Google Workspace Updates: 2021

Workspace for Education Plus now syncs Google Classroom courses and rosters with Student Information Systems

maanantai 26. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changingU.S. school districts with Google Workspace for Education Plus will be able to automatically set up Google Classroom courses and keep rosters in sync with their Student Information System (SIS). IT admins will do the setup via Clever, meaning teachers will no longer need to manually create classes and invite students to join them. Note that this will not overwrite Classroom courses that teachers create individually.
Who’s impacted
Admins and end users
Why you’d use it
This feature, created in partnership with Clever, improves the interoperability and integration between Google Classroom and most major SIS in the U.S. It saves teachers time with class setup and keeps Classroom classes and SIS rosters in sync with less manual and duplicative work.
Getting started

Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled in the Admin console under Classroom settings. After that, go to Clever, link to the Google Classroom rostering app & follow the setup wizard.

End users: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled by your admin. There is no end user setting for this feature. When your admin sets up rostering via Clever, teachers will receive an invite within Classroom to teach the class with the roster pre-populated.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on July 26, 2021

Availability

Available to Education Plus

Resources

Google Help: Set up SIS roster Import

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Use dynamic security groups for group based policies

maanantai 26. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changing Google Workspace admins can now use dynamic groups to manage policies for their users in the Admin console. Previously, it was only possible to apply these policies to static groups and OUs.
Workspace admins can use dynamic attribute-based groups to automate tasks such as "turn drive off for everyone in Europe through the Admin Console".

Who’s impacted

Admins

Why it’s important

This change gives admins greater control and flexibility when managing Workspace policies for users in their organization. For instance, rather than applying policies to a specific group which is updated manually at large, admins can apply policies to a dynamic group which stays up-to-date automatically.

Further, this reduces manual work for Admins and helps improve security by relying on external source of truth systems for user attributes.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning customizing service settings with configuration groups and managing membership automatically with dynamic groups.
End users: No action required.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now.

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Cloud Identity Premium customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Alert Center enrichment with VirusTotal threat context now generally available

maanantai 26. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changing Earlier this year, we pre-announced an integration between the Alert Center and VirusTotal. Currently, the Google Workspace Alert Center provides admins with actionable, real-time alerts and insights regarding security-related activity in their domain. With the VirusTotal (now part of Google Cloud) integration, admins have the ability to dig into their alerts at a deeper level.

When an Alert Center notification contains a supported VirusTotal entity, such as a domain, file attachment hash, or IP address, the VirusTotal report enrichment widget (VT Augment) is available directly in the Alert Center. For paid VirusTotal subscribers, an enhanced version of the report will automatically populate.

The Standard version of VirusTotal reports includes the following:

Observable identification—Identifiers and characteristics allowing you to reference the threat and share it with other analysts (for example, file hashes).
Threat reputation—Maliciousness assessments coming from 70+ security vendors, including antivirus solutions, security companies, network blocklists, and more.
Threat time spread—Key dates that enable you to understand when a given threat was first observed in-the-wild and how long it’s been active.
Domain/IP Whois lookup—Registrar and registrant details for domains, as well as ownership and network range information for IP addresses.
Domain and server security-relevant metadata—HTTPS certificates for web servers, DNS resolution records, and web server HTTP headers.

The Enhanced version of VirusTotal reports includes additional features such as:

Multi-angular detection—Additional threat analysis coming from crowdsourced rule matches and community scoring (for example: YARA, Sigma, and IDS rules).
Related indicators of compromise (IOCs)—Examples of IOCs include a network infrastructure distributing a malware file, servers acting as a command-and-control for a given threat, malicious URLs seen under a given domain, domains seen behind a given IP address, and more.
Interactive threat graph—Graphical format that maps out entire threat campaigns by visualizing the relationships between IOCs.
Security-relevant metadata—Includes software publisher information, identification of malicious macros in documents, popularity ranks for domains, domain content categorization, and more.
In-the-wild details—Geographical and time-spread details for threats, common attacker deception techniques, and more, through VirusTotal submission metadata.
Suspicious attribute pivoting—Clickable details in VirusTotal reports, allowing you to explore the global VirusTotal dataset for other threats that share the same properties.

