Google Workspace Updates: 2023

Additional space manager capabilities in Google Chat

Thứ Ba, 26 tháng 9, 2023

What’s changing We’re adding two new controls to the list of space manager capabilities in Google Chat that were introduced earlier this year to ensure effective conversations take place in spaces. The new “Manage apps” and “Manage webhooks” options will allow space managers to control the ability of space members to add and remove apps and webhooks to a space.

The new “Manage apps” and “Manage webhooks” options

We’re also making the following improvements to enhance the overall experience of spaces in Chat:

An updated “@” mentions dialog notification that explains why a specific user or an app cannot be added to a space.

An updated “@” mentions dialog notification

A new full screen view on web that shows space managers all installed apps and webhooks within a space.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about optimizing Chat spaces for your organization.
End users:

Go to the space menu > select “Space settings” > configure space settings and modify permissions as needed.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing your space settings and your role as a Space manager.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 26, 2023

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources

Create, modify, and insert email templates within Groups messages

Thứ Ba, 26 tháng 9, 2023

What’s changing When you’re using Groups to send messages, you can save a composed message as a template to reuse in the future.

Directly in Groups, you can create and save messages as a template. Templates can also be deleted.

Who’s impacted End users

Why you’d use it We know users rely heavily on sending messages from Groups, and often these messages closely resemble one another with only specific information requiring updates. Now, instead of typing the same message from scratch, you can compose and save your reply as a template, saving you time and accelerating your workflows. Some examples include:

Saving time on a new lead introduction by filling in only critical details, such as the recipient name and one sentence pitch.
As a teacher, create a template to quickly share daily homework assignments day after day.
When sending project updates, use a template to avoid the trouble of creating status reports from scratch.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using email templates in Groups. Note that templates are specific to individual users and are not shared across other Group owners, managers, or members.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Available now.

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Groups Help: Create & respond to messages

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - September 22, 2023

Thứ Sáu, 22 tháng 9, 2023

New updates There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Find and install third-party add-ons directly within Google Meet You can now find, install, and use third-party applications all without having to leave Google Meet. | Learn more about third-party add-ons for Google Meet.
Add Google Groups to spaces in Google Chat We’re introducing the ability for space managers and users with the permission to manage members to add Google Groups to a space. With this update, the group members are automatically added to a space and any changes to the group's membership, such as adding and removing members, are also automatically reflected in the space. | Learn more about Google Groups in spaces.
Collaborate more seamlessly with live pointers in Google Slides To boost collaboration in Google Slides, we’re introducing live pointers, a new feature that allows you and your colleagues to see each other’s mouse pointers in real-time. With this update, co-creators can easily point out specific text or visual elements within a Slide in order to highlight important information and content. | Learn more about live pointers in Slides.
Pair your video tile in Google Meet to improve accessibility for users with language interpreters We’re introducing tile pairing for Google Meet, which will allow you to pair your video tile with another meeting participant's tile. Once you pair your tile, other meeting participants will see both tiles shown next to each other. Both pairing partners will have their borders outlined in blue when speaking. Tile pairing will be indicated in the meeting captions as well. | Learn more about pairing tiles in Google Meet.
Differentiate messages better with additional modernizations in Google Chat We’re introducing message bubbles to enable users to more easily differentiate incoming versus outgoing messages in the Chat message stream. | Learn more about message bubbles in Chat.
Turn Q&As on or off for Google Meet livestream viewers Earlier this year, we announced that meeting hosts can now enable Q&A and poll features, which previously were only offered in traditional Meet meetings. Beginning this week, meeting hosts can turn Q&A on and off for livestreams. | Learn more about Q&As in Google Meet.
Additional improvements for monitoring Google Meet hardware issues in the Admin consoleRecently, we announced the ability to detect and monitor several additional Google Meet hardware issues from the Admin console. Now that ChromeOS M108 has rolled out to Meet hardware devices, we’re sharing an update on the rollout of some of those features. | Learn more about improvements for monitoring Google Meet hardware issues.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.

Rapid Release Domains:
Insert links in the Google Sheets app on iOS
Scheduled Release Domains:
Add annotations to your presentations in Google Slides
Google Voice users can manage incoming calls across individuals and groups
Get started with smart canvas in Google Sheets
View speaker notes while co-presenting Google Slides in Google Meet
Import and convert sensitive Excel files into client-side encrypted Google Sheets
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:
AppSheet Core licenses will be included by default for more Google Workspace editions, along with a new Admin security setting
View & compare script versions with Apps Script project history
See message view counts in Google Chat spaces (mobile)
Expanding branding and customization capabilities to Google Sites
Updated zoom capabilities across Google Docs, Slides and Drawings
Find and install third-party add-ons directly within Google Meet
Add an organizational unit as an attribute in your external directory (open beta)

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

Additional improvements for monitoring Google Meet hardware issues in the Admin console

Thứ Sáu, 22 tháng 9, 2023

What’s changingRecently, we announced the ability to detect and monitor several additional Google Meet hardware issues from the Admin console. Now that ChromeOS M108 has rolled out to Meet hardware devices, we’re sharing an update on the rollout of some of those features, including new options to fine tune your alerts:

Missing display issues began rolling out in the Admin console on September 21 and may take up to 10 days to go into effect on all domains.

You will be able to select which specific peripheral issue types you want to be alerted about from a new Admin console setting that also began rolling out on September 21 and may take up to 10 days to go into effect on all domains. If you don’t want to receive display alerts (or any other type of peripheral issues), you can opt out using the new setting. Note that the setting can be modified as soon as it appears in your Admin console, but it won’t actually go into effect until October 11.

Unless you’ve turned them off using the aforementioned setting, you will begin seeing email alerts for missing display issues beginning October 11. Note that it may take up to 10 days for settings to go into effect on all domains.

Monitoring Google Meet hardware issues, like devices going offline or missing cameras, is crucial to ensuring a smooth meeting experience for your users. We hope this update continues to make it easier and faster for admins to be alerted of issues in their fleet and quickly remedy them. See our original announcement for more information.

Getting started

Admins:

Rollout

Missing display issues in the Admin console and peripheral issue type setting:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 10 days for feature visibility) starting on September 21, 2023

Configurability of peripheral email alerts by issue type:

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 10 days for feature visibility) starting on October 11, 2023

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet hardware devices

Resources

Turn Q&As on or off for Google Meet livestream viewers

Thứ Ba, 19 tháng 9, 2023

What’s changing Earlier this year, we announced that meeting hosts can now enable Q&A and poll features, which previously were only offered in traditional Meet meetings. Beginning today, meeting hosts can turn Q&A on and off for livestreams.

We’ve also increased the limit of questions per meeting or livestream from 200 to 500.
Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 19, 2023

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning upgrade customers

Resources

Differentiate messages better with additional modernizations in Google Chat

Thứ Ba, 19 tháng 9, 2023

This announcement is part of Google Cloud Next ‘23. Visit the Workspace Blog to learn more about the new Google Chat.

What’s changinga modernized Google ChatGoogle’s Material Design 3
Currently, all messages in Chat are aligned the same regardless of the sender and displayed without any visual containers that separate messages into clear groups. With today’s update:

Each incoming message will have an independent message bubble aligned to one side with a solid color background
Each outgoing message will have an independent message bubble aligned to the other side with a different color background

Differentiate messages better with additional modernizations in Google Chat