Tag Archives: Connected Workspaces

Defy Ventures: Using Chromebooks and G Suite to give people a second chance

Editor’s note: Today’s post comes from Charles Hoke, Chief Development Officer of Defy Ventures, a nonprofit that helps current and formerly incarcerated people in 25 U.S. correctional facilities launch new careers. Defy Ventures uses Chromebooks, G Suite and Pixel phones to help people with criminal histories learn about entrepreneurship and research business opportunities.

The prospects for work are bleak for incarcerated people, even when they're released from prison. Research from the American Civil Liberties Union shows that 65 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals are still unemployed one year after their release. But they have the talent to make their way in the outside world, legitimately—what we call “transforming the hustle.” At Defy Ventures, we help these Entrepreneurs-in-Training (EITs) make a new start for themselves by starting their own businesses. We work with them while they’re in prison, and continue to help after their release.

To help EITs develop their business skills, we connect them with technology so they can search online for business opportunities, watch training videos, and communicate with mentors. Chromebooks and G Suite have become key tools in helping EITs realize their dreams.

Most people leaving prison don’t have computers. We used to give donated and refurbished laptops to EITs, or invite them to our office to use our computers—but the laptops and software were often out of date. That’s when we turned to Chromebooks, which auto-updates and always has the latest software, product features and virus protection. Thanks to a collaboration with Google since December 2014, we’re now giving EITs Chromebooks, G Suite accounts and Pixel phones—all of which they get to keep after graduating from the program.

The speed and simplicity of Chromebooks, as well as their reasonable cost, made them perfect for us. Many EITs don’t have a lot of computer knowledge, but it doesn’t take them long to figure out how to use Chromebooks and G Suite. The fast learning curve saves time for our program staff, who would normally have to answer EITs’ hardware and software questions, since we don’t have an IT department. Equipped with Chromebooks, EITs can watch 250 hours of Defy Ventures video tutorials on entrepreneurship, employment readiness, and personal development. Chromebooks also connect EITs to other resources, like job boards, housing lists, and even where to find clothes to wear to interviews.

Defy2
Defy Ventures EIT Eugene Williams

Matching EITs to mentors is an important part of our service. We used to pair them using paper documents and spreadsheets. By placing mentor and EIT information into Google Forms, we streamlined the process so staff can make matches 50 percent faster than before. Our staff is also using G Suite tools like Gmail, Docs and Sheets to collaborate on work projects.

Google technology also helps us maximize our resources. Previously, with only a few borrowed or refurbished laptops, plus our office computers, we could only serve about 30 EITs at a time. Now that EITs have Chromebooks and G Suite, they can work independently, and we can serve as many as 250 EITs at once. The new device setup is quick and easy. We created a 30-minute training course called “Getting to Know your Google Chromebook,” which walks EITs through device setup and the basics of using G Suite. After EITs have completed the course, our program managers follow up with each one to answer any remaining questions they have.

We believe that with Chromebooks and G Suite, we’ll be able to replicate our program in more cities. And by offering EITs better technology, we believe we can improve retention rates and reduce their time to employment or to business launch. We’ve given away 200 Chromebooks to date, and we expect to give away about 1,500 more over the next two years.

While these are long-term impacts, EITs have told us how Chromebooks and G Suite are changing their lives right now. “With this new Chromebook and Pixel phone, I am now able to manage my company seamlessly and more efficiently,” says EIT Aaron Owens, who founded Florida marketing and branding company ArkBM.

Defy3
Defy Ventures EIT Aaron Owens

Formerly incarcerated people have paid their debt to society, but they can remain in invisible handcuffs because of a lack of opportunities. I love seeing the smiles on EITs’ faces and hearing the giddiness in their voices when they realize how much easier it is to pursue their personal goals with the use of technology. And I'm glad we've found the right fit with Chromebooks and G Suite.

Defy Ventures: Using Chromebooks and G Suite to give people a second chance

Editor’s note: Today’s post comes from Charles Hoke, Chief Development Officer of Defy Ventures, a nonprofit that helps current and formerly incarcerated people in 25 U.S. correctional facilities launch new careers. Defy Ventures uses Chromebooks, G Suite and Pixel phones to help people with criminal histories learn about entrepreneurship and research business opportunities.