Visit the Help Center and learn more about using VirusTotal security threat context and reputation reports from the Alert Center to power improved threat identification, expedited investigations & decision making, enhanced threat remediation, and proactive defense.

Who’s impacted

Admins

Why it’s important

The VirusTotal integration provides an added layer of investigation on top of existing alerts, empowering admins to take deeper look into threats and potential abuse, helping them better protect their organization and data.

Additional details

VirusTotal provides an investigation layer on top of alerts but isn’t being used directly for detection or alerting. No customer information is shared from Google to VirusTotal unless an admin clicks to retrieve a VirusTotal report for a specific entity.

The VirusTotal report has two versions: Standard and Enhanced. Standard reports are displayed for admins who have the alert center privilege. The Enhanced version is automatically shown for paid VirusTotal subscribers who have an active virustotal.com login session with their VT Enterprise user account.

For existing VT Enterprise customers, viewing VirusTotal reports within the alert center does NOT use any of your VT Enterprise quota. If an admin opens the VirusTotal website to do more research from the Alert Center, that would count towards standard quota usage in the same way as directly visiting virustotal.com.

Getting started

Admins: VirusTotal reports are available to administrators who have the Alert Center privilege. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using VirusTotal reports in the Alert Center.
End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) beginning on July 26, 2021.

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals and Education Plus customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Open VirusTotal reports from the Alert Center
Cloud Blog: Arming Google Workspace users and admins with advanced counter-abuse and threat-analysis capabilities
VirusTotal: Compliant, easy and actionable integration of VirusTotal in 3rd-party products - Welcome VT Augment
VirusTotal: Learn more about VT Enterprise
VirusTotal Guide
VirusTotal: Request a trial for Enhanced VirusTotal Alert Center reports
VirusTotal Support: How it works

Disabling File Transfer in Google Chat

maanantai 26. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changingAdmins can now disable or limit file sharing for their users in Chat. Specifically, adminswill be able to specify controls within and outside their organization, and will be able to choose between restricting all files, allowing images only, or allowing all files.
Who’s impacted Admins and end users
Why it’s important Files often contain confidential information, and some organizations, particularly in regulated industries, need to control the flow of this information within and outside of their organization. With this launch, admins now have more ability to help manage sharing in specific scenarios.
Additional details These policies will have no impact on links. For example, sharing links to Google Drive files or giphy links will all continue to work. Emojis will also not be impacted.

Admins will have the option to enable this feature

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the domain our OU level. Use our Help Center to learn more about how to control file sharing in Chat.

End Users: If an admin has disabled file sharing, the upload button may be disabled or changed, and when possible we will provide text to explain the change. See images below for examples.

The file upload button may be disabled

If a user is only able to upload images, the file upload icon may change to an image icon.

Error messages will be displayed if a user attempts a restricted action

Policies will be also applied while using Google Chat on web and mobile platforms
Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: [Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard,Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Enterprise Essentials

Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Control file sharing in Chat

Improvements for braille mode in Google Docs provide a richer, more interactive experience

maanantai 26. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick launch summaryWe've improved how suggestions are announced in braille mode in Google Docs. This change makes it easier for users of assistive technology, including screen readers and refreshable braille displays, to interact with suggestions in documents.
You’ll now hear detailed suggestion information inline with the rest of the text — this includes whether the suggestion is an insertion or deletion, and the author of the suggestion.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.

End users: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled by the user by going to Tools > Accessibility settings > Turn on braille support. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to Use a braille display with Docs editors.

Additional details

Users should make sure to update to the latest versions of their assistive technologies and browsers to fully benefit from these improvements.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 26, 2021
Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on August 16, 2021

Availability

Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Nonprofits, Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - July 23, 2021

perjantai 23. heinäkuuta 2021

New updatesUnless 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.Gmail now displays the latest emojis
Now you can see all the latest emojis in Gmail, with emojis now rendered in the latest Unicode standard 13.1.

