Tag Archives: Contacts

Review and approve your Contacts delegates by November 12, 2023

What’s changing 

In May 2023, we announced several changes for Contacts delegates, specifically that they will be able to update labels and manage “Other” contacts. We’d like to share an updated timeline for this change and provide additional clarity around what’s required of users. 
Between now and November 12, 2023, you’ll be prompted in Contacts to review your existing delegates.



Who’s impacted

Admins and end users


Why it matters 

For many of our customers, administrative support for managing inboxes is business critical — this includes making sure that contacts are properly sorted and labeled. Since updating labels and managing “Other” contacts are new functions for delegates, it’s important that you review existing delegates to ensure that access to these features is appropriate.


Additional details

Does this change impact Gmail delegation?
No — while similar functionality is available in Gmail, there are no changes or impact for Gmail delegates. This change is specific to Contacts and contacts delegates only.


Getting started

  • End users: 
    • Delegators:
      • You’ll see a prompt in Contacts to review those who currently have Contacts delegation for your contacts. 
      • Beginning November 13, 2023, those with assigned and approved delegation will be able to update labels and manage Other contacts on your behalf. If you do not submit your approval, delegates will lose their access.

Rollout pace

  • You must review and approve delegates by November 12, 2023

Availability

  • This update impacts all Google Workspace customers

Resources


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – September 15, 2023

4 New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if 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.


Insert links in the Google Sheets app on iOS devices 
We’re adding the ability to insert a hyperlink into a cell in the Google Sheets iOS app by selecting a cell > clicking “+” in the top left corner > Insert > Link. If a cell contains a link, you’ll see options to edit or remove the link. | Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about working with links & bookmarks. 
Insert links in the Google Sheets app on iOS devices


Enhanced spam protection through automatic labeling of suspected spam messages in Google Voice 
If you're using Google Voice, you're familiar with our suspected spam caller warnings. We're extending this feature to SMS messages on Android and iOS devices. You'll see these labels within the message, and you can either: 
  • Confirm a suspected spam message, which causes future messages from that number to go directly into the spam folder. 
  • Mark a labeled message as not spam, after which the suspected spam label is never displayed for that number again. 
Available to Voice Starter, Standard, and Premier customers, as well as users with personal accounts in the US. | Rolling out now to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). 
Enhanced spam protection through automatic labeling of suspected spam messages in Google Voice



Birthday decorations for people cards 
In Google Contacts and across various Google Workspace products, you’ll begin to notice birthday decorations when hovering over another user’s people card. This small change can have a big impact on building deeper connections with your colleagues and stakeholders. Birthday decorations will be displayed on your birthday if you’ve added your birthday to your Google Account profile and you’ve set the information to be visible to others. | Available now for all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about your Google Account profile and what information others can see.
Birthday decorations for people cards
Add an organizational unit as an attribute in your external directory 
When using Directory Sync, you can now place users from the Azure Active Directory or Active Directory to a specific organizational unit on the Google Workspace side. To do so, you’ll need to add an organizational unit as an attribute in your external directory. This makes it easier to sync users who will be mapped to different organizational units on the Google Workspace side. | Directory Sync is available as an open beta to all Google Workspace customers. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting up users to sync based on an organizational unit attribute.
Add an organizational unit as an attribute in your external directory


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.


Dual Display on Poly Studio X Series Makes Video Meetings More Productive 
We are excited to announce dual display support for Google Meet on the Poly Studio X Series to help make video meetings more productive. With dual displays, you can see more meeting participants, presentations, and documents at once, which can help you stay focused and engaged in meetings. | Available to Google Workspace customers with Poly Studio X50, X52, and X70 devices only. | Learn more about Dual Display on Poly Studio X Series.

Completed rollouts

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


Rapid Release Domains:

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – July 21, 2023

2 New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if 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.



Including the Alt text option in the Image options sidebar of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings
Currently, users add alternative text to images in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings by right-clicking an image and selecting “Alt text,” which then opens a box for them to input the text. Starting this week, we’re making this feature more discoverable by adding it to the “Image options” sidebar. 
Screenshot of alt text options newly located in the image options sidebar

Reminder: delegators must re-approve contacts delegates by August 2023 
In May 2023, we announced that delegated users can manage contact labels on behalf of their delegator via contacts.google.com. As part of this update, delegators need to review existing delegates, as well as add new delegates. This must be completed by July 31, 2023 or delegates will lose access to manage contacts. Admins can also make these adjustments for users in their domain using the Admin SDK API to remove and re-add the contacts delegate privilege. | Learn more about managing contact labels. 