The prospects for work are bleak for incarcerated people, even when they're released from prison. Research from the American Civil Liberties Union shows that 65 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals are still unemployed one year after their release. But they have the talent to make their way in the outside world, legitimately—what we call “transforming the hustle.” At Defy Ventures, we help these Entrepreneurs-in-Training (EITs) make a new start for themselves by starting their own businesses. We work with them while they’re in prison, and continue to help after their release.

To help EITs develop their business skills, we connect them with technology so they can search online for business opportunities, watch training videos, and communicate with mentors. Chromebooks and G Suite have become key tools in helping EITs realize their dreams.

Most people leaving prison don’t have computers. We used to give donated and refurbished laptops to EITs, or invite them to our office to use our computers—but the laptops and software were often out of date. That’s when we turned to Chromebooks, which auto-updates and always has the latest software, product features and virus protection. Thanks to a collaboration with Google since December 2014, we’re now giving EITs Chromebooks, G Suite accounts and Pixel phones—all of which they get to keep after graduating from the program.

The speed and simplicity of Chromebooks, as well as their reasonable cost, made them perfect for us. Many EITs don’t have a lot of computer knowledge, but it doesn’t take them long to figure out how to use Chromebooks and G Suite. The fast learning curve saves time for our program staff, who would normally have to answer EITs’ hardware and software questions, since we don’t have an IT department. Equipped with Chromebooks, EITs can watch 250 hours of Defy Ventures video tutorials on entrepreneurship, employment readiness, and personal development. Chromebooks also connect EITs to other resources, like job boards, housing lists, and even where to find clothes to wear to interviews.

Defy2
Defy Ventures EIT Eugene Williams

Matching EITs to mentors is an important part of our service. We used to pair them using paper documents and spreadsheets. By placing mentor and EIT information into Google Forms, we streamlined the process so staff can make matches 50 percent faster than before. Our staff is also using G Suite tools like Gmail, Docs and Sheets to collaborate on work projects.

Google technology also helps us maximize our resources. Previously, with only a few borrowed or refurbished laptops, plus our office computers, we could only serve about 30 EITs at a time. Now that EITs have Chromebooks and G Suite, they can work independently, and we can serve as many as 250 EITs at once. The new device setup is quick and easy. We created a 30-minute training course called “Getting to Know your Google Chromebook,” which walks EITs through device setup and the basics of using G Suite. After EITs have completed the course, our program managers follow up with each one to answer any remaining questions they have.

We believe that with Chromebooks and G Suite, we’ll be able to replicate our program in more cities. And by offering EITs better technology, we believe we can improve retention rates and reduce their time to employment or to business launch. We’ve given away 200 Chromebooks to date, and we expect to give away about 1,500 more over the next two years.

While these are long-term impacts, EITs have told us how Chromebooks and G Suite are changing their lives right now. “With this new Chromebook and Pixel phone, I am now able to manage my company seamlessly and more efficiently,” says EIT Aaron Owens, who founded Florida marketing and branding company ArkBM.

Defy3
Defy Ventures EIT Aaron Owens

Formerly incarcerated people have paid their debt to society, but they can remain in invisible handcuffs because of a lack of opportunities. I love seeing the smiles on EITs’ faces and hearing the giddiness in their voices when they realize how much easier it is to pursue their personal goals with the use of technology. And I'm glad we've found the right fit with Chromebooks and G Suite.

Source: Google Cloud


Defy Ventures: Using Chromebooks and G Suite to give people a second chance

Editor’s note: Today’s post comes from Charles Hoke, Chief Development Officer of Defy Ventures, a nonprofit that helps current and formerly incarcerated people in 25 U.S. correctional facilities launch new careers. Defy Ventures uses Chromebooks, G Suite and Pixel phones to help people with criminal histories learn about entrepreneurship and research business opportunities.

The prospects for work are bleak for incarcerated people, even when they're released from prison. Research from the American Civil Liberties Union shows that 65 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals are still unemployed one year after their release. But they have the talent to make their way in the outside world, legitimately—what we call “transforming the hustle.” At Defy Ventures, we help these Entrepreneurs-in-Training (EITs) make a new start for themselves by starting their own businesses. We work with them while they’re in prison, and continue to help after their release.

To help EITs develop their business skills, we connect them with technology so they can search online for business opportunities, watch training videos, and communicate with mentors. Chromebooks and G Suite have become key tools in helping EITs realize their dreams.

