Tag Archives: Google Calendar

Improvements to Google Calendar Interop for Microsoft Exchange, with real time data, logging, and simpler setup

Today we’re making it easier to manage the coexistence of Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange Server (including Office 365) within your organization. We’re starting by supporting real-time free/busy lookups between the two systems within the same organization on both mobile and web. This has been a popular feature request from customers with hybrid G Suite - Microsoft Exchange environments.

Making collaboration between your users simpler
Once Calendar Interop is set up for your domain, end users will be able to see each other’s free/busy information across the two systems. This information will be available to users in Google Calendar’s Find a Time and Microsoft Outlook’s Scheduling Assistant. Calendar Interop works in real time and is supported on Google Calendar for Android, iOS and web.

Easy setup and troubleshooting
As G Suite admins, you can enable user availability lookups by visiting Apps > G Suite > Settings for Calendar in the Admin console and selecting Calendar Interop management.



From there, you can set up interoperability between Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange using our robust setup guide in the Help Center.

In addition, to help you set up and maintain interoperability, we are providing you with two new tools:
  1. We’ve built a new interoperability troubleshooting tool that allows administrators to understand the status of the setup with one click. If everything’s working as expected, the tool will let you know. If something’s amiss, it will display a detailed human-readable error to help you pinpoint the root cause of the issue.
  2. We’re also exposing interoperability-related logs in the reporting section in Admin console so that admins can track interoperability-related successes and failures for each user separately.
Admins who have already set up Calendar interoperability will want to migrate to this new setup. Check out the Help Center for detailed steps on how to migrate.


For more information on Calendar Interop and how to get started, visit the Help Center.


Launch Details:
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:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information

Calendar email notification logs in Admin Console

When users collaborate using Google Calendar, they depend heavily on email notifications that are generated while they manage events and calendars. For example, event invitations, event updates, RSVPs and calendars sharing can all generate email notifications that are sent to event guests or calendar subscribers.

Sometimes these notifications are inadvertently triggered by third party calendar clients or go missing (because of incorrectly configured Gmail filters, accidental email deletions, etc.) With this launch, we’re exposing calendar email notification logs in the Calendar audit section of Admin Console, so you can easily investigate issues related to calendar email notifications. Each log entry provides insights on the type of calendar notification, its sender and its recipient as well as information on the calendar client that triggered it. You can also obtain the notification’s Message-ID which can be cross-referenced with the Email Audit logs, in order to confirm whether the notification was successfully delivered to its intended recipients. See our Help Center for more information on the new calendar notification fields.



We hope that by enriching the existing calendar audit logs, we will make it easier for helpdesk admins to troubleshoot issues for their users.

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:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

Calendar on iPad: Ready for Business

(Cross-posted from The Keyword blog)

By Sharon Stovezky, Product Manager, Calendar

Whether you’re jumping from meeting to meeting or on your way to meet a customer—your calendar needs to work for you...anywhere, anytime.

That’s why today, we’re bringing Google Calendar to the iPad.

With the new app, you’ll get all the Calendar features you know and love, now optimized for iPad. Use Calendar’s machine intelligence-powered features to:

  • Find a time and book a room. Get everyone together faster for meetings. With smart scheduling, Calendar suggests meeting times and available rooms based on your team’s  availability and room preferences.
  • Set Goals and achieve them. Add a goal and Calendar will intelligently schedule time for it so you can stick to it.

Plus, you can search your Calendar easily from the iPad home screen with Spotlight Search.

Download the Calendar app for iPad today. Stay tuned for more updates, like a Today View Widget to easily see your upcoming events in the Notification Center and on the lock screen (coming soon!).

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

More Information
App Store
Help Center

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

New Calendar administrator privileges available in the Admin console

Today, we’re providing G Suite Super Admins additional control over how they grant access to the Calendar Settings section of Admin console, with the addition of ‘Calendar’ and ‘Calendar Resources’ administrator privileges.

Super admins can delegate the management of certain Admin console sections, by assigning system or custom administrator roles to their users. With this update, you can now delegate the administration of the Calendar Resources section (useful for facility managers) or the Calendar Settings section as a whole, simply by assigning the new ‘Calendar Resources’ or ‘Calendar‘ privileges to delegate admins.


Assigning these privileges will grant access to the respective sections of the Admin Console App, and through the Directory API. It will not allow management of resource calendars or user calendars through the Google Calendar App or Calendar API.

