Updates to Google Apps – May 2013

Last week marked the sixth annual Google I/O in San Francisco, and with it, many key product announcements. We have created the following summary of the five product launches that may have implications for your Google Apps business. 1) Google+ Hangouts will be replacing Google Talk, Chat in Gmail, and Google+ Messenger to create a better experience to send messages, […]

Last week marked the sixth annual Google I/O in San Francisco, and with it, many key product announcements. We have created the following summary of the five product launches that may have implications for your Google Apps business.

1) Google+ Hangouts will be replacing Google Talk, Chat in Gmail, and Google+ Messenger to create a better experience to send messages, photos and make video calls with co-workers. Hangouts is available in Gmail, Google+, on iOS or Android device, and as a Chrome extension.

  • Google+ Hangouts is in preview, so Google does not provide technical support for it. However, Google does provide best effort support for the new Google+ Hangouts.
  • Google+ Hangouts is turned OFF by default for Apps for Business, Education, and Government edition domains. Domain admins must opt-in via the Admin console. After opting in, Admins can choose to opt out for the domain or for organizational units within it whenever they want.
  • IMPORTANT: Domains that have opted-in to Google+ Hangouts cannot purchase Google Apps Vault. Domains that have purchased Vault or are under data location restrictions will not be able to opt-in.
  • Enterprise controls do not apply to Google+ Hangouts at this time (e.g. allow or warn users when chatting outside domain, block display of users’ chat status outside of domain)
  • For Enterprise environments, it is advised to continue to use Google Talk for messaging (and Hangouts for video conferencing) while Google+ Hangouts is in preview. It is recommended to only opt-in to using Google+ Hangouts for messaging on test domains until all implications are fully understood.

2) Gmail quick action buttons appear next to certain types of messages in the Gmail inbox and enables action on an email without ever having to open it.

  • This new feature is available today to Rapid Release domains and will roll out to Scheduled Release domains in two weeks.
  • Refer to the help center article for more information.
  • This will allow third party developers to build buttons for a single action, such as create calendar appointment from email or create task from email. Perhaps Evernote will be able to clip an entire email.

3) Send Money in Gmail with Google Wallet without ever leaving the inbox. When composing an email, hover over the paperclip icon and click the $ symbol to attach money. Type in the amount of money in USD, select payment method and send the email as usual. Payments can be funded from Google Wallet, bank account or credit/debit cards.

  • This will slowly roll out to Rapid Release domains over the coming months with no firm date set for Schedule Release domains. There is no way to opt in at this time.
  • Initially, this will only be available in US.
  • Google Wallet must be enabled in the Admin console. Make sure Google Wallet is OFF in the Admin console to block this feature for users. Note that to disable Google Wallet you need to disable Google Offers first.
  • Sending money through Gmail is only available in the new compose experience. Upgrade by clicking “Try out the new compose experience” link next to the “Labels” button in Gmail.
  • The recipient does not need to have Gmail address, but will be prompted to sign in or sign up for Google Wallet to accept the money.
  • If the recipient’s domain has Google Wallet disabled, the recipient will be unable to receive the money in his/her account and the sender will see the money returned to their account or credit card.

4) Gmail and Drive storage unification (announced on Monday, May 13) combines the 25GB for Gmail and 5GB for Drive included with Google Apps into a single 30GB combined storage quota across Gmail, Drive and Google+ Photos. This means any additional storage purchased (via existing ordering mechanisms) will be shared across Gmail, Drive and Google+ Photos.

  • This update is expected to roll out to Rapid Release domains starting May 21st, and to Scheduled Release domains starting June 4th. Current help center articles relating to storage will be updated at that time.
  • Gmail inboxes are no longer limited to 25GB. Each user can store up to 16TB of email by purchasing additional storage licenses.
  • Users will see a warning that they have reached their storage limit and will have a short grace period in which they can still use Gmail normally.
  • Admin managed storage is shared across Gmail, Drive, and Google+ Photos as well.

To keep up to date with the changes and features of Google Apps, please subscribe to our newsletter:

SixFive is a Google Apps authorised reseller. If you’d like some assistance in migrating to an email, calendar and document platform that is easy to use and will remove some headaches from your business, drop us a line, we’d be only too happy to assist you.

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Duncan Isaksen-Loxton

Educated as a web developer, with over 20 years of internet based work and experience, Duncan is a Google Workspace Certified Collaboration Engineer and a WordPress expert.
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