Improved Tabular Data Handling for Gmail DLP
We are improving the way we handle Tabular data files like .csv or .xlsx to best account for the structure of these files. This will result in more accurate content scans. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise, Education Fundamentals, Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Plus customers. | Learn more.
Previous announcementsThe announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.Updates to Google Workspace Public Status Dashboard and service status alerts
We're introducing a new Public Status Dashboard experience for Google Workspace. As part of this update, we’re enhancing the functionality of the existing Apps outage alert system-defined rule, which provides email notifications regarding service disruptions or outages via the Public Status Dashboard. | Learn more.
Hangouts to Google Chat upgrade beginning August 16th, with option to opt-out
Beginning August 16, 2021, we will start upgrading users who have the “Chat and classic Hangouts” setting selected to “Chat preferred,” unless you explicitly opt out. Additionally, the “Chat and classic Hangouts'' setting will also be removed for all users in your domain unless you opt out of the upgrade. | Learn more.
Fundamental data regions now available to more Google Workspace customers
Data regions give you the ability to choose where covered data for select Google Workspace apps is stored at rest. We’re introducing a more limited version of data regions, known as Fundamental data regions, which will be available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Business Plus, Business Standard and Frontline customers. | Learn more.
Bulk convert Classic Sites to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager
Beginning today, you can now bulk convert Classic Sites to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager. | Learn more.

Block shares from another user in Google Drive

We’re adding the ability to block another user in Google Drive. If blocked, the user will not be able to share any Drive items with you, and items owned by the user will not be able to be shared with you or be shown when you’re browsing Google Drive. In addition, your files will not be available to the user you’ve blocked, even if you’ve previously shared items with them. | Learn more.

Select multiple tabs in Google Sheets and perform basic actions on the selection

Now you can select multiple tabs in Google Sheets and perform basic actions on the selection (such as moving the tabs together, deleting, duplicating, copying, coloring, or hiding). | Learn more.

Image placeholders make it easy to work as a team with images in Slides themes and layouts

Now when you create a theme in Slides, you can add image placeholders to your layouts. | Learn more.

Easily collaborate and share Slide presentations with side-by-side viewing in Google Chat

In Google Chat, you can now open and edit a Slide presentation in a side-by-side view. | Learn more.

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

Easily collaborate and share Slide presentations with side-by-side viewing in Google Chat

perjantai 23. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick launch summaryIn Google Chat, you can now open and edit a Slide presentation in a side-by-side view. By enabling you and your collaborators to directly edit presentations without leaving Chat, we hope to make it easier to transform your ideas into impact.

Image of how Chat users can open a Slide presentation by clicking on the preview thumbnail image in the chat stream.

Chat users can open a Slide presentation by clicking on the preview thumbnail image in the chat stream.
Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.

End users: Use this feature by clicking on the document preview thumbnail image in the chat stream. To open the presentation directly in Google Slides, click on the blue link in the chat conversation. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to Manage your files in Gmail rooms.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 21, 2021

Availability

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

Resources

Google Help: Manage your files in Gmail rooms

Image placeholders make it easy to work as a team with images in Slides themes and layouts

perjantai 23. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick launch summaryNow when you create a theme in Slides, you can add image placeholders to your layouts. Slides editors can then easily replace these image placeholders with the desired images. This new feature should improve your team’s workflow efficiency, design quality, and ease of formatting.

Gif if how a user creates a slide from a layout that uses image placeholders, they can click directly on the placeholder, select a source for the upload, select the file, and the image is inserted.

When a user creates a slide from a layout that uses image placeholders, they can click directly on the placeholder, select a source for the upload, select the file, and the image is inserted.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to insert or delete images & videos.

Image placeholders can be inserted from the Theme Builder View through the Insert menu.
Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 15, 2021

Availability

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

Resources

Select multiple tabs in Google Sheets and perform basic actions on the selection

torstai 22. heinäkuuta 2021

Update
[July 23, 2021]: This feature is also available to users with personal Google Accounts. This was not noted in the original post.
Quick launch summaryNow you can select multiple tabs in Google Sheets and perform basic actions on the selection (such as moving the tabs together, deleting, duplicating, copying, coloring, or hiding). Work in Google Sheets with confidence and make workflows faster as you perform basic actions on more than one sheet at a time.

