Collaboration Services News and Updates

Table of contents

• Google Calendar
• New color categorization in Calendar to better understand how you’re spending your time
• Google Chat
• Easily search for Chat spaces in Gmail
• Hold separate conversations in Google Chat spaces with in-line threading
• Conversation summaries in Google Chat help you stay on top of messages in Spaces
• Google Docs
• Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs
• Insert emojis inline with text in Google Docs
• Google Drive
• More ways to collaborate using visitor sharing in Google Drive Shared Drives
• More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings
• Google Meet
• Easily share Google Meet artifacts with co-hosts
• In-room meeting participants can now join break out rooms
• Transcribe speech during Google Meet calls into a Google Doc
• Present Google Slides directly in Google Meet

Google Calendar

New color categorization in Calendar to better understand how you’re spending your time

Events in Google Calendar can now be given a custom label with an associated color. In combination with Time Insights, a feature designed to allow you to see the big picture for how you’re spending your time, this allows you to see how your time spent on events with a particular label. For example, you can label Project-related events with a “Project” label and unique color to see how long each week you spend in Project-related meetings.

To get started, first create a label by right-clicking an event on Google Calendar on desktop, then click “Add a label.” 

In the pop-up, you can add one or more labels with their own colors.

Then, right click the event again and select the label you’d like to associate. Events colored with these labels will have their own coloring in your Time Insights chart when viewing it By Color.

For more information about this feature, visit: Use color labels to track calendar entries

Feature Availability: This feature is available now for all users.

Google Chat

Easily search for Chat spaces in Gmail

In Gmail, you can now search for Chat Spaces to join more easily. Searching for keywords will show relevant Spaces that you are able to join, between Restricted spaces you’re invited to, Spaces that are open to join in your domain, and Spaces you’re already a member of.

To get started searching for a Space, type a query into the Gmail Search Box > hit enter > navigate to the Spaces results list. Spaces that you are not in, but can join will have “Preview” and “Join” buttons next to the search result.

For more information about this feature, visit: Search Gmail for an available space – Gmail Help.

Feature Availability: This feature is available now for all users.

Hold separate conversations in Google Chat spaces with in-line threading

In-line threading, a new way conversations in Spaces can be organized, will soon be an option that can be selected when creating a Space. In-line threading allows conversations to branch off separately without breaking the flow of other messages sent in the Space.

Similarly to threads created in the “space organized by conversation topic” style, you can subscribe to threads by being the original sender of the first message, being a responder to the thread, or manually choosing to “Follow” the thread. By default, all of these individuals will receive notifications for new messages unless they’ve unfollowed the thread or have changed their notification settings.

Notes: 

• Unfortunately, Spaces where the creator previously selected to use the “organization by topic” style of threading will not be able to be changed and must be recreated to use the in-line style of threading.
• Spaces which were previously set to not use threading previously (“unthreaded Spaces”) will automatically be able to use in-line threading when the feature becomes available.
• Beginning early 2023, the option to create spaces organized by topic will no longer be available.

For more information about this feature, visit: Learn how to manage a space with in-line threading.

Feature Availability: This feature is currently rolling out to all users and should be available on or before November 1, 2022.

Conversation summaries in Google Chat help you stay on top of messages in Spaces

Conversation summaries, a feature announced at the Google I/O 2022 event, is now rolling out for Chat Spaces. Conversation summaries are automatically generated highlights of conversations that occurred in a Space while you were away, allowing you to catch up quickly and jump to those conversations.

For more information about this feature, visit: Conversation summary in spaces.

Feature Availability: This feature is anticipated to be available by or shortly after November 17, 2022.

Google Docs

Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs

Checklists, a smart canvas feature announced in 2021, allow you to create a checklist to allow you to keep track of and mark off certain items. Now, checklists are integrated with Google Tasks, allowing you to assign checklist items to a specific individual. Similarly to other ways tasks are assigned, these Tasks will appear in the assignee’s Task list and Calendar (if a due date is specified) allowing the assignee to see and keep track of the task.

Feature Availability: We are seeing a delayed rollout for this feature. An update will be provided both here and in our next blog post when it is available. 

Insert emojis inline with text in Google Docs

Using the @ menu in Google Docs, you can now easily insert emojis inline in your Google Doc. 

To get started, in your Google Doc begin by typing the @ symbol to bring up the menu, type “Emoji,” then select it from the menu. 

This will show the Emoji picker, which will allow you to choose an emoji to insert to your Doc. 

You can also type “@:” and then the description of your desired emoji to more quickly insert an Emoji you’re already thinking of

For more information about this feature, visit: Insert emojis & special characters.

Feature Availability: This feature is available now for all users.

