Tag Archives: Other

Enhancing Google Workspace Add-ons in Gmail with Compose-time functions

Quick launch summary 

We’re enhancing the way you work with Google Workspace Add-ons in Gmail with the addition of Compose-time functions. Compose-time functions can help modify and format your messages in Gmail faster by: 
  • Adding recipients in the “To”, “CC”, and “BCC” fields. 
  • Inserting content into the subject line and body of the email. 
  • Inserting message templates for a consistent look and feel for your communications, and more. 


Organizations can also create their own compose-time add-ons using Apps Script or alternative runtimes. Use the Google Workspace Developer Guide to learn more about building compose actions. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

  • Compose time add-ons are available now in the Google Workspace Marketplace. 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers (when enabled by admins) and users with personal accounts.  

Resources 

Changes to Google Chat migration timeline

In an effort to make the migration process as easy as possible, we just announced that we’re extending the timeline Google Workspace and G Suite for Education customers have to migrate from classic Hangouts to Google Chat.


In June, we introduced the Chat preferred setting in the Admin console to allow any admin to opt in to migrate all end users to Chat. We also made Chat preferred configurable at the organizational unit level.


In 2021, we will start migrating all remaining customers with “Chat and classic Hangouts" and "classic Hangouts only" settings selected to Chat. Here’s what you can expect:
  • Opt-out upgrade (no earlier than Q2 2021): All customers will be migrated to Chat Preferred unless their admins explicitly opt out. Customers who only have enabled Chat, with classic Hangouts completely disabled, will not be impacted.
  • Mandatory upgrade (late 2021): All remaining customers will be migrated to Chat Preferred, and we will fully replace classic Hangouts with Chat. There will be no option to opt out at this stage.

We will provide advance notice (4 weeks minimum) on the Google Workspace Updates blog before each phase begins. Stay tuned for more information.

Getting started

  • Admins: No action is needed at this time. Check out the Help Center for more information on transitioning your users to Chat.
  • End users: There is no end-user action for these changes.

Resources

Changes to Google Chat migration timeline

In an effort to make the migration process as easy as possible, we just announced that we’re extending the timeline Google Workspace and G Suite for Education customers have to migrate from classic Hangouts to Google Chat.


In June, we introduced the Chat preferred setting in the Admin console to allow any admin to opt in to migrate all end users to Chat. We also made Chat preferred configurable at the organizational unit level.


In 2021, we will start migrating all remaining customers with “Chat and classic Hangouts" and "classic Hangouts only" settings selected to Chat. Here’s what you can expect:
  • Opt-out upgrade (no earlier than Q2 2021): All customers will be migrated to Chat Preferred unless their admins explicitly opt out. Customers who only have enabled Chat, with classic Hangouts completely disabled, will not be impacted.
  • Mandatory upgrade (late 2021): All remaining customers will be migrated to Chat Preferred, and we will fully replace classic Hangouts with Chat. There will be no option to opt out at this stage.

We will provide advance notice (4 weeks minimum) on the Google Workspace Updates blog before each phase begins. Stay tuned for more information.

Getting started

  • Admins: No action is needed at this time. Check out the Help Center for more information on transitioning your users to Chat.
  • End users: There is no end-user action for these changes.

Resources

Managed Android devices must upgrade to Android Device Policy by October 26, 2021

What’s changing 

Last year, we announced that a new Android management client, Android Device Policy, would replace the legacy Google Apps Device Policy client. We’re now discontinuing the legacy client. 


To ensure that devices enrolled by users with advanced management will continue to sync and have access to data, users in your organization must switch to Android Device Policy before October 26, 2021. If users still have Google Device Policy on this date, they won't be able to sync their devices or access data.
 

To switch to Android Device Policy, users must have an Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later device that supports a work profile. For users with devices that don’t meet these requirements, consider switching to basic mobile device management. 