GIF show how multiple tabs are selected in Sheets to be deleted together.

To select multiple tabs, press "Ctrl" to select individual tabs, "Shift" to select contiguous tabs.
Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 21, 2021

Availability

Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Nonprofits, Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium. Also available to users with personal Google Accounts.

Resources

Google Help: Protect, hide, and edit sheets

Block shares from another user in Google Drive

torstai 22. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changing As we recently announced on the Cloud Blog, we’re adding the ability to block another user in Google Drive. If blocked, the user will not be able to share any Drive items with you, and items owned by the user will not be able to be shared with you or be shown when you’re browsing Google Drive. In addition, your files will not be available to the user you’ve blocked, even if you’ve previously shared items with them.

Note that you can’t block users within your domain, and blocking a user on Drive will also block them from interacting with you on other apps and services.

Who’s impacted End users

Why you’d use it Google Drive enables both individuals and organizations to store, share, and collaborate from anywhere. Drive’s sharing capabilities fuel productivity and collaboration, but bad actors can abuse tools that are meant to facilitate helpful sharing. That's why we are creating a way to block other users. By using this feature, you can: Block another user from sharing any content with you in the future. This can be a useful control if, for example, another user has a history of sending spam or abusive content. Remove all existing files and folders shared by another user. This is an easy way to get rid of all spam or abusive content shared from a specific user at one time. Remove another person’s access to your content, even if you’ve previously shared it with them.

User blocking will not only preserve Drive sharing’s helpfulness, but most importantly preserve the safety of Drive users.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about blocking and unblocking users in Google Drive.

Blocking an individual from future sharing in Google Drive

Block another user from the shared with me screen in Google Drive

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 22, 2021

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. Also available to users with personal Google Accounts.

Resources

Bulk convert Classic Sites to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager

torstai 22. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick summary In 2017, we announced that we would replace classic Sites with new Sites, and in 2019 we announced that domains will have until the end of 2021 to complete the transition.

To help manage the transition, Admins and end users can use the Classic Sites Manager to:

Beginning today, you can now bulk convert Classic Sites to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager. We hope this highly-requested feature will make it easier to prepare your organization for the migration completion.

Using the classic sites manager, you can bulk convert classic sites to new sites.

Additional details

The user who initiates the bulk conversion will become the owner of all converted sites—they can reassign site ownership using the Classic Sites Manager once the conversion is complete.

If sites cannot be converted, they will be skipped and the converter will be notified via email.

Getting started

Super Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about designating a different OU or Group as Admins for the Classic Sites Manager.
Admins and end users: Use our Help Center to learn more about the Classic Sites Manager and our migration guide to plan for the transition from classic Sites to new Sites.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 22, 2021

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers
Not available to Google Workspace Frontline customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Transition from classic Sites to new Sites
Google Sites Migration Guide
Google Workspace Updates Blog: Timelines and tools for transition from classic to new Google Sites
Google Workspace Updates Blog: Additional tools for managing the transition from classic to new
Google SitesGoogle Workspace Updates Blog: Use the Classic Sites Manager to download archived backups and control editing of sites in bulk

Fundamental data regions now available to more Google Workspace customers

keskiviikko 21. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changingData regions gives you the ability to choose where covered data for select Google Workspace apps is stored at rest. The existing data regions feature, now known as Enterprise data regions, offer a full range of features to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and Education Plus customers.
Now, we’re introducing a more limited version of data regions, known as Fundamental data regions, which will be available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Business Plus, Business Standard and Frontline customers.
Who’s impactedAdmins
Why you’d use itGoogle Workspace’s globally distributed cloud infrastructure reduces latency and protects data with geo redundancy, so most organizations choose not to geo-restrict their data. If, however, your organization has preference to control where its data is stored at rest, data regions can help you meet those needs.
Additional detailsFundamental data regions is a more limited version of data regions compared to Enterprise data regions, which is available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and Education Plus customers. Some key differences include:

Single vs multiple regions: Enterprise data regions enables you to set multiple region policies, whereas the Fundamental data regions only offers one region of your choosing.
Root OU vs full OU and group controls: Enterprise data regions allows for customizing data regions for different groups and organizational units (OUs) within your organization. Fundamental data regions only allows you to set a single policy at the root OU level.
Report availability: Enterprise data regions includes detailed reports on the move progress of your covered data. These reports will not be available to Fundamental data regions users.