Google Drive

More ways to collaborate using visitor sharing in Google Drive Shared Drives

Visitor sharing allows collaborators to invite others without Google accounts to collaborate on Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and other Drive files. Now, visitor sharing has been extended to allow visitors to be shared on files and folders inside of a shared drive. This allows them to add or upload files to a folder in addition to editing and/or commenting or viewing files.

To get started, right click on a folder or file in a shared drive, then click “Share.” Enter the email address that is not associated with a Google account. Change the role to “Contributor” or lower, optionally add a message, then click “Send.” The external email address will receive an email indicating they have been shared on a folder or file with a link to open the folder asking the external participant to verify ownership of the external email address. Once verified, they will be able to begin collaborating. At any time, a shared drive manager can remove the visitor or the visitor can delete their visitor session, removing access.

For more information about visitor sharing, visit: Share documents with visitors – Google Drive Help.

Feature Availability: This feature is available to all shared drive users now.

More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings

You can now set Accessibility settings individually for each Doc Editors. Previously, the Accessibility settings set in one Editor affected all of the Doc Editors. Now, you can customize this granularly if certain settings are preferred for certain Editors.

Feature Availability: This feature is available now for all users.

Google Meet

Easily share Google Meet artifacts with co-hosts

In Google Meet, in addition to the host being notified of meeting artifacts (Meet recordings, attendance reports, poll results, etc.), co-hosts now can be notified and shared on those files as well through a setting in the Google Calendar event. To allow these artifacts to be shared, they must be set up as co-hosts in the Calendar event ahead of the meet and enabling the option for “Call artifacts are shared with the host and co-hosts you add here.”

Notes:

• If you promote someone to a co-host during an ongoing meeting, they won’t get Meeting Artifacts for that particular meeting. You must add them as a co-host when you set up or edit the event in Google Calendar. 
• If a participant’s co-host status is removed during the meeting, they still get Meeting Artifacts. They won’t receive artifacts for any future meetings that use the same code. 
• Co-hosts added to a series of ongoing meetings get Meeting Artifacts for future meetings that use the same code. 

Feature Availability: This feature is available now for all users.

In-room meeting participants can now join break out rooms

When a meeting room (a room with Google Meet hardware) is participating in a Meet, the host can now assign that meeting room to a breakout room, allowing the participants to partake in a collaborative session similarly to other participants.

To get started, the host will first create breakout rooms as normal. When assigning the participants (either individually placing the participants or through randomized placement), the meeting room will also be able to be assigned.

This announcement was made at the Google Cloud Next event. 

Feature Availability: This feature is anticipated to be available on or before October 27, 2022. 

Transcribe speech during Google Meet calls into a Google Doc

In a Google Meet, a user can now initiate an automatic transcription of the meeting which is shared when the meeting has concluded, after which it can be easily shared or referred to after the meeting. It provides a benefit over a meeting recording where the transcription Google Doc is more lightweight than a full video recording and can be more easily skimmed for important points. Additionally, it can be used alongside a recording where a transcription and recording can be paired together, such as Kaltura.

Notes:

• If Host Management is turned off, any meeting participant can initiate transcriptions.
• If Host Management is turned on, only the host or co-hosts will be able to initiate transcriptions.
• If a meeting is being transcribed, participants who have not yet joined will see a message indicating the meeting is being transcribed:
  
• For meetings with fewer than or equal to 200 invitees, the meeting host, co-hosts, or the transcript initiator will receive a link to the transcription document via email after the meeting ends. Additionally, the transcript will automatically be attached to the associated calendar invite for the meeting.
• For meetings with more than 200 attendees, the transcription will only be shared with the meeting organizers, host, and co-hosts, and individual users who initiated a transcription. 
• For recurring meetings, new transcription documents will be continually added to the Calendar invite.

This announcement was made at the Google Cloud Next event. 

More information and documentation will become available closer to release of the feature at this link (currently not accessible): https://support.google.com/a/answer/12076932

Feature Availability: This feature is anticipated to be available by or shortly after November 8, 2022.

Present Google Slides directly in Google Meet

Google Slides now has direct integration with Google Meet, allowing a presenter to play a slideshow and move the slides without needing to change tabs and take away attention from the Google Meet tab.

To get started, first select the “Present Now” button in a Google Meet. Then, select “A Tab” and select the tab where the Google Slides presentation is. Google Meet will automatically detect when a Slides tab has been selected and will display slideshow controls in the Meet. 

For more information, visit: Control Slides presentations in Google Meet.

Feature Availability: This feature is anticipated to be available by or shortly after November 4, 2022.

Categories Google Calendar, Google Chat, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Feature Updates and Changes, Google Meet, Google Tasks and Google Keep, Google Workspace News