Providing greater visibility with additional Google Calendar statuses in Google Chat

Last year, we introduced the ability to see additional Google Calendar statuses like “In a meeting” or “In focus time” in Google Chat. Starting today, Chat statuses will include even more information, such as: 

• How much longer someone is in a meeting or focus time 
• If someone has an upcoming commitment within the next 10 minutes 
• If someone has an upcoming out of office event within the next business day 

The Chat status will automatically disappear once you send a message to someone or you can manually dismiss it. However, if their status changes, an updated status will reappear. 

Additionally, you can see the current working location and local time zone set by your colleagues when sending a new message to them in Chat. 

Admins and end users 

This feature gives you a better understanding of others’ availability, helping you plan when to reach out and collaborate. If someone is currently unavailable, you now have a more accurate picture of their response time. 

This feature will be rolling out to mobile devices in the coming months.