PWA also offers simple app deployment and management. It’s:
  • Secure: The app is kept up to date with Chrome, so the updated app has the latest security patches.
  • Fast and simple: Auto-updates also mean users have the latest version without extra process or keeping track of separate updates.
  • Easier to distribute: Admins can deploy the app to all of their users in the Admin console.
  • Broadly compatible: The PWA runs on any device with Google Chrome browser version 73 and up. Version 73 was released in March 2019. This means it works on Windows, MacOS, Chrome OS, and Linux devices.

Additional details

What happens to the existing desktop app? We recommend that admins uninstall the existing electron based app or ask users to uninstall it in favor of installing the new app.

New Chat PWA


Getting started

Admins: Visit our Help Center to learn more about the Google Chat PWA and understand the steps to deploy the PWA app to all users through the Admin console.

End users: This app will not be available until installed on a user’s device. Visit our Help Center to learn how to install the PWA.

Rollout Pace


  • This app is available now for all users to install.

Availability


  • Available to all G Suite customers

Resources



Roadmap




New quick settings help you optimize your Gmail layout

What’s changing 

We’re adding a quick settings menu that helps you easily find and use different layouts, settings, and themes to make Gmail look and feel right for you.

When you click on Settings, you’ll now see different interfaces, inbox types, and display options alongside your real inbox. When an option is selected, the inbox will immediately update so you can compare choices and see how settings work in real time.

The full settings menu is still available by clicking the “See all settings” button at the top of the new quick settings menu.


Who’s impacted 

End users

Why it matters 

Gmail has many options to customize layout, look and feel, and other details to make sure the interface is personalized and optimized for how you like to work. These include:

  • Customizing the density of text and information displayed 
  • Choosing a different inbox type to help intelligently prioritize and organize emails 
  • Adding reading panes to quickly see email contents 
  • Applying themes to personalize the look and feel of your inbox 

We’re making these options easier to find, and letting you explore them in real time, so your actual inbox will update immediately to show you exactly what the setting will do. We hope this makes it easier to set up Gmail the way that works best for you.

Additional details 

Note that this update just adds an easier way to access settings that already exist in the full Gmail settings menu. There are no new settings, and users’ existing settings won’t be changed with this update. You can still see the full settings menu by clicking the “See all settings” button at the top of the new quick settings menu.

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for the feature.
End users: This feature will be ON by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about customizing Gmail settings, or how to help users switch to Gmail from Microsoft Outlook.

Rollout pace 



Availability 


  • Available to all G Suite customers as well as users with personal accounts. 

Resources 


New Google Groups now generally available

What’s changing 

We’re making the new Google Groups generally available - featuring an updated interface and more streamlined controls that make it easier to create, manage, and use. The modern interface is similar to other G Suite apps, such as Gmail, and makes Groups more efficient for new and existing users. It was previously available in beta.

We’ll introduce new Groups according to this timeline:

  • May 26, 2020: Setting to turn new Groups on or off will begin to appear in the Admin console. This setting will be on by default. If turned off, users will not be able to access the new interface. If left on, users will be migrated to the new interface on the dates below. 
  • June 9, 2020: Users in Rapid Release domains will start seeing new Groups, unless their admin has turned it off. Individual users will have the option to revert to classic Groups. 
  • June 23, 2020: Users in Scheduled Release domains will start seeing new Groups, unless their admin has turned it off. Individual users will have the option to revert to classic Groups. 

See more details on these stages and changes below.

Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it 

New Groups has a more efficient, streamlined UI, which makes it easier for users to create and manage groups. It includes the most used features from the classic interface, along with:

  • Read group conversations and write messages 
  • Consolidated settings for improved navigation 
  • Quick, simplified group creation 
  • New filtering and search options to help you find content quickly 
  • Improved group member management and more 

Use our Help Center to learn more about the improvements in new Groups.

Additional details 

Features not available in the new Groups UI 
Most commonly used features are available in new Groups, and the new interface will improve the experience of using Groups for most users. However, not all features from classic Groups are currently available, including collaborative inboxes, tags, and categories. Use the Help Center to see which features aren’t available in the new interface. We’re working to add many of these features to new Groups, but organizations and users that rely on these features should continue to use classic Groups for the moment.

We’ll announce when features are added to new Groups on the G Suite Updates blog.

The new Admin console setting to turn new Groups on or off

If you leave new Groups turned ON in the Admin console 

Starting on June 9, we’ll begin redirecting users in Rapid Release domains to the new interface when they visit groups.google.com. On June 23, users in Scheduled release domains will begin seeing the new experience.

Individual users will have the option to revert to the classic UI by going to Settings > Return to classic Google Groups. If they opt-out, they will see the classic interface when they visit Groups next. Users can switch between classic and new Groups as many times as they like.

