Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – March 29, 2024

New updates 

There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements. 

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

Send voice messages in Google Chat 
In continuing our efforts to improve the Google Chat experience and help ensure it’s a useful tool for seamless communication, especially when on the go, we’ve introduced voice messages on Chat mobile (with web support coming soon). | Available to Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus customers only. | Learn more about voice messages in Chat.
Workspace audit log exports in BigQuery now enriched with Drive label metadata 
For admins who analyze audit logs in BigQuery, these events are now enriched with Drive labels metadata. Admins leverage Drive labels to apply descriptive metadata, such as file sensitivity, to Drive items. With the enrichment of label metadata on log events, admins can now focus their analysis on activity occurring on their most important files by filtering on label conditions. | Available to Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus customers only. | Learn more about Drive label metadata. 
Access and sort shared files within a space in Google Chat more easily 
We’re enhancing the Files tab in Google Chat spaces to improve upon the file management experience and create a central place to manage all conversation-related artifacts. The updated tab will now be called Shared. | Learn more about Shared in Chat.
Launch Miro directly from Google Meet Series One Board 65 and Desk 27 devices 
Users now have the ability to launch Miro from a Series One Board 65 or Desk 27, either in an active Meet call or directly from the device home screen. | Learn more about launching Miro from Google Meet.

Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains: 

Scheduled Release Domains: 
Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).  

  

Launch Miro directly from Google Meet Series One Board 65 and Desk 27 devices

What’s changing

For more than a year, Workspace users have enjoyed the convenience of launching Miro’s visual collaboration tools that can be directly installed in Google Meet.

We’re building upon this by giving users the ability to launch Miro from a Series One Board 65 or Desk 27, either in an active Meet call or directly from the device home screen. 

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users 

Why you’d use it 

Previously, you could access Miro’s rich tools and templates on the Board 65 and Desk 27, such as brainstorming with digital sticky notes and planning agile workflows, during a Meet call. With this update, you can access these tools directly from the Board 65 and Desk 27 whenever collaboration strikes, outside of a Meet call. Visit the Google Workspace Blog for more information on the Google Meet and Miro integration.

Additional details

In late 2024, we will wind down the Jamboard whiteboarding app and continue with the previously planned end of support for Google Jamboard devices. Leveraging our partner ecosystem, including Miro, FigJam and LucidSpark, is part of our effort to continue providing the best whiteboard experiences in Workspace. Please use the following article in the Miro Help Center for more information about migrating your Jamboard files to Miro.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using add ons with Google Meet on Desk 26 and Board 65 devices.End users: If enabled by your admin, visit the Help Center to learn more about using add-ons with Google Meet on Desk 27 and Board 65 device. Use this article in the Miro Help Center to learn more about migrating your Google Jamboard files to Miro.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 28, 2024

Availability

The Miro import tool is available to all Workspace customers.The ability to open Miro on Board 65 and Desk 27 is available to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet Board 65 and Desk 27 devices.

Access and sort shared files within a space in Google Chat more easily

What’s changing

We’re enhancing the Files tab in Google Chat spaces to improve upon the file management experience and create a central place to manage all conversation-related artifacts. The updated tab will now be called Shared. 
In addition to the new tab name, you will also notice a refreshed user interface and features like a sort drop-down menu, support for shared links and media files, and more. 
This update reflects our continued effort to make Google Chat the central hub for project and team collaboration in Google Workspace. 

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it 

The new Shared tab improves team collaboration by providing a centralized and visible method to access shared content shared within a space. 

Additional details 

Using the new sort drop-down, you can narrow down the list of documents displayed based on category (file, link, media) or date shared. 

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. End users: At the top of a space in Google Chat, you will see the following tabs: Chat, Shared and Tasks. Upon clicking Shared, you will see three sections: Files, Links and Media. Visit the Help Center to learn more about sending & sharing files in Google Chat messages. 

Rollout pace 

Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 27, 2024 Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 17, 2024 

Availability 

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 

Resources 

Workspace audit log exports in BigQuery now enriched with Drive label metadata

What’s changing

Google Workspace audit logs enable admins to have visibility into activity on their data, such as file shares and downloads, when it occurred, and who within the organization performed the action. The Google Drive audit events include activity on content your users create in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, as well as the files that your users upload to Drive, such as PDFs and Microsoft Word files. 

Today, we’re excited to announce that for admins who analyze these logs in BigQuery, these events are now enriched with Drive labels metadata. Admins leverage Drive labels to apply descriptive metadata, such as file sensitivity, to Drive items. With the enrichment of label metadata on log events, admins can now focus their analysis on activity occurring on their most important files by filtering on label conditions. 

Getting started 

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn how to set up service log exports to BigQuery. End users: There is no end user setting for this feature. 

Rollout pace 

This feature is available now. 

Availability 

Available to Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus 

Resources 

Send voice messages in Google Chat

What’s changing 

In continuing our efforts to improve the Google Chat experience and help ensure it’s a useful tool for seamless communication, especially when on the go, we’re excited to introduce voice messages on Chat mobile (with web support coming soon). 
Sending a voice message instead of typing enables you to save time, convey more information, and emphasize the most important information for the message receiver. We hope this highly requested feature helps you communicate with others more effectively. 

Additional details 

We will be enabling transcription for voice messages in the coming months. 

Getting started 

Admins: This feature will be ON by default and can be disabled at the domain or OU level by disabling all attachments. Visit the Help Center to learn more about controlling file sharing in Chat. For purposes of Google Vault, Google Takeout, and Security Investigation Tool (SIT) moderation tools, voice messages are treated as attachments (like any other message in Chat). End users: You can send voice messages on mobile (to direct messages, group chats and spaces) and receive them on all platforms, including web. However, you cannot send voice messages on web at this time. To record on your Android or iOS device, tap the microphone icon > start speaking > watch a live waveform visualize your voice. A timer counts up so you know exactly how long you’ve been recording. You can preview and then send your voice message or delete it and try again if needed. Voice messages can be interacted with (quoted, reacted to, replied to in thread, etc.) just like any other Chat message. Visit the Help Center to learn more about sending voice messages in Google Chat.

Rollout pace 

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on March 26, 2024 Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on April 15, 2024 

Availability 

Available to Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus 

Resources