Devices enrolled by users with basic management must move to Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later before October 26, 2021 to continue enforcing a screen lock. If a user's device can't be upgraded to Android 6.0 or later, their device will continue to sync and retain access to data, however it will not be able to enforce a screen lock. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 

The latest Android devices and operating system (OS) versions provide improved security features. Moving to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) or newer can help ensure all devices are protected by the latest security features, and can take advantage of improvements in the Android enterprise experience. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers 
  • Not available to G Suite Essentials 

Resources 

New Groups will become the only user experience beginning November 2, 2020

Quick launch summary 

In May 2020, we launched new Google Groups to provide a modern experience that matches Gmail and other Google services. In September, we made new Groups the default experience for all users, but allowed individual users to choose to use the classic Groups interface. 


Starting on November 2, 2020 for Rapid Release domains and on November 9, 2020 for Scheduled Release domains, classic Groups will be turned off completely. After that date, there will be no option to use the old version (previously at Settings > Return to classic Google Groups). Users within your organization who were already using new Groups will not notice a change, but users who had chosen to use old Groups will be moved to the new interface. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Applicable to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits, and users with personal accounts. 

Resources 

New Groups will become the only user experience beginning November 2, 2020

Quick launch summary 

In May 2020, we launched new Google Groups to provide a modern experience that matches Gmail and other Google services. In September, we made new Groups the default experience for all users, but allowed individual users to choose to use the classic Groups interface. 


Starting on November 2, 2020 for Rapid Release domains and on November 9, 2020 for Scheduled Release domains, classic Groups will be turned off completely. After that date, there will be no option to use the old version (previously at Settings > Return to classic Google Groups). Users within your organization who were already using new Groups will not notice a change, but users who had chosen to use old Groups will be moved to the new interface. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Applicable to Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits, and users with personal accounts. 

Resources 

Changes to History on/off setting in Google Chat

Quick launch summary

Beginning October 8, we’re making the following changes to the history on/off setting in Google Chat:
  • We're moving the history on/off setting from the compose box to the conversation settings
  • We’ve updated the look and feel of the setting to make it easier to visually tell if you have history set to on or off
Turn history on for a specific conversation

Getting started 

  • Admins: As before, you can control whether or not to keep chat history on for your users. You can set the default and also let users change the history setting for each conversation.
  • End users: If chat history is enabled for your organization, it can be enabled or disabled per conversation in Chat in Gmail or Google Chat. Next to the conversation name, click the arrow and select “Turn on history” or “Turn off history”.
Turn on history in conversation options

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all G Suite customers

 

Changes to History on/off setting in Google Chat

Quick launch summary

Beginning October 8, we’re making the following changes to the history on/off setting in Google Chat:
  • We're moving the history on/off setting from the compose box to the conversation settings
  • We’ve updated the look and feel of the setting to make it easier to visually tell if you have history set to on or off
Turn history on for a specific conversation

Getting started 

  • Admins: As before, you can control whether or not to keep chat history on for your users. You can set the default and also let users change the history setting for each conversation.
  • End users: If chat history is enabled for your organization, it can be enabled or disabled per conversation in Chat in Gmail or Google Chat. Next to the conversation name, click the arrow and select “Turn on history” or “Turn off history”.
Turn on history in conversation options

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all G Suite customers

 

Increase engagement with Q&A and polls in Google Meet

What’s changing

Starting October 8, we’re launching two highly-requested features in Google Meet to help you connect and engage with people on your video calls: Q&A and polls.

Allow participants to ask questions while not disrupting the flow of the meeting


Use polls to quickly capture feedback from participants on a call

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it


Q&A
Q&A in Meet offers an easy way to better engage audiences and help them get their questions answered, both at work and in school. Educators can use Q&A as a structured way for students to ask questions on class content and get answers from teachers. Businesses can use Q&A to help make meetings more inclusive, giving everyone the opportunity to ask questions— including those who may be soft-spoken, joining from a noisy environment, or need more time to process their thoughts. Participants can submit and upvote their favorite questions without disrupting the flow of the call.