Most people leaving prison don’t have computers. We used to give donated and refurbished laptops to EITs, or invite them to our office to use our computers—but the laptops and software were often out of date. That’s when we turned to Chromebooks, which auto-updates and always has the latest software, product features and virus protection. Thanks to a collaboration with Google since December 2014, we’re now giving EITs Chromebooks, G Suite accounts and Pixel phones—all of which they get to keep after graduating from the program.

The speed and simplicity of Chromebooks, as well as their reasonable cost, made them perfect for us. Many EITs don’t have a lot of computer knowledge, but it doesn’t take them long to figure out how to use Chromebooks and G Suite. The fast learning curve saves time for our program staff, who would normally have to answer EITs’ hardware and software questions, since we don’t have an IT department. Equipped with Chromebooks, EITs can watch 250 hours of Defy Ventures video tutorials on entrepreneurship, employment readiness, and personal development. Chromebooks also connect EITs to other resources, like job boards, housing lists, and even where to find clothes to wear to interviews.

Defy2
Defy Ventures EIT Eugene Williams

Matching EITs to mentors is an important part of our service. We used to pair them using paper documents and spreadsheets. By placing mentor and EIT information into Google Forms, we streamlined the process so staff can make matches 50 percent faster than before. Our staff is also using G Suite tools like Gmail, Docs and Sheets to collaborate on work projects.

Google technology also helps us maximize our resources. Previously, with only a few borrowed or refurbished laptops, plus our office computers, we could only serve about 30 EITs at a time. Now that EITs have Chromebooks and G Suite, they can work independently, and we can serve as many as 250 EITs at once. The new device setup is quick and easy. We created a 30-minute training course called “Getting to Know your Google Chromebook,” which walks EITs through device setup and the basics of using G Suite. After EITs have completed the course, our program managers follow up with each one to answer any remaining questions they have.

We believe that with Chromebooks and G Suite, we’ll be able to replicate our program in more cities. And by offering EITs better technology, we believe we can improve retention rates and reduce their time to employment or to business launch. We’ve given away 200 Chromebooks to date, and we expect to give away about 1,500 more over the next two years.

While these are long-term impacts, EITs have told us how Chromebooks and G Suite are changing their lives right now. “With this new Chromebook and Pixel phone, I am now able to manage my company seamlessly and more efficiently,” says EIT Aaron Owens, who founded Florida marketing and branding company ArkBM.

Defy3
Defy Ventures EIT Aaron Owens

Formerly incarcerated people have paid their debt to society, but they can remain in invisible handcuffs because of a lack of opportunities. I love seeing the smiles on EITs’ faces and hearing the giddiness in their voices when they realize how much easier it is to pursue their personal goals with the use of technology. And I'm glad we've found the right fit with Chromebooks and G Suite.

Webinar series: Delivering virtual apps and desktops on Chromebooks

Last July, we announced our expanded partnership with Citrix, offering desktop virtualization solutions on Chrome devices to help more businesses transition to the cloud. Since then, we’ve seen rapid adoption of Citrix and Chrome devices in the enterprise.

Many businesses have told us they picked Chrome devices for their security, manageability and cost effectiveness. But we also heard from some IT admins that it’s critical their users still have access to certain legacy line-of-business or Windows apps. To help meet this need, we’ve been working closely with Citrix to deliver Windows apps and desktops to Chrome devices through Citrix’s industry-leading virtualization solutions. All of this will be the topic of a new, three-part joint webinar series running this November, with the first event, "Secure your Virtualization Strategy with Citrix Receiver & Chrome OS,” running on Wednesday, November 8 10:00 a.m.—10:45 a.m. PT.


Here are some advantages to combining Chrome OS with Citrix as part of your virtualization strategy:

Easier device management

Chrome’s management console simplifies and centralizes managing Chromebooks, giving you control over device policies and configurations. You can configure Chrome features and settings for users, set up VPN and wireless network access, pre-install Chrome apps and extensions (including Citrix Receiver) and more.