Admins that need the full functionality of Enterprise data regions can get access by visiting their Subscriptions page in the Admin console to upgrade licenses to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus or Education Plus.
Getting started

Admins: This feature will be turned off by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about choosing a geographic location for your data.

End users: No end user impact.

Settings available for Fundamental data regions in the Admin console

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 21, 2021

Availability

Fundamental data regions newly available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Frontline customers
Enterprise data regions already available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and Education Plus customers.
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers.

Resources

Hangouts to Google Chat upgrade beginning August 16th, with option to opt-out

maanantai 19. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changing Beginning August 16, 2021, we will start upgrading users who have the “Chat and classic Hangouts” setting selected to “Chat preferred,” unless you explicitly opt out. Users who already have “Chat only”, “Chat preferred”, or “Classic Hangouts Only” selected, or users with both services turned off will not be affected.

Additionally, the “Chat and classic Hangouts'' setting will also be removed for all users in your domain unless you opt out of the upgrade.

If there are affected users in your domain, you will receive an email notification that contains more information and any necessary action that needs to be taken.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

Unless you opt-out, Google Chat will replace classic Hangouts as the default chat application for your affected users.

Beginning late 2021, classic Hangouts will no longer be supported and all remaining users will be migrated to Google Chat. Learn more about the Google Chat upgrade timeline.

Getting started

Admins: Before August 16, 2021, you have the option to:

Opt-out of the migration to preserve your current settings.
Upgrade all of your users to “Chat preferred”.

If you don’t take any action, all users in your organization who have the “Chat and classic Hangouts” setting selected will be automatically upgraded to “Chat preferred” and the “Chat and classic Hangouts” setting will no longer be accessible. We anticipate this migration to take around two weeks.

No action is required if there are no users in your domain with the “Chat and classic Hangouts” service setting selected.

Additional details

The “Chat and classic Hangouts” setting will be removed from the Admin Console regardless of your selected setting, unless you opt out.

Conversation History: With the exception of a few special cases, messages sent in classic Hangouts 1:1 and group conversations will be available in Chat. Learn more about Chat and classic Hangouts interoperability.

Direct calling: Chat doesn’t yet support direct calling in the same way as classic Hangouts. We anticipate direct calling to become available for Google Chat later this year — we will provide an update here when that feature becomes available.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 16, 2021

Availability

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

Resources

Updates to Google Workspace Public Status Dashboard and service status alerts

maanantai 19. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changing We're introducing a new Public Status Dashboard experience for Google Workspace. As part of this update, we’re enhancing the functionality of the existing Apps outage alert system-defined rule, which provides email notifications regarding service disruptions or outages via the Public Status Dashboard. Specifically, you can now configure the rule to also deliver Apps outage alerts to the Alert Center, and you can retrieve the alerts using the Alert Center API.

Who’s impacted Admins

Why it’s important New Public Status Dashboard Experience Following the Google Maps Platform, the Google Workspace Status Dashboard will soon have a refreshed user interface, which will allow you to find and view important service status information faster. The location of the Public Status Dashboard will not change with this update, and it will continue to support RSS feed subscribers.

The Google Workspace Status Dashboard will receive a new UI refresh, making it easier to view important information and updates.

Enhanced Apps outage alerts By bringing Apps outage alerts to the Alert Center, we are aligning with other Google Workspace alert types. The Apps outage alerts will share a familiar format to other alerts your organization may receive in the Alert Center.

In addition to the Google Workspace Status Dashboard, you will be able to find Apps outage alerts in the Alert Center.

Additionally, we’ve updated the email notification format to contain structured information such as key issue details, the status of the affected services, and a link to the Google Workspace Status Dashboard.

