Google Adding Features to the G Suite

It is apparent that Google is deeply invested in the G Suite, as they recently added an assortment of features to make basic processes much simpler and more convenient for their users. Here, we’ll go over a few of these updates, and how they can positively influence your operations.

Search Chips in Gmail

All G Suite subscribers will soon see improved search capabilities within Gmail, as Google’s developers have added an extra feature to help narrow down search results. Once a search is performed within Gmail, contextual options will appear below the search field.

For instance, let’s say you were looking for a specific email from your colleague Brian. Simply searching for “Brian” would bring up a mess of messages, chats, updates, and invites. Search Chips allows you to narrow your search by various filters without manually typing them. So, if you knew that the message from Brian you were looking for had a PDF attached, you can search for emails from Brian with PDFs attached.

Again, while this feature is currently exclusive to the G Suite, all Gmail accounts will soon have this capability built in.

Expanded Out of Office Notifications

Are you planning on being out of the office for an extended amount of time? Google is adding a feature that allows you to present this information in more context to your contacts who have access to your Google calendar. Suppose you have a vacation scheduled in your Google calendar. If Brian wanted to get in touch with you during that time, he would see that you were gone and when to expect you back.

Google Docs Autocorrect and Smart Compose

Google Docs (at least, the online version) is being augmented with the ability to automatically correct a user’s errors as they type – something many users will likely find to be a welcome addition. This feature is slated to be released to select G Suite subscription types. Likewise, select G Suite subscriptions may have noticed Smart Compose predictions appearing in their Google Docs as of late.

Admin Console Improvements

Administrators should be happy to see the assorted improvements that have been made to their Admin consoles, and we’re talking about more than the aesthetic changes. The entire interface’s integration has been improved, with more context provided in the options.

Context Aware Access in G Suite

There are just some things that different levels in an organization need and don’t need, respectively, which means that certain users shouldn’t be able to access certain things.  While admins were once only able to differentiate access control through organizational units, you can now control access via a user’s identity and the context that is inferred by a request. This means more granular control over your data, and by extension, more secure data. However, to use this feature, you have to be a G Suite user of Enterprise, Enterprise for Education, Cloud Identity Premium, or Drive Enterprise.

Which of these additions do you find the most promising? Do you wish any were more widely available? Let us know in the comments!