If you turn new Groups OFF in the Admin console 

If you turn new Groups OFF in the Admin console, your users will not be able to access the new UI and will see the classic interface whenever they go to Google Groups. Note that users who have new Groups turned off by their admin will also not be able to access any new Groups URL, even if they’re sent a direct link by another user that is using the new interface.

If your organization participated in the beta 

Organizations participating in the alpha or beta will start to see the setting to turn new Groups on or off in the Admin console starting on May 26. If an alpha or beta Admin uses the Admin console setting to turn off new Groups, that will take effect within 24 hours. All users currently using new Groups through the beta would be reverted back to classic Groups.

End users at organizations that are part of the alpha or beta program and who are currently using the new interface will continue to see the new user interface throughout, unless their admin turns off new Groups at a domain level.

End users at organizations that are part of the alpha or beta program who have previously reverted to classic Groups will continue to see the old interface, and will have the option to use new Groups if they want.

Getting started 


  • Admins: The new interface will be ON by default and can be disabled at the domain level by going to Admin Console > Apps > G Suite > Groups for Business > New groups. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing new Google Groups for your organization. 
  • End users: The new interface will be ON by default and can be disabled or enabled by the user on each browser. 

Rollout pace 

Admin console setting 


End user rollout: 


Availability 


  • Available to all G Suite customers. 

Resources 


Share folders in shared drives with a new beta

What’s changing 

We’re launching a new beta program that allows you to share folders in shared drives. Learn more and express interest in the beta here.

Who’s impacted 

Admins, end users, and developers

Why you’d use it 

Shared drives are a powerful way to empower teams and organizations to store, access, and collaborate on files. Until now, all permissions were set at the shared drive level or the individual file level, and it wasn’t possible to share specific folders within a shared drive.

With this beta, you can share a specific folder with other users, or upgrade member access to provide users with additional permissions on specific folders within shared drives. Examples of how you can use this include:

  • For a marketing department, you can have a shared drive accessible by all internal employees, with a specific folder for advertising materials that’s also accessible to an external agency. 
  • For a sales department organized by region, you can have a shared drive that enables team managers and directors to see all activity, with regional teams only able to see the information relevant to their specific area of focus in a shared folder. 
  • For a shared drive used to prepare for a specific event, you can give all members view access to all files, while providing each specific team with edit access to the documents relevant to their part of the event. 

Share a folder with non-members and give members upgraded access on folders 




Additional details 


Manager access level needed to share folders 
Folders in a shared drive can only be shared by managers of that shared drive. Other shared drive access levels (e.g. content manager and commenter) are not eligible to share folders, because they are not allowed to control broad access to content. Folders in shared drives have the same access levels as the shared drives themselves, with the exception of the manager.

These access levels include: Content manager (default), Contributor, Commenter, and Viewer. Note that a Contributor on a folder is an Editor on a file in that folder.

See more details on shared drive access levels.


Folder roles in shared drives 


Folder access levels can only be expanded, not reduced, from the shared drive level
Access levels assigned at the shared drive level represent the minimum level of access users will have to all files and folders within that shared drive. This ensures transparency, predictability, and scalability. As a result, the access level of a user for a folder within a shared drive can only ever be greater than the access level of that user for the shared drive itself; it can’t be more restrictive.

For example, a Commenter on a shared drive cannot be just a Viewer of a folder within that shared drive. However, a Viewer on a shared drive can have their access level expanded to Commenter or Contributor for specific files and subfolders within that shared drive. Therefore, if permission on a file or folder is downgraded, the action will take place on one or more parent folders where the permission was inherited from.

An example of the dialog if access level is reduced for a sub-folder in a shared drive 


What happens with file and folder moves 
When shared files or folders are moved in, within, or between shared drives, inherited access to content will be updated accordingly, and direct access will be preserved. The same is true when shared files or folders are moved from a shared drive to a user’s My Drive.

For example, imagine a document was originally in the Sales team shared drive. All members of the Sales team have Viewer access to the shared drive and so have Viewer access to the document. Additionally, five individual Sales team members have Editor access to the specific document. If that file was moved out of the Sales team drive, the Sales team would lose their inherited Viewer access, but the five individual users would still have Editor permissions.

As these (shared) folder moves can make broad changes to content access, folders moved into or between shared drives are only allowed for users who are managers on both the original as well as the target location.

Note: We will start to enforce the manager requirement with this beta program, and on September 1, 2020, for all G Suite customers. Going forward, it will no longer be possible for Contributors or Content managers on the target destination to move folders in or between shared drives.

Getting started 

Admins: Express interest in the folder sharing beta here. We’ll begin accepting domains into the program in the coming weeks.