We've enhanced email notification for Apps outages to include richer information, a status of the outage, and quicklinks to more information.

Finally, the Apps outage alerts are now available via the Alert Center API and can be identified with the "AppsOutage" alert type. This will allow integration with your existing alerting or ticketing systems within your organization.

Email Notification Sender Changes To align with other email notifications from the Alert Center, the sender email address used for Apps outage alert email notifications is changing from workspace-noreply@google.com to google-workspace-alerts-noreply@google.com.

The subject of these emails will not change (it will still be "Google Workspace status alert"). Any email routing or filtering based on the old sender address should be updated accordingly.

Getting started

Admins:

Visit the Help Center to learn more about receiving Apps outage alerts in the Alert Center, by email, or both. Note: You will have to take action to view alerts in the Alert Center even if you have configured your settings to receive alerts via email.
Email Notification Sender Changes: As noted above, please update any email routing or filtering to account for the workspace-noreply@google.com to google-workspace-alerts-noreply@google.com change.

End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility) starting on July 19, 2021.
We anticipate the updated Google Workspace Status Dashboard to become available by July 21, 2021.

Availability

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

Resources

Use Google Assistant on more devices

torstai 15. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick launch summary You can now use Google Assistant with smart displays and speakers, such as the Nest Hub Max. We previously announced that access to Google Workspace services from Google Assistant is generally available on users’ personal devices.

You can access Google Workspace services, such as Google Meet or Calendar, using the Google Assistant on more devices, such as the Nest Hub Max.

Admins will need to enable Search and Assistant for these devices in order to ensure users can access Google Workspace data through Assistant. If Admins allow for the home devices, they can also specify if the device will require Voice Match or Face Match to authenticate.
Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 15, 2021

Availability

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

Resources

Replace your background in Google Meet, now on iOS

keskiviikko 14. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changing You can now blur or replace your background with an image in Google Meet on iOS. You can choose from Google’s hand-picked images, which include office spaces, landscapes, and abstract backgrounds, or use your own image.

Who’s impacted End users

Why you’d use it Custom backgrounds can help you show more of your personality, as well as help hide your surroundings. Additional details Virtual backgrounds work on most recent mobile devices. Check the device compatibility page for more information.

Getting started

When using Google Meet on iOS, you can now choose your own custom background to hide your surroundings.

Rollout pace

The feature is available now to all users.

Availability

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

Resources

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Google Tasks now available in Google Workspace Essentials and Enterprise Essentials

tiistai 13. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick launch summaryWe’re making Google Tasks available to Google Workspace Essentials and Enterprise Essentials customers, included at no additional cost.
Google Tasks helps you keep track of your daily tasks, organize multiple lists, and set important due dates. It has mobile and web applications, and is integrated with Google Calendar and the quick access side panel. By adding Tasks to Essentials, we hope more users can quickly manage their tasks, wherever they’re working.

Getting started

Admins: Tasks will be available by default to all users. Use our Help Center to learn more about turning services on or off for your users. If any of your team members doesn't want their previously created Tasks to be managed, you might want to enable Takeout for your organization so that users can export those tasks and then delete them.
End users: This feature will be ON by default. Use our Help Center to learn how to get started with Tasks, or our Learning Center to learn what you can do with Tasks.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 13, 2021.

Availability

Newly available to Google Workspace Essentials and Enterprise Essentials customers
Already available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers and users with personal Google accounts.

Resources

Enhanced desktop security for Windows is now available for Google Workspace Business Plus customers

tiistai 13. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick launch summaryGoogle Workspace Business Plus customers can now manage and secure Windows devices through the Admin console, just as you do for Android, iOS, Chrome, and Jamboard devices. Now, Business Plus Admins can:

Set Windows policies in the admin console which will ensure that all Windows 10 devices used to access Workspace are updated, secure, and within compliance of organizational policies.

Perform admin actions, such as wiping a device and pushing device configuration updates, to Windows 10 devices from the cloud without connecting to corp network.

