The summary of essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers in October 2021.
Review smart home devices used for work in your Admin console
Admins can now view and manage the smart displays and speakers that access work data in the Admin console, alongside other devices managed with Google endpoint management. Read more.
Consolidate Google Workspace Essentials accounts for your domain
You can now perform a “domain-takeover” to take control of all the existing Google Workspace Essentials instances on your domain. This new process can help admins consolidate multiple instances of Google Workspace Essentials. By consolidating accounts:
Create meeting notes in Google Calendar
You can now quickly start and share a meeting notes document, right from your Calendar events. Creating a notes document through the meeting details will automatically populate the document with the calendar event information and attach the document to the event. The document can then be shared with event attendees in bulk, making it much easier for you and all the other guests to find and reference the notes. This feature is currently only available in Calendar and Docs on the web. Read more.
Making Google Classroom video meetings easier and more secure
We’ve added several new features to Google Meet in Classroom, making it easier and more secure:
The Class Meet link is now accessible on the side of the class stream, so students can easily join and teachers can manage the link from the stream. Students will be directed to a waiting room until a teacher has officially joined the class Meet link. Guests not on the class roster will have to “ask to join” and be admitted by the teacher before they can participate, so no unintended participants join the meetings. All designated co-teachers for a class will automatically be co-hosts in the meeting. This moderation tool will enable co-hosts to start the meeting with the same Meet link without the class teacher needing to be present. Read more.
Control whether students can unenroll themselves from classes
We’re adding an Admin console setting that will enable admins to control whether students can unenroll from classes. If turned on, it will prevent students from unenrolling themselves from classes. A teacher or admin would have to unenroll them from the class instead. Read more.
Backup and Sync users should begin transitioning to Drive for desktop
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. Read more.
Use the "Slideshow" button in Google Slides
| New "Slideshow" button in Slides |
| Old "Present" button in Slides |
We’re replacing what was previously the “Present” button in Slides to now say “Slideshow.” We hope this makes it clearer when you are beginning a slide show, and when you are sharing your screen in Meet. Read more.
Add image watermarks in Google Docs
You can now add image watermarks directly into Google Docs. This watermark image will repeat behind the text on every page of your document. This is useful for adding company logos, branding, and custom designs. Read more
Configure membership restrictions for groups, available in open beta
This feature is available as an open beta, which means you can use it without enrolling in a specific beta program. Read more.
Additional support for continuous framing to more Google Meet hardware devices, available by default for all eligible devices
Continuous framing is a feature for Google Meet hardware devices that ensures participants are automatically framed no matter where they are in the room. We're making two updates to the feature:
Hand raising available in Chromebase for Google Meet
Last year, we announced the ability to virtually raise your hand in Google Meet to enhance interaction without disrupting the flow of the conversation. We are now bringing this feature to Acer Chromebase for Google Meet, and all Google Meet Series One Room Kits to help bring a more unified experience to hybrid working. Read more.
Updated flow for managing backup codes for 2-step verification purposes
We’ve made a slight adjustment to how you create and manage backup codes for 2-step verification. Rather than generating or accessing backup codes from the 2-step verification homepage,
Now, you’ll select the backup codes option from the 2-step verification home page — from here, you’ll be taken to a dedicated backup codes page. Here, you’ll have the ability to generate new backup codes or re-fresh for additional backup codes, and print or download your codes as before. A new option you’ll notice is the ability to delete your backup codes. Read more.
Source: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com