Latest Updates to Google Workspace

If you’ve been working at home through the past year then at some point you’ve probably come across Google Workspace (previously GSuite). A competitor to other digital workspaces such as Citrix and VMWare, the Google Workspace exists to bring all of its collaborative, communication and time management products together in one place to aid remote working.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant is getting even more functionality including updates to the voice control so that users can send messages, join meetings and update their work calendar by speaking instead of typing. This will roll out across mobile initially, with smart displays and speakers in beta initially.

Calendar

The Calendar app is going to now allow users to set segmentable working hours. These will give more granularity to users, as well as the option to set recurring jobs, out of office hours and location indicators. Google is also introducing “Focus Time” – once set up, notifications will be minimised automatically so users can ‘focus’ without distractions.

The updates to the Calendar app will sync across all products within Google Workspace – this includes Gmail, Chat and Meet.

Time Insights

Those who set up and use the Calendar app to the most of its enhanced functionality will be given the option of Time Insight notifications. These go directly to the employee in question and gives more detail on how their logged time is being spent.

Google Meet

Google Meet is a direct competitor to products such as Zoom and Teams and as such is quickly evolving to get ahead of the game. Whilst on apps such as Teams you can switch between devices during meetings, Google Meet will now allow users to have a second screen synced, so they can present on one and talk on the other. An example would be presenting on a laptop whilst talking on a smartphone.

Google Workspace Frontline

Business grade support will be available now for frontline workers across Google Drive, Docs, Chat and Gmail. Enhanced security is also being introduced such as advanced endpoint management, which will be attractive to business users especially.

AppSheets

These are simple apps that users can build themselves within Sheets and Drive. Designed to be intuitive and simple, they are aimed at frontline workers who need to streamline and digitalise their workload.