See our previous announcement for more details on the Windows 10 management features and benefits and the Help Center to learn more about enhanced desktop security for Windows.Getting started

Admins:

Rollout pace

This feature is available now.

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Overview: Google Credential Provider for Windows (GCPW)

Google Workspace Admin Help: Manage Windows 10 devices

Google Workspace Admin Help: Enhanced desktop security for Windows

Cloud Blog: 6 new device, data, and user controls to help G Suite customers stay secure

Easily navigate through the Admin console using the updated left-hand navigation bar

tiistai 13. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick summary We’re introducing a streamlined, persistent navigation experience in the Admin console. The new left-hand navigation column allows you to quickly browse through and navigate to key pages without losing context or your place in the Admin console. You’ll also notice updated icons for each category, bringing the Admin console design inline with other Google products.

You can easily collapse the navigation bar by selecting the menu icon at the top left when you need more space on the page to complete tasks.

We hope the updated navigation experience, along with other recent upgrades, makes it faster for admins to navigate within the Admin console, allowing them to manage their users, domains, and policies with ease.

Getting started

Admins: This feature will be available by default.
End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on July 13, 2021

Availability

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

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Blog: New streamlined experience for managing users and domains in the Admin console

Google Workspace Business Starter and Frontline customers can now collaborate with people who are not using a Google account in Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites

maanantai 12. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick launch summary We’re making visitor sharing available to Google Workspace Business Starter and Frontline customers, with a limit of five visitor shares per month, per user.
With visitor sharing, you can share items with non-Google accounts, enabling them to view, comment on, or edit content in Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites using a secure pincode.

Getting started

Admins:

Sharing outside of your organization to users with non-Google accounts will be ON by default if you currently allow users in your organization to send sharing invitations to people outside your organization who are not using a Google account.
Sharing outside of your organization to users with non-Google accounts will be OFF by default if you currently do not allow sharing outside your organization. Use our Help Center to learn more about sharing to non-Google accounts.
Visitor sharing will be controlled by new settings at Admin console > Apps > G Suite > Drive and Docs > Sharing Settings (pictured below). These settings can be controlled at the domain or OU level.

End users: Visit our Help Center to learn more about visitor sharing. Visitors can use our Help Center to learn how to delete their visitor session.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) July 12, 2021

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Business customers
Not available to G Suite Basic, Cloud Identity customers, or users with personal accounts

Resources

Slash commands and dialogs now available for Google Chat bots

maanantai 12. heinäkuuta 2021

Quick launch summaryGoogle Chat bots can be a great way to help users streamline workflows, accomplish tasks, and get information and notifications in real time, without switching contexts away from Chat. We’re adding two new Chat bot features that make it easier to find and use Chat bots:

Slash Commands for Google Chat bots: Slash commands enable users to simply type “/” in the message line to reveal a list of functions offered by available bots. This makes it much easier to discover and use Chat bot functions that are available to you.
Dialogs for Google Chat bots: Dialogs allow developers to build user interfaces to create visual interfaces to gather inputs from users in a structured format. By guiding users to enter information in the right format, developers can be more confident of getting the specific data in the right formats to make their bots as useful as possible.

See our Developer blog post for more details on slash commands and dialogs, including learning how to implement them for your Chat bots.

Slash commands make it easier to discover Chat bot functions

Dialogs help users input structured information to make Chat bots more useful

Getting started

Rollout pace

Available now for all users.

Availability

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

Resources

Google Developers blog: Add Dialogs & Slash commands to your Google Workspace Chat Bots

Improving email security with BIMI

maanantai 12. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changing In July 2020, we announced a pilot for Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) in Gmail. Starting today, Gmail announces general availability of BIMI support across Gmail.
BIMI aims to increase the adoption of strong authentication in the email ecosystem for those who have implemented Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC). For senders that have adopted DMARC and have validated their imagery, Gmail will display the validated logos in the avatar slots, increasing confidence in the source of emails for recipients.

Before and after BIMI: Validated logos display on authenticated emails.

See below for more information, as well as the Cloud Blog for more information on BIMI for Gmail.

