Google Workspace Features Update: February 2021

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite)

Features Update Summary - February 2021

The summary of essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers in February 2021.

Product: Admin

More notifications added to the alert center

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: Admins only

We’re adding new alerts to the alert center. Specifically, you can now see alerts for:

• Reporting rules (formerly known as custom audit log alerts)
• Eleven other new alerts related to changes to app settings and user accounts (formerly known as predefined admin alerts, see more details below)
• Read more

Product: Drive

Updates on how to sync Google Drive content to your computer

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: Admins and end-users

In the coming months, we’ll make some changes to the solutions we offer to access Google Drive files and keep them in sync on your desktop. There is no immediate action required, but we suggest familiarizing yourself with the changes and plans described. Read more.

Product: Drive

Limit Drive sharing to specific groups with target audiences, now generally available

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: Admins and end-users

Admins can now define specific audiences with whom their users can link-share Google Drive files. This can help keep your organizational data secure, and make it simpler for users to share files with the right colleagues. Read more.

Product: Editors

Out of office information will now display when replying to or mentioning a user in a Google Docs comment

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: All end users

In Google Docs, you’ll now see out of office information when replying to or mentioning other users in a comment. When mentioning a single user in a new comment or thread, you’ll see the OOO banner and information on when they plan to return. For multi-person threads, you’ll see condensed out of office information. You can select the info icon to view more information on each specific person. Read more.

Product: Gmail

Email aliases now included in Gmail search results

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: All end users

When a user searches in Gmail with a user email in the query, we’ll now retrieve all emails associated with the email in the query and its aliases as well. These results will be pulled from the to, from, cc, bcc fields, or anywhere in the email unless a specific search operator is used. Read more.

Product: Gmail

Postmaster Tools API now available

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: Admins only

We’re launching a Postmaster Tools API, allowing programmatic access to the email data found in the Postmaster Tools user interface. Read more.

Product: Meet

Check your video and peripheral device quality before joining a Google Meet call

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: All end users

We’re making it possible to quickly preview how you’ll appear to others before entering a Google Meet video call. You can use this new functionality to confirm that peripheral devices are properly configured and corrected, to check that your network connectivity is good, and to understand the impact of noise cancellation on your audio (if it's available to your account). Read more.

Product: Meet

Join a meeting with new options on the Google Meet landing page

Edition: Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers

Who’s impacted: All end users

We’re changing the options for a more tailored experience when Google Workspace users join or start a meeting from meet.google.com. When you click “New meeting,” you’ll now see the following three options:

• Get joining info to share
• Start an instant meeting
• Schedule in Google Calendar
•  Read more

Product: Meet

Dedicated Google Meet IP addresses for non-Google Workspace domains traffic

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: Admins only

In addition to the fixed IP range dedicated for Google Meet in Google Workspace domains, we’re now introducing a range of official, fixed IP addresses for non-Google Workspace users (users joining with personal Google Accounts or anonymously).  Read more.

Product: Meet

Mute all Google Meet participants at once

Edition: All

Who’s impacted: All end users

Moderators can now mute everyone all at once in Google Meet. Read more.

Source: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com