We hope that by providing this additional information, this will help you feel more confident that you’re receiving a legitimate notification rather than a spam or phishing attempt by a bad actor.
Getting started
Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
Admins can use the graphs to view sent and received bandwidth, used bandwidth, and the bandwidth availability over time.
Hovering over a data point surfaces numerical readouts and exact timestamps.
Who’s impacted
Admins
Why it’s important
Knowing which bitrates are available or being used for specific endpoints is critical data when performing troubleshooting or working to improve call quality in your domain. Previously, this data was only available as an average across entire calls, which can make it difficult to narrow down problems during specific points in time.
We hope by surfacing this detailed information, Admins can easily troubleshoot or improve call quality for their users.
Getting started
Admins: This feature will be available by default. From the Admin console, navigate to Apps > Google Workspace > Google Meet > Meet quality tool. Alternatively, you can search for a meeting code, organizer, or participant from the search bar to access the Meet quality tool. Visit the Help Center to learn more about tracking meeting quality and statistics.
End users: There is no end user impact.
Rollout pace
This feature is currently available
Availability
Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Additionally, Managers can describe space guidelines that establish rules and expectations for members to create a safer community experience.
Space guidelines
We hope this feature makes it easier to share the purpose and guidelines for a particular space, making it easier for your collaborators to navigate quickly to the appropriate space.
End users: There is no end user setting for this feature.
Rollout pace
Space Roles:
Mobile:
Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 28, 2022, with anticipated completion by March 14, 2022
We anticipate rollout for the descriptions and guidelines features to begin later this month. We’ll share an update on the Workspace Updates Blog when rollout begins.
Availability
Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
AppSheet Support is now available through the Workspace Admin console
Available to all AppSheet customers who have admin user access through Workspace Support. AppSheet Core is available as an add-on paid subscription to all Google Workspace editions. | Available to all AppSheet customers who have admin user access through Workspace Support. AppSheet Core is available as an add-on paid subscription to all Google Workspace editions. | Learn more here.
Updated emoji experience in Google Chat on web
Last year we updated the emoji experience on mobile.Now we have brought the ability to express yourself more authentically in Chat on Web. We’re making the following updates to the emoji experience:
The Emoji set is updated to the latest version (Emoji 13.1), reflecting the latest emoji set and diversity and inclusion options.
Gender-neutral options for gender-modifiable emojis have been added.
Emoji skin tone and gender preferences are saved per individual emoji.
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.
Classic Hangouts will be upgraded to Google Chat beginning March 22, 2022
Beginning March 22, 2022, we’ll turn on the “Chat preferred” setting for any customers who haven’t already done so, making Google Chat the default chat application. This means that when users visit classic Hangouts in Gmail on the web or the classic Hangouts mobile apps, they’ll be directed to Chat. Hangouts.google.com will continue to work. It is not possible to opt out of this change. | Learn more.
Google Workspace Migrate is now generally available
Google Workspace Migrate, previously announced in beta in 2019, is now generally available for select Google Workspace Editions. This first-party, on-premise product helps admins assess and plan migration projects, and confidently migrate their users and large amounts of critical content directly into Google Workspace. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more.
Google Workspace Migrate is especially beneficial for Google Workspace customers with a large number of seats, as it allows them to securely migrate large amounts of their organization’s data and setup on-premises infrastructure. Specifically, it provides assistance with:
Assessment: Quickly scan source environments to help accurately plan for key project milestones and watch points
Migration: Efficiently migrate valuable data from a variety of sources (see below)
Track: Easily identify project progress and health with detailed aggregate and granular logging functionality
Additionally, Google Workspace Migrate supports Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive, file shares, Box migrations, legacy G Suite Business and Google Workspace environments, enabling you to:
Selectively migrate Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and more data between Google Workspace environments.
Choose to migrate all users from one environment to another.
Selectively migrate specific user data (organizational units, users, or subsets of data) between Google Workspace environments.
Additional details
To prevent disruption to end-user productivity, Google Workspace Migrate maintains a high level of fidelity for migrated content from supported sources: Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and file shares. The following versions will be supported:
Google Workspace
Exchange: Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016, and Microsoft 365
Sharepoint: SharePoint 2010, 2013, 2016, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business
File shares: A Windows-accessible file share (for example, SMB or NFS)
Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, and legacy G Suite Business customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic customers
Beginning March 22, 2022, we’ll turn on the “Chat preferred” setting for any customers who haven’t already done so, making Google Chat the default chat application. This means that when users visit classic Hangouts in Gmail on the web or the classic Hangouts mobile apps, they’ll be directed to Chat. Hangouts.google.com will continue to work. It is not possible to opt out of this change. If you’d like to export your classic Hangouts and Chat data, learn about exporting your organization’s data.
NOTE: This phase does not affect the personal use of Hangouts with a Google Account.
See below for more information and timing.
Who’s impacted
Admins and end users
Why it matters
Starting March 22, 2022, classic Hangouts users with the following domain settings will be migrated to Google Chat:
Admin console setting
Automatic upgrade timeline
Chat and classic Hangouts
Access groups with both Google Chat and classic Hangouts turned on
Over the course of three weeks starting March 22, 2022
Classic Hangouts only
Access groups with only classic Hangouts enabled
Over the course of five weeks starting April 4, 2022
After domains are upgraded to “Chat preferred,” all classic Hangouts applications, except hangouts.google.com, will be disabled. Additionally, the “Chat and classic Hangouts” and “Classic Hangouts only” settings will be removed from the Admin console.
Additional details
Vault users: Messages sent in classic Hangouts will continue to be retained and held according to policies set for Chat, and searchable and exportable with Gmail search in Vault. Messages sent in Chat are subject to retention rules and holds you set for Chat, and searchable and exportable with Chat search in Vault.
Conversation history: Except for a few special cases, all the conversation history from Hangouts will be available in Google Chat. However, starting mid-March 2022, any newly created spaces in Google Chat within your domain will not appear in classic Hangouts. This means that messages sent in these spaces will only appear in Google Chat for your affected users. You can learn more about Chat and classic Hangouts interoperability.
Getting started
Admins:
If you currently have the “Classic Hangouts only” or “Chat and classic Hangouts” Admin console setting enabled for your entire domain or specific access groups, you’ll be automatically upgraded to the “Chat preferred” setting, per the dates listed above. You can upgrade all of your users to “Chat preferred” prior to those dates if you choose.
If you don’t have the “Classic Hangouts only” or “Chat and classic Hangouts” setting selected, you don’t need to do anything.
Document previews give users a snapshot of documents in the search results page without having to open the link. This feature is particularly useful when trying to distinguish between documents with similar titles — now, users can feel more confident they’re opening the most relevant results.
Previews are available for most of the popular document formats such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDF, Microsoft Word documents and more. Note that users can only preview documents that they have access to.
Getting started
Admins: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled at the search application, or data source level. To learn more about document previews, including preconditions and limitations, refer to our developer documentation for thumbnails.
In the Google Cloud Community, connect with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like yourself. Participate in product discussions, check out the Community Articles, and learn tips and tricks that will make your work and life easier. Be the first to know what's happening with Google Workspace.
On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.