Flexible app management and user experiences

Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop securely stores and delivers business apps and sensitive data from the cloud to Chrome devices. Citrix just released version 2.5.2 of Citrix Receiver for Chrome, a native Chrome packaged app which enables users to access Citrix virtual desktops and hosted applications from Chrome devices. Citrix Receiver for Chrome provides the most secure solution for accessing XenApp and XenDesktop virtualized environments. Citrix provides automatic version updates of Citrix Receiver for Chrome every quarter to ensure an always-up-to-date user experience. With Citrix XenApp, IT admins are able to deploy customized profiles to specific users and groups of users. With Citrix XenDesktop, IT can deploy standardized virtual desktop experiences across groups of users, providing a desktop in the cloud.

Security by design

Chrome is designed to provide multiple layers of protection. Every Chrome device performs a self-check upon every boot, encrypts and stores user data, and automatically downloads updates so the device always has the latest security features. Chrome Microsoft® Active Directory® Integration lets you fully integrate your organization’s Chrome devices with a Microsoft Active Directory server. This means that you can easily join devices to your domain and see those devices in your on-premise domain controllers. With Citrix Receiver for Chrome, apps are published within a XenApp or XenDesktop environment either on premises or in the cloud. These apps are delivered to Chrome devices virtually, enabling IT to easily manage and secure access to business applications, intellectual property and sensitive data.


To learn more about pairing Citrix with Chrome devices, join Google and Citrix experts for three short webinars showcasing:


  • The benefits of Citrix and Chrome Enterprise solutions

  • How Citrix XenApp (XA) and XenDesktop (XD) integrates with Chrome OS

  • How to deploy Citrix Receiver on Chrome devices

  • Customer case studies of Citrix deployments on Chrome OS


Here’s the webinar schedule:

Webinar 1: Secure your Virtualization Strategy with Citrix Receiver & Chrome OS

Wednesday, November 8

10:00 a.m.—10:45 a.m. PT


Webinar 2: Easily Deploy Citrix on Chrome OS in your Enterprise: A Step-By-Step Deployment Demo

Wednesday, November 15

10:00 a.m.—10:45 a.m. PT


Webinar 3: Fireside Chat: How Middlesex Hospital Deployed Citrix on Chrome Devices

Wednesday, November 29

10:00 a.m.—10:45 a.m. PT


We look forward to answering your questions and hearing your feedback.

How Chrome helped LafargeHolcim stay productive during a merger

Editor’s note: Based in Switzerland, LafargeHolcim is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of building materials, with a presence in 80 countries. Paul Young, their head of collaboration and knowledge, tells us how they relied on Chrome and Android devices to stay business ready during a merger.

Merging two large companies, with two large IT systems, is a challenge even under the best of circumstances. So when the world’s two largest cement manufacturers, Lafarge and Holcim, merged in 2015, ensuring business continuity while integrating these two IT systems was a top priority. Fortunately we had Chrome to help.

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Before the merger, Lafarge and Holcim both migrated to Chrome, making the transition easier, faster and more cost-effective. The merger increased the company’s global presence to 80 countries, but with Chrome, updates were automatic. Chrome was also pre-installed on each desktop and mobile device, so we saved time because we didn’t need to deploy it region by region. 

Google's admin console has made it easy for our IT department to manage both Chrome browser and Android devices from a web-based application. Since we have offices around the globe, this was crucial. Not only are Android devices affordable, but our IT department finds them easy to set up and manage from one administrative panel. And with Chrome, our IT staff can manage browser settings for our employees’ devices no matter where they are. Overall, the combination of Chrome and Android devices has saved the company thousands of dollars every year.

Since the merger, LafargeHolcim has become a leader in manufacturing cement, concrete, aggregates and asphalt, but our growth hasn’t diminished our pace of innovation. In 1864, Lafarge won the “contract of the century” and delivered materials to build the Suez Canal. In 1942, Holcim created one of the world’s first cement research and testing facilities. Combined, LafargeHolcim has over 180 years of experience. And with Google, we’re able to help our employees do their jobs better as more of their work moves online and goes mobile—and continue to innovate.

The meeting room, by G Suite

With G Suite, we’re focused on building tools that help you bring great ideas to life. We know meetings are the main entry point for teams to share and shape ideas into action. That’s why we recently introduced Hangouts Meet, an evolution of Google Hangouts designed specifically for the workplace, and Jamboard, a way to bring creative brainstorming directly into meetings. Combined with Calendar and Drive, these tools extend collaboration beyond four walls and transform how we work—so every team member has a voice, no matter location.