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.


Ability to create spaces, memberships, group chats, and more using the Google Chat API is now generally available 
Last year, we announced that developers could use the Google Chat API to programmatically create new spaces and add members to those spaces through the Google Workspace Developer Preview Program. Those features are now generally available for all Google Workspace developers. | Learn more about Google Chat API. 

AppSheet Core licenses will be included by default for more Google Workspace editions, along with a new Admin security setting 
We’re expanding AppSheet Core license access to additional Google Workspace editions and also giving Admins a new org-level setting, which controls how users are able to use their AppSheet Core licenses, including whether app data can be shared externally. | AppSheet Core licenses are already included for domain-verified Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Essentials Plus, and Education Plus users. AppSheet Core licenses will now be included for domain-verified Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Frontline Starter and Standard, Nonprofits, and Education Standard customers. | Learn more about AppSheet Core licenses. 

Improved meeting room suggestions in Google Calendar 
To better optimize meeting rooms and foster greater collaboration, especially in a hybrid work environment, we’ve introduced an updated structured meeting room setting. The working location set by a user is taken into account for all room suggestions, and in cases where location data is unavailable, proposed meeting rooms will be based on frequently used rooms. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, and Nonprofits only. | Learn more about room suggestions in Google Calendar. 

Introducing membership search and the option to add up to 50,000 members to spaces in Google Chat 
We’re increasing the number of users you can add to a space in Google Chat from 8,000 to 50,000. We’re also introducing the ability to easily search for members within a space. | Learn more about new capabilities in spaces. 

Programmatically read and write working locations for a portion of the day with the Calendar API 
Recently, we introduced the ability for users to set working locations in Calendar that indicate where they’re working for specific portions of the day. Now, we’re adding the ability to programmatically read and write working locations for specific portions of the day. This update expands on the existing reading and writing functionality announced earlier this year. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more about the Google Calendar API.

Completed rollouts

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



Rapid Release Domains: 

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


Contacts delegates can now update labels and manage “Other” contacts

What’s changing 

We’re updating the functionality for delegated users to manage contact labels on behalf of their delegator via contacts.google.com. While this functionality was previously available in Gmail, they can now be managed directly at the source: Contacts. This will happen in two phases: 


Beginning this month, delegators will be prompted to review and re-approve access for their existing delegates. If existing delegates are not re-approved before July 2023, they will lose access to manage contacts. See below for guidance.




Additionally, Admins can make these adjustments for users in their domain using the Admin SDK API to remove and re-add the contacts delegate privilege.


Beginning July 2023,  all users who have been approved or assigned as Contacts delegates will be able to update labels and manage Other contacts.  


Who’s impacted

Admins and end users


Why it’s important

For many of our customers, administrative support for managing inboxes is business critical — this includes making sure that contacts are properly sorted and labeled. 

Getting started


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers

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:

Improving the Google Contact management experience

What’s changing

Previously, visiting contacts.google.com was the only way to edit or add a Google Contact. Today, we’re introducing a new feature available in the 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.

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • To edit an existing contact: 
      • Expand the side panel in Google Workspace and open the Contacts app 
      • Click on a contact 
      • Click the Edit icon at the top right 
      • Edit the information Click “Save” 
    • To create a contact from scratch: 
      • Open the Contacts app from the vertical App bar on the right 
      • Click “Create contact” 
        • Note: “Create contact” will only be available while in “Contacts” mode, not “In this thread” when opening a contact’s detailed view through Gmail 
      • Enter the contact’s name and add any contact information 
      • Click “Save” 
    • To create a contact from search: 
      • Open the Contacts app from the vertical App bar on the right 
      • Click the Search icon at the top right 
      • Enter a contact’s name 
      • If there is no existing contact, click on the “Create contact” button at the top of the search results to automatically create a contact with the name you entered 
      • Add additional information to the contact 
      • Click “Save” 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Contacts. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – January 20, 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.


Google Vault support for client-side encrypted emails
Vault now supports retention, search, and export of client-side encrypted emails. Note that admins can't preview the email body and attachments, including inline images — they’ll only be able to see the subject line, sender, and receiver.

Google Workspace already uses the latest cryptographic standards to encrypt all data at rest and in transit between our customers and Google facilities. Client-side encryption helps strengthen the confidentiality of your data while helping to address a broad range of data sovereignty and compliance needs. Visit the Help Center for more information on client-side encryption and our original announcement regarding client-side encryption for Gmail.