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: 
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Administrator privilege definitions


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Smarter meeting scheduling in Google Calendar on the web

Last year, we made scheduling meetings smarter in Google Calendar for Androidand iPhoneby enabling them to find time for meetings and book rooms. Today, we're happy to announce that room suggestions and showing guests' time zones are coming to Google Calendar on the web.

Room suggestions
When you create meetings, Calendar will suggest rooms based on your and your guests' previously used rooms. You can continue to browse or search for rooms as you do today.



Guest time zones
Finding time to collaborate across time zones is now easier with Google Calendar. The "Find a time" tab shows the time of the meeting in the time zone of each guest – if they are different. You can can learn more about sharing calendars and time zones here.



We have more scheduling improvements planned for 2017 including better ways to help you manage calendar resources. Stay tuned!

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in 2 weeks
Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions
Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)
Impact: 
All end users
Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More information
Help Center: Add or remove a resource from an event
Help Center: About calendar resources (rooms, etc)

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Gmail and Google Calendar get a whole lot better on iOS

(Cross posted from the Gmail blog) 

Posted by Matthew Izatt, Product Manager

Today we're making some changes to the Gmail and Google Calendar apps on iOS.

The new Gmail app for iOS

When you get the next Gmail iOS app update, you'll notice some exciting changes: The biggest overhaul of the app in nearly four years. It's the Gmail you know and love, with a fresh new look, sleeker transitions and some highly-requested features. It's a lot faster, too.

With the new app, getting things done on the go is a lot easier — whether you're trying to find a message your colleague sent you last month, or trying to get through your work inbox on a Monday morning.
Starting today, you'll be able to:
  • Undo Send, just like you do on the desktop, to prevent embarrassing email mistakes
  • Search faster with instant results and spelling suggestions (like when you type "flighht," but you really meant "flight")
  • Swipe to archive or delete, to quickly clear items out of your inbox



Google Calendar: Updated for you

Based on your feedback (thank you!), the Calendar app on iOS has some shiny, new features:
  • Month view and week in landscape view, so you have even more ways to see your schedule at a glance.
  • Spotlight Search support, so you can search for events, Reminders and Goals in Apple's Spotlight Search and find what you're looking for faster.
  • Alternate calendars. If you often look up dates in a non-Gregorian calendar — like Lunar, Islamic, or Hindu — you can now add that calendar to easily see those dates alongside your current calendar.




We'll continue to improve both Gmailand Calendarfor iOS so you can be more productive on the go.


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

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Gmail app on iOS change management guide (pdf)

Integrated search now available in Gmail, Google Calendar, Groups, and Drive on the web

One common request we’ve heard from customers is for an integrated search experience for the content you care about, regardless of what app you’re in. Beginning this week, we’ll be rolling out an integrated search experience in Gmail, Google Calendar, Groups, and Drive on the web for G Suite Basic and G Suite Business customers to make finding the content you care about easier.

This new search experience uses Google’s latest technologies to make searching for content more intelligent than ever. The search results you’ll see will change depending on what you’re trying to accomplish and also which services are enabled for your domain. Typically, search results in the top portion will be the same type as the application you’re using, and below, you’ll see related documents, contacts, calendar events, or emails that are most relevant to what you’re searching for.


Please note: At this time, the integrated search experience will be rolled out only to G Suite Basic and G Suite Business customers (formerly called Google Apps for Work and Google Apps Unlimited).


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

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (More than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users on G Suite Basic and G Suite Business

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI


Save time with smart scheduling in Google Calendar

(Cross posted from the Official Gmail Blog)

Posted by Federico Asara, Software Engineer

Some topics are best discussed in face-to-face meetings, but setting them up takes too much time. Whether you’re coordinating across time zones, hunting for a room, or just trying to find a time that works for more than a couple of people — it really adds up.

If you’re using G Suite, “Find a time” already lets you set up meetings much faster in Calendar on Android. Today it’s coming to iOS and by the end of the year, the web. We’re also adding smart room booking, so you can easily find a place to meet as well.

Powered by Google’s machine intelligence, “Find a time” suggests meeting times and available rooms based on your preferences, which saves you lots of time and gets everyone together faster. Time and room suggestions are smart, too: They don’t just identify the first free slot in a grid, they also locate the next best slots as a back-up. For example, when Calendar doesn’t find availability for your preferred time, it then looks for conflicts across the group that are easier to resolve, such as recurring 1:1 meetings. And although “Find a time” makes smart suggestions, you're always in control — just tap the grid to pick a time that's a better fit.