But the transformative power of video meetings is wasted if it’s not affordable and accessible to all organizations. So today, we’re introducing Hangouts Meet hardware—a new way to bring high-quality video meetings to businesses of any size. We’re also announcing new software updates designed to make your meetings even more productive.

Introducing Hangouts Meet hardware

Hangouts Meet hardware is a cost-effective way to bring high-quality video meetings to your business. The hardware kit consists of four components: a touchscreen controller, speakermic, 4K sensor camera and ASUS Chromebox.

Hangouts Meet controller

The new controller provides a modern, intuitive touchscreen interface that allows people to easily join scheduled events from Calendar or view meeting details with a single tap. You can pin and mute team members, as well as control the camera, making managing meetings easy. You can also add participants with the dial-a-phone feature and present from a laptop via HDMI. If you’re a G Suite Enterprise edition customer, you can record the meeting to Drive.

Designed by Google, the Hangouts Meet speakermic actively eliminates echo and background noise to provide crisp, clear audio. Up to five speakermics can be daisy-chained together with a single wire, providing coverage for larger rooms without tabletop clutter.

The 4K sensor camera with 120° field of view easily captures everyone at the table, even in small spaces that some cameras find challenging. Each camera component is fine-tuned to make meetings more personal and distraction-free. Built with machine learning, the camera can intelligently detect participants and automatically crop and zoom to frame them.

Powered by Chrome OS, the ASUS Chromebox makes deploying and managing Hangouts Meet hardware easier than ever. The Chromebox can automatically push updates to other components in the hardware kit, making it easier for large organizations to ensure security and reliability. Remote device monitoring and management make it easy for IT administrators to stay in control, too.

New Hangouts Meet enhancements greatly improve user experience and simplify our meeting rooms. It also creates new ways for our team to collaborate. Bradley Rhodes
IT Analyst, Woolworths Limited, Australia

Says Bradley Rhodes, IT Analyst End User Computing at Woolworths Ltd Australia, “We are very excited about the new Hangouts Meet hardware, particularly the easy-to-use touchscreen. The enhancements greatly improve the user experience and simplify our meeting rooms. We have also seen it create new ways for our team to collaborate, like via the touch-to-record functionality which allows absent participants to catch up more effectively.”

More features, better meetings

We’re also announcing updates to Meet based on valuable feedback. If you’re a G Suite Enterprise edition customer, you can:

Dial in image Hangouts Meet
  • Record meetings and save them to Drive. Can’t make the meeting? No problem. Record your meeting directly to Drive. Even without a Hangouts Meet hardware kit, Meet on web can save your team’s ideas with a couple of clicks.
  • Host meetings with up to 50 participants. Meet supports up to 50 participants in a meeting, especially useful for bringing global teams together from both inside and outside of your organization.
  • Dial in from around the globe. The dial-in feature in Meet is now available in more than a dozen markets. If you board a flight in one country and land in another, Meet will automatically update your meeting’s dial-in listing to a local phone number.

These new features are rolling out gradually. The hardware kit is priced at $1999 and is available in select markets around the globe beginning today.

Whether you're collaborating in Jamboard, recording meetings and referencing discussions in Drive or scheduling your next team huddle in Calendar, Hangouts Meet hardware makes it even easier to bring the power of your favorite G Suite tools into team meetings. For more information, visit the G Suite website.

Source: Drive


The meeting room, by G Suite

With G Suite, we’re focused on building tools that help you bring great ideas to life. We know meetings are the main entry point for teams to share and shape ideas into action. That’s why we recently introduced Hangouts Meet, an evolution of Google Hangouts designed specifically for the workplace, and Jamboard, a way to bring creative brainstorming directly into meetings. Combined with Calendar and Drive, these tools extend collaboration beyond four walls and transform how we work—so every team member has a voice, no matter location.

But the transformative power of video meetings is wasted if it’s not affordable and accessible to all organizations. So today, we’re introducing Hangouts Meet hardware—a new way to bring high-quality video meetings to businesses of any size. We’re also announcing new software updates designed to make your meetings even more productive.

Introducing Hangouts Meet hardware

Hangouts Meet hardware is a cost-effective way to bring high-quality video meetings to your business. The hardware kit consists of four components: a touchscreen controller, speakermic, 4K sensor camera and ASUS Chromebox.