Polls
Polls are a great way to quickly gauge the pulse of your audience. You can use polls to identify topics that need more discussion or test understanding of the meeting content. This means business users can easily get real-time feedback from their colleagues, teachers can quiz remote students to ensure they’re absorbing the material, and sales teams can make their sales presentations to prospective customers more engaging and interactive.

Polls in Meet ensure that presenters can get the feedback they need and audience members can make themselves heard, leading to an all-around more engaging, productive, and enjoyable meeting experience.


Additional details


Q&A
With Meet’s new Q&A experience, meeting hosts and moderators can easily turn on question submission. Participants can ask questions and interact with other participants’ questions by upvoting. Moderators can then choose to answer the most highly ranked or most relevant questions on the call. When the meeting ends, hosts will automatically receive an email containing an export of all submitted questions, so they can follow up on unanswered questions.

Note that for G Suite Enterprise for Education domains, question submission is disabled by default. For all others, question submission will be open by default.

Polls
With polls in Meet, moderators can set up multiple questions, viewable to only them, and launch the poll when it’s timely during the call.

Once a poll is closed, meeting hosts will receive a report with the tally of the results to make it easy to refer back and take action. The moderator can then share the results of the poll so that participants can see a summarized bar chart. Moderators also automatically will receive an email containing an export of the poll data in Google Sheets.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: These features will be available by default for meetings created by customers of eligible G Suite editions. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Q&A and polls on or off in your video calls.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to G Suite Essentials, G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers
  • Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits customers 

Resources

Roadmap

 

Increase engagement with Q&A and polls in Google Meet

What’s changing

Starting October 8, we’re launching two highly-requested features in Google Meet to help you connect and engage with people on your video calls: Q&A and polls.

Allow participants to ask questions while not disrupting the flow of the meeting


Use polls to quickly capture feedback from participants on a call

Who’s impacted

End users

Why you’d use it


Q&A
Q&A in Meet offers an easy way to better engage audiences and help them get their questions answered, both at work and in school. Educators can use Q&A as a structured way for students to ask questions on class content and get answers from teachers. Businesses can use Q&A to help make meetings more inclusive, giving everyone the opportunity to ask questions— including those who may be soft-spoken, joining from a noisy environment, or need more time to process their thoughts. Participants can submit and upvote their favorite questions without disrupting the flow of the call.

Polls
Polls are a great way to quickly gauge the pulse of your audience. You can use polls to identify topics that need more discussion or test understanding of the meeting content. This means business users can easily get real-time feedback from their colleagues, teachers can quiz remote students to ensure they’re absorbing the material, and sales teams can make their sales presentations to prospective customers more engaging and interactive.

Polls in Meet ensure that presenters can get the feedback they need and audience members can make themselves heard, leading to an all-around more engaging, productive, and enjoyable meeting experience.


Additional details


Q&A
With Meet’s new Q&A experience, meeting hosts and moderators can easily turn on question submission. Participants can ask questions and interact with other participants’ questions by upvoting. Moderators can then choose to answer the most highly ranked or most relevant questions on the call. When the meeting ends, hosts will automatically receive an email containing an export of all submitted questions, so they can follow up on unanswered questions.

Note that for G Suite Enterprise for Education domains, question submission is disabled by default. For all others, question submission will be open by default.

Polls
With polls in Meet, moderators can set up multiple questions, viewable to only them, and launch the poll when it’s timely during the call.

Once a poll is closed, meeting hosts will receive a report with the tally of the results to make it easy to refer back and take action. The moderator can then share the results of the poll so that participants can see a summarized bar chart. Moderators also automatically will receive an email containing an export of the poll data in Google Sheets.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: These features will be available by default for meetings created by customers of eligible G Suite editions. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Q&A and polls on or off in your video calls.

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to G Suite Essentials, G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers
  • Not available to G Suite Basic, G Suite for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits customers 

Resources

Roadmap