End users: Once this feature is enabled for your domain, to share a folder: Select a folder in a shared drive of which you are a manager and click on share in the folder menu (toolbar) to open the share dialog. From there, you can share the folder.

    Availability 


    • Available to G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, G Suite for Education, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits customers 
    • Not available to G Suite Basic customers and users with personal Google Accounts 

    Resources 



    Roadmap 


    Updated Admin console for 2-Step Verification and SSO for SAML controls

    Quick launch summary 

    We’re making two updates to the Admin console:

    New 2-Step Verification (2SV) controls: 
    We’re updating the controls you use to configure 2SV in the Admin console. You may notice:

    • A new “2-Step Verification settings” section of the Security page where you can turn 2SV on or off and control other related settings. You can find this at Admin console > Security > 2-Step Verification. 
    • The ability to turn 2SV enrollment on or off for each organizational unit (OU). Previously you could only turn it on or off for the whole domain. Once it’s turned on, additional 2SV policies can be adjusted. 
    • New interfaces which prevent admins accidentally locking themselves out of an account by enforcing 2SV without being enrolled in 2SV. 
    • An updated and streamlined interface. 
    The new 2-Step Verification settings section in the Admin console

    In the 2SV section you can configure 2-Step Verification enforcement by OU


    New section for single sign-on settings for SAML applications 
    We’re making some updates to the settings you use to set up single sign-on for SAML applications. You may notice:

    • The settings that apply to all SAML applications when Google is the Identity Provider (IdP) are now in their own section in Security settings at Admin Console > Security > Set up single sign-on (SSO) for SAML applications. 
    • The functionality is not changing but you will find a more streamlined experience for managing certificates and to download IdP metadata. 
    The new SSO for SAML settings section in the Admin console

     The new SSO for SAML area where you can control related settings

    Getting started 



    • Admins: The new per-OU 2SV enrollment feature will be set to ON at the organization level (root OU) if and only if you had allowed 2SV enrollment for your organization prior to this launch, so that there is no change in behavior for your organization. After the launch, you can now change 2SV enrollment at an OU level. You can also use exception groups for 2SV enrollment settings, similar to how 2SV enforcement settings support them. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to deploy 2-Step Verification for your organization.
    • End users: There is no end user impact for the feature. 

    Rollout pace 



    Availability 


    • Available to all G Suite and Cloud Identity customers 

    Resources 


    Change to the format of secondary Calendar and resources

    Quick launch summary

    Starting June 3, 2020, the calendar IDs associated with newly created secondary calendars and resources will have a new format. In the new format, your G Suite account’s domain name will not be included in secondary or resource calendar IDs.

    • The existing email format for calendar resources is the following: {customer domain}_{random characters}@resource.calendar.google.com
    • The format for secondary calendars is the following: {customer domain}_{random characters}@group.calendar.google.com
    • The new format for newly created calendar resources will be the following: {random characters}@resource.calendar.google.com
    • The new format for newly created secondary calendars will be the following: {random characters}@group.calendar.google.com

    This change is only cosmetic and no Google Calendar functionality is affected because of it. However, if you maintain a script that parses/extracts the domain name from Resource/Secondary Calendar IDs, please update your scripts to ensure they continue to work following this change.

    Rollout pace



    Availability


    • Available to all G Suite customers


    Distribute certificates for mobile devices via MDM

    What’s changing 

    We’re making it possible to issue digital certificates to iOS and Android devices for secure access even when those devices are not connected to the corporate network. This will make it easier to provide new mobile devices with identification, authentication, and access to G Suite and other corporate resources. This is available to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers using Google Endpoint Management via an on-premises connector.

    Who’s impacted 

    Admins

    Why it’s important 

    Certificates are an important way to identify and authenticate mobile devices so they are able to securely access corporate resources. These resources can include G Suite, enterprise WiFi hotspots, and more.

    Some customers include a requirement for devices to be on-premise and protected by a firewall in order to distribute device certificates. As some users can no longer access corporate locations and networks, customers need a way to issue these certificates remotely.

    By providing this feature, we are helping these customers keep their employees connected and productive even when they’re not in the office.

    Getting started 



    Rollout pace 


    • This feature is available now. 

    Availability 


    • Available to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers 
    • Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, G Suite for Education, G Suite for Nonprofits, and Cloud Identity Free customers 

    Resources 


    New user setting to hide or show Google Meet in Gmail

    Quick launch summary

    We previously announced the ability to start or join a Meet call in Gmail. We're now giving users the option to hide those features.

    Getting started

    Admins: Admins can disable Meet for their organization by turning off video calling in the Admin console. This launch adds a user-level setting.

    End users: Follow the steps in the Help Center to hide or show Meet in Gmail for your account.

    Rollout pace



    Availability


    • Available to all G Suite customers

    Resources