Google Workspace Updates

Use Companion mode with Google Meet hardware and Nest Hub Max to maximize collaboration during hybrid meetings

Thursday, January 13, 2022

What’s changingIn 2021, we pre-announced Companion mode in Google Meet, which is designed to seamlessly connect those in meeting rooms with their remote teammates, giving everyone access to interactive features and controls, while leveraging the best of in-room audio and video conferencing capabilities.Beginning today, you can use Companion mode on the web when joining a meeting using Google Meet hardware or the Nest Hub Max. Companion mode allows you to access interactive features and controls such as chat, screen sharing, hand raising, polls, host controls and more.

Companion mode is designed to be similar to a full video call on web, so that you can navigate the interface faster while avoiding audio feedback.

You can join a meeting using Companion mode from the green room before your meeting or by using g.co/companion. If you intend to immediately share content, you can simultaneously join the meeting and present with Companion mode by using g.co/present.

Join Companion Mode by selecting “Use Companion mode” under Other joining options

Use g.co/companion to join meetings on your calendar or by entering your meeting code.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why it’s important

Hybrid meetings and classes are growing as some begin to return to office or school, while others remain remote. Companion mode fosters collaboration equity for all attendees regardless of where they’re joining a meeting from. Companion mode complements functionality on Google Meet hardware and Nest Hub Max by enabling attendees to:

See a presentation up close,
Participate in chat,
Initiate polls or vote,
Raise hands with their names associated,
Use host controls,
Enable captions and translations in their preferred languages.

All Google Meet users can connect to meetings using Companion mode on the web. The availability of features, such as hand raising, depends on your Google Workspace edition. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Meet feature availability across Google Workspace editions.

Additional details

You’ll notice prompts on Meet hardware and Nest Hub Max devices for Companion mode when chat messages are sent or other interactive activities are initiated in a meeting.

The tiles of participants using Companion mode will be hidden from the video grid to maximize screen space for video feeds unless they raise their digital hand. Additionally, in the meeting roster, those using Companion mode will be identified as such.

Using Companion mode will count as an additional meeting participant and the overall meeting participant count. For example, if you join using a Meet hardware device and use Companion mode on your laptop, it is treated as two meeting participants.

Companion mode users in the call are indicated in the participant roster.

External meeting guests and meeting participants without Google accounts can use Companion mode and g.co/companion, but they’ll need to ask to join the meeting.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users:

This feature will be available by default. You can join a meeting on the web using Companion mode from the green room before your meeting.
Alternatively, use g.co/present to present directly from the web using Companion mode.
Note: Your audio and mic will automatically be muted—we recommend using meeting room hardware for audio and video to avoid feedback. Additionally, the chat panel will be open by default.
Use this Help Center article and video guide to learn more about using Companion mode in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

Companion Mode on web and g.co/companion

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 13, 2022
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 27, 2022

Note: For Google Workspace Individual customers and users with personal Google accounts, there will be a gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 13, 2022.

Activity notifications on Google Meet hardware and Nest Hub Max

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 2, 2022

Use this post in our community forum for more information on rollout progression and additional FAQs.

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, G Suite Basic and Business customers
Also available to Google Workspace Individual customers, as well as users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Live translated captions in Google Meet are now generally available

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

What’s changing In 2021, we announced a beta for live translated captions in Google Meet. We’re now making live translated captions generally available for select Google Workspace editions.
Meeting participants can translate English meetings to:

French
German
Portuguese
Spanish

Translated captions are available on Google Meet on web and mobile devices.

Who’s impacted End users

Why it’s important

Translated captions help make Google Meet video calls more inclusive and collaborative by removing language proficiency barriers. When meeting participants consume content in their preferred language, this helps equalize information sharing, learning, and collaboration and ensures your meetings are as effective as possible for everyone.

This feature can be particularly helpful for all-hands meetings or training meetings with globally distributed teams. Additionally, translated captions can be impactful in education settings, allowing educators to connect and interact with students, parents, and community stakeholders with diverse backgrounds.

Additional details
Beta availability The live translated captions beta will remain open for the next several months. Therefore, if you are participating in the beta with a Google Workspace edition not listed as “Available to” above, your experience will remain the same.

Availability for meeting participants Meeting participants will be able to use live translated captions if the meeting is organized by a user in beta or an eligible Google Workspace edition.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: This feature will be available by default and can be enabled in Google Meet on the web by going to Settings > Captions > Translated captions or on mobile by going to Settings > Captions > Live Captions > Translation Language. Visit the Help Center to learn more about translated captions in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on January 12, 2022

Availability

Available to meetings organized by Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Google Workspace for Education Plus customers.
Not available to meetings organized by Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Enterprise Essentials, Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals, Google Workspace for Education Standard, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to Google Workspace Individual customers or users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Help: Translated Captions in Google Meet

Improvements to Google Meet hardware issue troubleshooting

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

What’s changing We’ve made several improvements to the issue detection engine which notifies admins about peripheral and connectivity issues in their Google Meet hardware fleet. These improvements will make alerts more reliable and cut down on noise and false signals.Furthermore, we’ve made a number of significant visual changes to the Google Meet hardware section of the Admin console in order to display more detailed information regarding device issues. We expect these new features will allow admins to better troubleshoot issues in their fleets. They include:

Issue history page

Device list quick-filters

Issue detail sidebar

New aggregated issue count columns

See below for more information.

Who’s impacted

Admins

Why it’s important

We hope that by improving the accuracy and information associated with alerts and providing additional troubleshooting tools, Admins can resolve Google Meet hardware issues faster across their fleet.

Additional details

New issue history page

To provide admins with more information and context about a device’s health over time, we’ve added a new Issue History page in the Admin console. Here, admins can see a visual timeline and table of issues for specific devices, which can be filtered further by a specific date or issue type.

Improvements to the Google Meet hardware Devices section of the Admin console

We’ve added new quick-filters at the top of the Device list page to help quickly filter your devices down to the most common views, such as offline devices, those approaching end-of-life, and more.

You can also surface richer information about device issues in the sidebar by clicking an issue from the Device list or Device detail page. This information includes:

Description
Type
Detection time
Closed time
Duration
Related events
Troubleshooting recommendations

Additionally, we’ve added two new columns to the Device list page: Device issues in last 28 days and Peripheral issues in last 28 days, which can help you isolate persistently problematic devices in your fleet. To add these columns to your current view, you can select the appropriate quick-filter or manually use the column management widget.