Admins can use the Help Center to learn more about client-side encryption and encrypted emails in Vault. End users can use the Help Center to learn more about setting up client-side encryption for Gmail.

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard customers only.


Set and share personal pronouns across Google Workspace products
Google Workspace admins can now give their users the option to set their pronouns and choose who can see them from their Google Account at aboutme.google.com. 

This is opt-in only and can be enabled for all users or a subset of them (such as for a specific location or department). Admins can use this Help Center article to learn more about enabling this feature for their users.
User-defined pronouns will appear in personal information cards displayed when hovering over or clicking someone’s profile photo across Workspace apps like Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Chat, and Drive. Support for pronouns in Google Meet will roll out in the coming months. Pronouns will also appear in Google Contacts, accessed by clicking “Open detailed view” from the personal information cards. If enabled by their admin, end users can use this Help Center article to learn more about changing their pronouns in their Google Account settings.

If enabled by the admin, users can set pronouns from aboutme.google.com and specify who they are visible to.





Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, 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 beta to move folders from My Drive to shared drives now available 
Following the announcement of an improved admin experience for moving folders from My Drive to shared drives, we’ve introduced a beta that will allow end users to move folders from My Drive into shared drives. | 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, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 


New built-in interoperability between Google Meet and Zoom 
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 and join Google Meet meetings from Zoom Rooms. | Zoom interop on Google Meet hardware is available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers with Google Meet hardware. | 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).

Easily share profile links via Contacts

Quick summary

In 2021, we introduced a new Google Contacts (contacts.google.com) experience that provides rich information about your colleagues and stakeholders. Starting today, every contact with a Workspace email has a new profile link that is easy to copy, share, and send within an organization. This new profile link helps everyone in your organization get in touch and stay connected. 

shareable profile links


Getting started 

  • Admins: 
  • End users: 
    • Once available, access “Copy profile link” by one of two ways: 
      • In the detailed view for a contact, select the "3-dot-menu" and click the "Copy profile link" button. 
      • In a contact list view (e.g. contacts.google.com), select the "3-dot-menu" for a contact row and click the "Copy profile link" button. 
    • You can also enter "contacts.google.com/emailaddress" into the web browser address bar to look for a person in your organization. Email formats include: [email protected], jane.smith@domain, and jane.smith. 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 30, 2022, with anticipated completion by July 18, 2022. Due to the staggered nature of this rollout, end users may be able to copy profile links from their browser address bar before having access to the "Copy profile link" button.

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

View more information about your colleagues and stakeholders in Google Contacts

Quick launch summary 

Google Contacts will include additional information about people in your organization: 
  • Local time: The the local time for a user’s time zone will be displayed 
  • Working hours: You’ll see a crescent moon indicator and purple banner if it’s outside the working hours a user has set in Google Calendar 
  • Non-manager relationships: You can view relationships such as an administrative business partner or a dotted line manager 
  • Shared files: You’ll see a list of any Drive files a user has shared with you Custom attributes: any custom attributes your organization has added, such as Team, Skills, or other information specific to your organization
In Contacts, you'll see additional information about people in your organization, such as the local time in their area, their working hours, shared files, and more.



Getting started

Admins: 
End users: To open the Contacts Sidebar, click “Open detailed view” while hovering over a user’s information card, or select the Contacts icon in the side panel. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Google products side by side. 

Rollout pace

  • Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 18, 2021. 
  • Note: Each card (custom fields, shared files, non-manager relationships, and local time) will be rolled out separately.

Availability

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

Resources


A new Google Contacts experience provides richer information about your colleagues and stakeholders

What’s changing 

We’re introducing a new experience for Google Contacts which will help Google Workspace users learn more about their colleagues. Within Contacts (contacts.google.com) or the Contacts sidebar, you can view more detailed information about others, including: 
  • Their management chain, department, and title, 
  • A history of your Workspace relationship, including email conversations and meetings. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 

Why it’s important 

More than ever, our work requires a higher level of collaboration, connection and interaction. To collaborate effectively with those in our wider network, it’s helpful to learn more about them, what they work on, who they work with, and what’s important to them. The redesigned Google Contacts experience gives you the ability to easily learn more about your colleagues and stakeholders, making it easier to collaborate and turn ideas into impact. 

Additional details 

To maximize this feature’s value, it’s helpful to have user data fully populated across Google Workspace apps. Workspace admins can populate this data in a few locations: 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

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

Resources