Hangouts Meet controller

The new controller provides a modern, intuitive touchscreen interface that allows people to easily join scheduled events from Calendar or view meeting details with a single tap. You can pin and mute team members, as well as control the camera, making managing meetings easy. You can also add participants with the dial-a-phone feature and present from a laptop via HDMI. If you’re a G Suite Enterprise edition customer, you can record the meeting to Drive.

Designed by Google, the Hangouts Meet speakermic actively eliminates echo and background noise to provide crisp, clear audio. Up to five speakermics can be daisy-chained together with a single wire, providing coverage for larger rooms without tabletop clutter.

The 4K sensor camera with 120° field of view easily captures everyone at the table, even in small spaces that some cameras find challenging. Each camera component is fine-tuned to make meetings more personal and distraction-free. Built with machine learning, the camera can intelligently detect participants and automatically crop and zoom to frame them.

Powered by Chrome OS, the ASUS Chromebox makes deploying and managing Hangouts Meet hardware easier than ever. The Chromebox can automatically push updates to other components in the hardware kit, making it easier for large organizations to ensure security and reliability. Remote device monitoring and management make it easy for IT administrators to stay in control, too.

New Hangouts Meet enhancements greatly improve user experience and simplify our meeting rooms. It also creates new ways for our team to collaborate. Bradley Rhodes
IT Analyst, Woolworths Limited, Australia

Says Bradley Rhodes, IT Analyst End User Computing at Woolworths Ltd Australia, “We are very excited about the new Hangouts Meet hardware, particularly the easy-to-use touchscreen. The enhancements greatly improve the user experience and simplify our meeting rooms. We have also seen it create new ways for our team to collaborate, like via the touch-to-record functionality which allows absent participants to catch up more effectively.”

More features, better meetings

We’re also announcing updates to Meet based on valuable feedback. If you’re a G Suite Enterprise edition customer, you can:

Dial in image Hangouts Meet
  • Record meetings and save them to Drive. Can’t make the meeting? No problem. Record your meeting directly to Drive. Even without a Hangouts Meet hardware kit, Meet on web can save your team’s ideas with a couple of clicks.
  • Host meetings with up to 50 participants. Meet supports up to 50 participants in a meeting, especially useful for bringing global teams together from both inside and outside of your organization.
  • Dial in from around the globe. The dial-in feature in Meet is now available in more than a dozen markets. If you board a flight in one country and land in another, Meet will automatically update your meeting’s dial-in listing to a local phone number.

These new features are rolling out gradually. The hardware kit is priced at $1999 and is available in select markets around the globe beginning today.

Whether you're collaborating in Jamboard, recording meetings and referencing discussions in Drive or scheduling your next team huddle in Calendar, Hangouts Meet hardware makes it even easier to bring the power of your favorite G Suite tools into team meetings. For more information, visit the G Suite website.

Source: Google Cloud


The meeting room, by G Suite

With G Suite, we’re focused on building tools that help you bring great ideas to life. We know meetings are the main entry point for teams to share and shape ideas into action. That’s why we recently introduced Hangouts Meet, an evolution of Google Hangouts designed specifically for the workplace, and Jamboard, a way to bring creative brainstorming directly into meetings. Combined with Calendar and Drive, these tools extend collaboration beyond four walls and transform how we work—so every team member has a voice, no matter location.

But the transformative power of video meetings is wasted if it’s not affordable and accessible to all organizations. So today, we’re introducing Hangouts Meet hardware—a new way to bring high-quality video meetings to businesses of any size. We’re also announcing new software updates designed to make your meetings even more productive.

Introducing Hangouts Meet hardware

Hangouts Meet hardware is a cost-effective way to bring high-quality video meetings to your business. The hardware kit consists of four components: a touchscreen controller, speakermic, 4K sensor camera and ASUS Chromebox.

Hangouts Meet controller

The new controller provides a modern, intuitive touchscreen interface that allows people to easily join scheduled events from Calendar or view meeting details with a single tap. You can pin and mute team members, as well as control the camera, making managing meetings easy. You can also add participants with the dial-a-phone feature and present from a laptop via HDMI. If you’re a G Suite Enterprise edition customer, you can record the meeting to Drive.