Who’s impacted Admins

Why it matters BIMI promotes another layer of security to Gmail by requiring strong authentication and verification of logos before they’re displayed in the Gmail avatar slot. Strong authentication increases confidence in the source of emails and provides recipients with a more immersive experience. Further, this helps email security systems filter spoofed, phishing emails from legitimate messages.

Getting started

Admins:

End users: No action required.

Availability

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

Resources

Backup and Sync users should begin transitioning to Drive for desktop

maanantai 12. heinäkuuta 2021

What’s changing Earlier this year, we announced that we were working towards unifying our two existing Google Drive sync clients – Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream – into a single sync client called Drive for desktop. By doing this, we’re creating a powerful and unified sync client with the best and most used features from both Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream.
We also mentioned in this announcement that Google Workspace customers with Backup and Sync users would need to transition these users to Drive for desktop. Now, we want to provide a more detailed timeline for this transition:

Starting July 19, 2021: Backup and Sync will support a guided flow to help users transition onto Drive for desktop.
Starting August 18, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync will start to receive in-product notifications prompting them to transition to Drive for desktop.
Starting October 1, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync after that point will no longer be able to sign in to Backup and Sync. To continue syncing with Drive and/or Google Photos, users will need to transition to Drive for desktop.

Use our Help Center to learn more about this timeline and to access resources to help manage the transition for your organization.

Users can easily see which files and folders are synced using Drive for desktop
Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why it’s important Drive for desktop is a unified sync client that provides a consistent experience for anyone who uses Drive, whether for business, education or personal purposes. It enables you to quickly sync and access content directly from Mac or PC, which can save you time by helping you access files and folders in a familiar location. Drive for desktop also automatically syncs local files to the cloud in the background, which minimizes the time you need to spend waiting for files to sync while also freeing up your disk space and saving network bandwidth

Getting started

Admins: Use our Help Center to learn more about this timeline and to access resources to help manage the transition for your organization.
End users: Use our Help Center to learn more about Drive for desktop and this transition. Then, use the guided flow (available starting July 19, 2021) to help transition to Drive for Desktop.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains:

Starting July 19, 2021: Backup and Sync will support a guided flow to help users transition onto Drive for desktop.
Starting August 18, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync will start to receive in-product notifications prompting them to transition to Drive for desktop.
Starting October 1, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync after that point will no longer be able to sign in to Backup and Sync. To continue syncing with Drive and/or Google Photos, users will need to transition to Drive for desktop.

Applicability

Applicable to Backup & Sync users at all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. This is also applicable to users with personal Google Accounts, and these users can learn more in this Keyword blog post.

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Transition Backup and Sync users to Drive for desktop
Google Workspace Updates Blog: Updates on how to sync Google Drive content to your computer

Useful Links

Updates

Workspace for Education Plus now syncs Google Classroom courses and rosters with Student Information Systems

Use dynamic security groups for group based policies

Alert Center enrichment with VirusTotal threat context now generally available

Disabling File Transfer in Google Chat

Improvements for braille mode in Google Docs provide a richer, more interactive experience

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - July 23, 2021

Easily collaborate and share Slide presentations with side-by-side viewing in Google Chat

Image placeholders make it easy to work as a team with images in Slides themes and layouts

Select multiple tabs in Google Sheets and perform basic actions on the selection

Block shares from another user in Google Drive

Bulk convert Classic Sites to new Sites using the Classic Sites Manager

Fundamental data regions now available to more Google Workspace customers

Hangouts to Google Chat upgrade beginning August 16th, with option to opt-out

Updates to Google Workspace Public Status Dashboard and service status alerts

Use Google Assistant on more devices

Replace your background in Google Meet, now on iOS

Google Tasks now available in Google Workspace Essentials and Enterprise Essentials

Enhanced desktop security for Windows is now available for Google Workspace Business Plus customers

Easily navigate through the Admin console using the updated left-hand navigation bar

Google Workspace Business Starter and Frontline customers can now collaborate with people who are not using a Google account in Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Sites

Slash commands and dialogs now available for Google Chat bots

Improving email security with BIMI

Backup and Sync users should begin transitioning to Drive for desktop

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