In addition, you can now transfer calls using the Google Voice mobile and web apps. In a few simple steps, you can send a call to the appropriate person, whether that’s an intelligently-suggested contact, searching in your directory or a manually entered phone number.
Call transferring is available in Voice on Android, iOS, and the web.
Getting started
Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: These features will be available to Voice customers by default. Visit the Help Center to learn more about transferring calls or using Google Voice in Gmail.
Gmail has many options to customize layout, look and feel, and other details to make sure the interface is personalized and optimized for how you like to work. These include:
Customizing the density of text and information displayed
Choosing a different inbox type to help intelligently prioritize and organize emails
Adding reading panes to quickly see email contents
Applying themes to personalize the look and feel of your inbox
We’re making these options easier to find, and letting you explore them in real time, so your actual inbox will update immediately to show you exactly what the setting will do. We hope this makes it easier to set up Gmail the way that works best for you.
Additional details
Note that this update just adds an easier way to access settings that already exist in the full Gmail settings menu. There are no new settings, and users’ existing settings won’t be changed with this update. You can still see the full settings menu by clicking the “See all settings” button at the top of the new quick settings menu.
The new Admin console setting to turn new Groups on or off
If you leave new Groups turned ON in the Admin console
Starting on June 9, we’ll begin redirecting users in Rapid Release domains to the new interface when they visit groups.google.com. On June 23, users in Scheduled release domains will begin seeing the new experience.
Individual users will have the option to revert to the classic UI by going to Settings > Return to classic Google Groups. If they opt-out, they will see the classic interface when they visit Groups next. Users can switch between classic and new Groups as many times as they like.
If you turn new Groups OFF in the Admin console
If you turn new Groups OFF in the Admin console, your users will not be able to access the new UI and will see the classic interface whenever they go to Google Groups. Note that users who have new Groups turned off by their admin will also not be able to access any new Groups URL, even if they’re sent a direct link by another user that is using the new interface.
If your organization participated in the beta
Organizations participating in the alpha or beta will start to see the setting to turn new Groups on or off in the Admin console starting on May 26. If an alpha or beta Admin uses the Admin console setting to turn off new Groups, that will take effect within 24 hours. All users currently using new Groups through the beta would be reverted back to classic Groups.
End users at organizations that are part of the alpha or beta program and who are currently using the new interface will continue to see the new user interface throughout, unless their admin turns off new Groups at a domain level.
End users at organizations that are part of the alpha or beta program who have previously reverted to classic Groups will continue to see the old interface, and will have the option to use new Groups if they want.
Getting started
Admins: The new interface will be ON by default and can be disabled at the domain level by going to Admin Console > Apps > G Suite > Groups for Business > New groups. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing new Google Groups for your organization.
End users: The new interface will be ON by default and can be disabled or enabled by the user on each browser.
Rollout pace
Admin console setting
Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 26, 2020. We expect the rollout to be complete in 7 days.
End user rollout:
Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 9, 2020.
Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on June 23, 2020.
We’re launching a new beta program that allows you to share folders in shared drives. The beta is now closed.
Who’s impacted
Admins, end users, and developers
Why you’d use it
Shared drives are a powerful way to empower teams and organizations to store, access, and collaborate on files. Until now, all permissions were set at the shared drive level or the individual file level, and it wasn’t possible to share specific folders within a shared drive.
With this beta, you can share a specific folder with other users, or upgrade member access to provide users with additional permissions on specific folders within shared drives. Examples of how you can use this include:
For a marketing department, you can have a shared drive accessible by all internal employees, with a specific folder for advertising materials that’s also accessible to an external agency.
For a sales department organized by region, you can have a shared drive that enables team managers and directors to see all activity, with regional teams only able to see the information relevant to their specific area of focus in a shared folder.
For a shared drive used to prepare for a specific event, you can give all members view access to all files, while providing each specific team with edit access to the documents relevant to their part of the event.