Designed by Google, the Hangouts Meet speakermic actively eliminates echo and background noise to provide crisp, clear audio. Up to five speakermics can be daisy-chained together with a single wire, providing coverage for larger rooms without tabletop clutter.

The 4K sensor camera with 120° field of view easily captures everyone at the table, even in small spaces that some cameras find challenging. Each camera component is fine-tuned to make meetings more personal and distraction-free. Built with machine learning, the camera can intelligently detect participants and automatically crop and zoom to frame them.

Powered by Chrome OS, the ASUS Chromebox makes deploying and managing Hangouts Meet hardware easier than ever. The Chromebox can automatically push updates to other components in the hardware kit, making it easier for large organizations to ensure security and reliability. Remote device monitoring and management make it easy for IT administrators to stay in control, too.

New Hangouts Meet enhancements greatly improve user experience and simplify our meeting rooms. It also creates new ways for our team to collaborate. Bradley Rhodes
IT Analyst, Woolworths Limited, Australia

Says Bradley Rhodes, IT Analyst End User Computing at Woolworths Ltd Australia, “We are very excited about the new Hangouts Meet hardware, particularly the easy-to-use touchscreen. The enhancements greatly improve the user experience and simplify our meeting rooms. We have also seen it create new ways for our team to collaborate, like via the touch-to-record functionality which allows absent participants to catch up more effectively.”

More features, better meetings

We’re also announcing updates to Meet based on valuable feedback. If you’re a G Suite Enterprise edition customer, you can:

Dial in image Hangouts Meet
  • Record meetings and save them to Drive. Can’t make the meeting? No problem. Record your meeting directly to Drive. Even without a Hangouts Meet hardware kit, Meet on web can save your team’s ideas with a couple of clicks.
  • Host meetings with up to 50 participants. Meet supports up to 50 participants in a meeting, especially useful for bringing global teams together from both inside and outside of your organization.
  • Dial in from around the globe. The dial-in feature in Meet is now available in more than a dozen markets. If you board a flight in one country and land in another, Meet will automatically update your meeting’s dial-in listing to a local phone number.

These new features are rolling out gradually. The hardware kit is priced at $1999 and is available in select markets around the globe beginning today.

Whether you're collaborating in Jamboard, recording meetings and referencing discussions in Drive or scheduling your next team huddle in Calendar, Hangouts Meet hardware makes it even easier to bring the power of your favorite G Suite tools into team meetings. For more information, visit the G Suite website.

How Questar is saving $2.1 million with Chrome Enterprise and G Suite

Editor’s note: Today’s post comes from Nick Winnie, Infrastructure Systems Administrator for Questar, which provides testing and assessment services in the United States. Questar is using Chrome Enterprise and G Suite to collaborate and save valuable time and money spent provisioning and maintaining laptop equipment for testing workshops.  

For 40 years, Questar has helped train educators on how to develop tests for students in mathematics, language arts and science, and English language proficiency. By developing better tools for instruction, educators can help students better prepare for college and their careers.

Our CEO likes to say that we need to “think like a startup,” which is why we’re always looking for new ways to train educators for state assessments. Technology plays a big part in this.

Provisioning laptops for teaching workshops

About 45 times a year, we offer workshops to educators to help them learn how to develop tests for the subjects they teach. The process requires a lot of work from our IT team, which transports 50 or more machines per workshop to and from the site. The IT team also ensures that operating systems, security programs and software licenses are up to date, which includes wiping old desktop data added by previous workshop attendees and patching software when needed.

This process can take hours and is costly for the business. And with nearly 150 new employees expected to join the company this year, we also wanted to give our employees tools to help them collaborate and share information at any time with ease.

To shorten our laptop provisioning time, and to give our employees better tools for trainings, we tested 30 Chromebooks using G Suite.

Saving money and time with Chrome Enterprise and G Suite

Right away, our employees saved time preparing for workshops. With Chrome Enterprise, we can customize applications available to educators before they start working. Security is automatically updated, so we don’t have to worry about updating and patching antivirus software. We also can skip the time it takes to wipe machines and delete old files using Ephemeral mode and Chrome Kiosks for employees. All told, the time spent provisioning each device has gone from hours to minutes.

Security is automatically updated . . . All told, the time spent provisioning each device has gone from hours to minutes.