Start saving time for the important things by downloading Google Calendar for Androidor iOS(and look out for this update on the web soon).

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

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end-users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More information
Android
iOS
Help Center

Manage your suspended users’ Google Calendar on the web and via the Calendar API

Many organizations put accounts of former employees into a suspended state for an extended period of time before deleting them. Until now, upon user suspension, the user’s Primary Calendar could no longer be read or edited by anyone in the organization, including super admins. As a result, it was not possible to edit or change ownership of Team Events or 1:1s that kept occupying space in others’ calendars or conference rooms, resulting in stale calendar events and poorly utilized meeting rooms.

With this change, super administrators can now manage suspended users’ data from both the Google Calendar web UI and the Google Calendar API. This will make it easier to identify and remove stale events when they are no longer useful, as well as move events to new owners when needed.

Please note: We’re currently working on similar functionality for deleted users.


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

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

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

Learn more
Help Center

Vivint Solar builds a work-from-anywhere culture with Google Apps and Dialpad

Posted by Mike Hincks, Director of IT Infrastructure at Vivint Solar

Editor's note: Today we hear from Mike Hincks, Director of IT Infrastructure at Vivint Solar, a leading provider of residential solar power in North America. The fast-moving enterprise is using Google Apps, along with Dialpad, to drive collaboration and support for a workforce that's 63% remote. Register here to join our YouTube Live event on September 15 at 10 a.m. to learn more about how Dialpad, a Recommended for Google Apps Technology Partner, can modernize your IT strategy to support the anywhere worker.

Vivint Solar’s mission is to flip the switch on how the world consumes power. With millions of homeowners adopting solar for economic and environmental benefits, our workforce has rapidly grown to nearly 4,000 employees spread across 51 offices.
Much of that growth has been within our mobile workforce. Today, about 63% of our employees work remotely. Our sales professionals and technicians are constantly on the road building relationships with customers, and they need the right technology to ensure that they’re able to get their jobs done as efficiently as possible.

We turned to Dialpad to eliminate the hurdles of traditional voice technology, which can include multiple steps to reach successful deployment and ongoing maintenance challenges.


Integrating communications and productivity in the cloud with easy access to Gmail, Calendar and Docs across every device


Dialpad’s pure-cloud communications solution directly ties voice, video and messaging with Google Apps. Our mobile workforce immediately saw increased productivity once we made the switch. To get started, employees downloaded the Dialpad app, which automatically synced their meetings, emails and shared documents from Gmail, Calendar and Drive. The fact that it works across laptops, tablets and mobile devices (not just a desk phone) frees our workforce to work where and when they want.

Dialpad’s native integration with Google Apps allowed us to connect two mission-critical tools, and now our mobile workers can get their jobs done faster and more efficiently. When employees log in with their Google credentials to view recent emails, shared documents and upcoming calendar events, they get insights and rich context right from the Dialpad app.

In addition, Dialpad syncs with Google’s global company directory, so employee contact information is always up-to-date. And if an employee needs to call a colleague or customer, they can click-to-call with Dialpad straight from Gmail.

A simple deployment of scalable, high-value technology, without the overhead


Our transition to a pure-cloud communications platform with Dialpad and Google has resulted in significant cost savings and impactful productivity gains. For example, our prior telephony system needed a team of five people to manage and administer it full-time. Now, one employee spends only 5% of their time managing our new system.

Traditional IT voice systems come with hundreds of thousands of dollars in yearly infrastructure and hosting costs, while modern competitors require significant professional services just to get the product up and running. Dialpad, by contrast, had no upfront capital expenditures or ongoing maintenance costs. When switching to Dialpad, we were able to get our communications network deployed in just a couple of days without the high upfront costs — and Google Apps integrated instantly.

As our business continues to grow, both tools will scale seamlessly and neither requires the purchase of new IT infrastructure.

An empowered workforce that collaborates freely



A pure cloud stack lets employees get work done from anywhere. At Vivint Solar, our customer success managers need to connect with technicians in the field, but are based in our office headquarters. Before Dialpad and Google, it was a significant challenge for these different groups to maintain close relationships or communicate at a suitable time. Now, managers can resolve issues or bridge conversations using group messaging or SMS.

By integrating our core communications and productivity tools in the cloud, Vivint Solar has enabled an agile and deeply connected workforce that can collaborate from anywhere. It has created a new kind of business dialogue. Whether employees are local or remote, Dialpad and Google Apps make it easy to bridge voice with productivity and build a connected, more efficient workforce.