Tag Archives: Contacts

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], [email protected], 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 

Increasing shared external contact limit to 200,000 contacts

Quick launch summary 

Shared external contacts are users outside of your domain who you add to your company directory. Previously, there was a limit of 50,000 external contacts. Now that limit is 200,000. Additionally, the total storage limit has been increased from 20MB to 40MB. 

Shared external contacts help enable collaboration between users in your organization and any external users who they may need to communicate with frequently, such as consultants and partners. When a user is added as a shared external contact, users in your organization can find the profile information for them in many Google services, such as when they enter addresses in Gmail. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers 

Resources Google Workspace 

View richer information about coworkers directly within the Gmail side panel

What’s changing 

You can now find additional information about people within your organization, your Contacts, people who email you in the Gmail side panel. This includes: 
  • Contact information, such as phone number and email address, 
  • Team and manager, 
  • Office and desk location, 
  • Whether you’ve received email from them before, and more. 
Additional information will appear in the Gmail side panel.



You can also add people to your contacts and send them an email or message. 

Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 

Why you’d use it 

This feature expands upon information you can already view when hovering over a person’s name in Gmail. In the side panel, you can learn more about who the person you’re collaborating with is, what team they’re on, and whether you’ve interacted with them before. We hope this feature makes collaboration and connecting with key stakeholders easier. 

Additional details 

To maximize this feature, 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 Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources 

New Trash feature in Google Contacts

Quick launch summary 

We’re adding Trash to Google Contacts. Now, when you delete a contact, it will go into Trash, where it will stay for 30 days before being permanently deleted. In that time, you can view, restore, or permanently delete the contact. Trash will contain contacts deleted on any device—web, Android, iOS, and more—but you can only view and manage Trash on the web. Trash makes it much easier for users to recover contacts they've accidentally deleted. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default. Find it in the left-hand menu when you go to Google Contacts on the web (contacts.google.com). The Trash view is not available yet in the Google Contacts apps for mobile devices. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Google Contacts. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

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

Resources 

Learn more about Google Groups with Contacts hovercards

Contacts hovercards provide lots of useful information about the people within your organization. We’ve heard from you that you’d like better visibility into Google Groups across G Suite, so we’re adding more information to these hovercards when the contact itself is a group.




When you mouse over the name of a group in Gmail, you’ll now be able to see essential information, like group members, as well as take some actions, such as:

  • Schedule an event with the group
  • Email the group
  • See more members
You can also select “More info,” which will take you to the Groups membership details page on groups.google.com. The group members will only appear on the hovercard if the user has permission to view them. This functionality will be added to other G Suite apps in the future.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
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