We’ve also seen significant cost savings by switching to Chromebooks and G Suite. We no longer pay for operating systems, business software, and security program licensing.

Instead, we use Chromebooks with the Chrome Enterprise license, and use Chrome’s management console to whitelist and blacklist websites, so we don’t need proxy servers to control online access. Altogether, we spend less than $300 per device using Chromebook and Chrome Enterprise.

Here’s a look at the total cost savings in comparison.

questar-hero

Our employees have also told us that G Suite has transformed how they work together. The team has streamlined processes because their favorite apps—like Google Sites, Sheets and Drive—are all in one place. Some employees are creating pivot tables in Sheets and using Drive to share it with their colleagues. This collaboration wasn’t possible with our previous technology–especially for people working remotely.

Creating a culture of collaboration to train tomorrow’s educators

Following our successful test of Chromebooks and G Suite, we’ve purchased more Chromebooks for workshop attendees and Questar employees to use. By deploying Chrome OS, using Chrome Enterprise and collaborating with G Suite, our processes have become more efficient and much faster.  It’s been easy to get our teams seamlessly up to speed on these products and less expensive for IT provisioning. That adds up to a good investment in better technology—just what a “40-year-old startup” needs.

How Questar is saving $2.1 million with Chrome Enterprise and G Suite

Editor’s note: Today’s post comes from Nick Winnie, Infrastructure Systems Administrator for Questar, which provides testing and assessment services in the United States. Questar is using Chrome Enterprise and G Suite to collaborate and save valuable time and money spent provisioning and maintaining laptop equipment for testing workshops.  

For 40 years, Questar has helped train educators on how to develop tests for students in mathematics, language arts and science, and English language proficiency. By developing better tools for instruction, educators can help students better prepare for college and their careers.

Our CEO likes to say that we need to “think like a startup,” which is why we’re always looking for new ways to train educators for state assessments. Technology plays a big part in this.

Provisioning laptops for teaching workshops

About 45 times a year, we offer workshops to educators to help them learn how to develop tests for the subjects they teach. The process requires a lot of work from our IT team, which transports 50 or more machines per workshop to and from the site. The IT team also ensures that operating systems, security programs and software licenses are up to date, which includes wiping old desktop data added by previous workshop attendees and patching software when needed.

This process can take hours and is costly for the business. And with nearly 150 new employees expected to join the company this year, we also wanted to give our employees tools to help them collaborate and share information at any time with ease.

To shorten our laptop provisioning time, and to give our employees better tools for trainings, we tested 30 Chromebooks using G Suite.

Saving money and time with Chrome Enterprise and G Suite

Right away, our employees saved time preparing for workshops. With Chrome Enterprise, we can customize applications available to educators before they start working. Security is automatically updated, so we don’t have to worry about updating and patching antivirus software. We also can skip the time it takes to wipe machines and delete old files using Ephemeral mode and Chrome Kiosks for employees. All told, the time spent provisioning each device has gone from hours to minutes.

Security is automatically updated . . . All told, the time spent provisioning each device has gone from hours to minutes.

We’ve also seen significant cost savings by switching to Chromebooks and G Suite. We no longer pay for operating systems, business software, and security program licensing.

Instead, we use Chromebooks with the Chrome Enterprise license, and use Chrome’s management console to whitelist and blacklist websites, so we don’t need proxy servers to control online access. Altogether, we spend less than $300 per device using Chromebook and Chrome Enterprise.

Here’s a look at the total cost savings in comparison.

questar-hero

Our employees have also told us that G Suite has transformed how they work together. The team has streamlined processes because their favorite apps—like Google Sites, Sheets and Drive—are all in one place. Some employees are creating pivot tables in Sheets and using Drive to share it with their colleagues. This collaboration wasn’t possible with our previous technology–especially for people working remotely.

Creating a culture of collaboration to train tomorrow’s educators

Following our successful test of Chromebooks and G Suite, we’ve purchased more Chromebooks for workshop attendees and Questar employees to use. By deploying Chrome OS, using Chrome Enterprise and collaborating with G Suite, our processes have become more efficient and much faster.  It’s been easy to get our teams seamlessly up to speed on these products and less expensive for IT provisioning. That adds up to a good investment in better technology—just what a “40-year-old startup” needs.

Source: Google Cloud