Share a folder with non-members and give members upgraded access on folders
Additional details
Manager access level needed to share folders Folders in a shared drive can only be shared by managers of that shared drive. Other shared drive access levels (e.g. content manager and commenter) are not eligible to share folders, because they are not allowed to control broad access to content. Folders in shared drives have the same access levels as the shared drives themselves, with the exception of the manager.
These access levels include: Content manager (default), Contributor, Commenter, and Viewer. Note that a Contributor on a folder is an Editor on a file in that folder.
Folder access levels can only be expanded, not reduced, from the shared drive level Access levels assigned at the shared drive level represent the minimum level of access users will have to all files and folders within that shared drive. This ensures transparency, predictability, and scalability. As a result, the access level of a user for a folder within a shared drive can only ever be greater than the access level of that user for the shared drive itself; it can’t be more restrictive.
For example, a Commenter on a shared drive cannot be just a Viewer of a folder within that shared drive. However, a Viewer on a shared drive can have their access level expanded to Commenter or Contributor for specific files and subfolders within that shared drive. Therefore, if permission on a file or folder is downgraded, the action will take place on one or more parent folders where the permission was inherited from.
An example of the dialog if access level is reduced for a sub-folder in a shared drive
What happens with file and folder moves When shared files or folders are moved in, within, or between shared drives, inherited access to content will be updated accordingly, and direct access will be preserved. The same is true when shared files or folders are moved from a shared drive to a user’s My Drive.
For example, imagine a document was originally in the Sales team shared drive. All members of the Sales team have Viewer access to the shared drive and so have Viewer access to the document. Additionally, five individual Sales team members have Editor access to the specific document. If that file was moved out of the Sales team drive, the Sales team would lose their inherited Viewer access, but the five individual users would still have Editor permissions.
As these (shared) folder moves can make broad changes to content access, folders moved into or between shared drives are only allowed for users who are managers on both the original as well as the target location.
Note: We will start to enforce the manager requirement with this beta program, and on September 1, 2020, for all G Suite customers. Going forward, it will no longer be possible for Contributors or Content managers on the target destination to move folders in or between shared drives.
Getting started
Admins: This beta is now closed.
End users: Once this feature is enabled for your domain, to share a folder: Select a folder in a shared drive of which you are a manager and click on share in the folder menu (toolbar) to open the share dialog. From there, you can share the folder.
Availability
Available to G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, G Suite for Education, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits customers
Not available to G Suite Basic customers and users with personal Google Accounts
The new 2-Step Verification settings section in the Admin console
In the 2SV section you can configure 2-Step Verification enforcement by OU
New section for single sign-on settings for SAML applications We’re making some updates to the settings you use to set up single sign-on for SAML applications. You may notice:
The settings that apply to all SAML applications when Google is the Identity Provider (IdP) are now in their own section in Security settings at Admin Console > Security > Set up single sign-on (SSO) for SAML applications.
The functionality is not changing but you will find a more streamlined experience for managing certificates and to download IdP metadata.
The new SSO for SAML settings section in the Admin console
The new SSO for SAML area where you can control related settings
Getting started
Admins: The new per-OU 2SV enrollment feature will be set to ON at the organization level (root OU) if and only if you had allowed 2SV enrollment for your organization prior to this launch, so that there is no change in behavior for your organization. After the launch, you can now change 2SV enrollment at an OU level. You can also use exception groups for 2SV enrollment settings, similar to how 2SV enforcement settings support them. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to deploy 2-Step Verification for your organization.
End users: There is no end user impact for the feature.
Additionally, you’ll need to designate a room as "External" when you create it, and you won’t be able to change this setting after the room is created. This means you won’t be able to add external users to any rooms created before this launch, as those will remain "internal."
Admins: This feature will respect your existing "Chat externally" setting, which will apply to both classic Hangouts and Google Chat going forward. It can be controlled at the organizational unit (OU) or domain level. Visit the Help Center for more information on how to turn the “Chat externally" setting on or off in the Admin console.
Ability to start new conversations with external users
Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on May 26, 2020. You’ll know this feature has been enabled for your domain when your users begin to see the options to create external rooms and add external users.
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.
