Google debuts Meet features which includes ‘Companion mode’

Google today announced a series of updates across Workspace, its collection of cloud computing, productivity, and collaboration tools, application, and solutions formerly identified as G Suite. Among the highlights are enhanced search, Meet calling, and live-translated captions in Meet, as properly as new all-in-one video conferencing devices for Meet from Logitech and Avocor.

As millions of enterprises emerge from more than a year of totally remote work, the hybrid work model is becoming the new normal. According to one survey, 44% of staff and employers favor hybrid working arrangements, although only 5% mention totally remote work as a possibility.

Spaces

This morning marks the launch of spaces in Workspace, which are dashboards for actual-time project collaboration. First announced in July, spaces — which can be made discoverable in search — integrate tools like Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Tasks, offering a way for customers to engage in subject-based discussions.

“With spaces, teams can share ideas, collaborate on documents, and manage tasks from a single place,” Sanaz Ahari, senior director of item management, explained in a weblog post. “Because all their work is preserved for future reference, team members can easily jump in and contribute at a time that works best for them, seeing a full history of the conversations, context, and content along the way.”

Beyond spaces, Workspace is gaining a unified dashboard with access to inboxes, chats, and meetings and in-line subject threading, which enables customers to reply to any message inside a space. Also new are tools for content moderation and managing spaces, and the potential to set the place (e.g., virtual or physical) for every single work day on a standard basis or by segmentable working hours in Calendar.

New Meet experiences

On the Meet side, Google is rolling out Meet calling on each mobile and desktop devices. Coming 1st to one-to-one chats inside the Gmail app and other Workspace endpoints in the future, Meet calling enables Workspace customers to get in touch with members of teams straight from a one-to-one chat, ringing their devices operating the Gmail app and forwarding calls to Gmail operating in a internet browser.

In November, Companion mode will come to Meet, letting customers host or join a meeting from inside a conference area employing a laptop although tapping the in-area audio and video. With Companion mode, customers can share content or see presentations on their devices without having audio reverb, plus access the meeting chat and whiteboard, vote on polls, and post inquiries in the Q&ampA.

Accompanying Companion mode is a live-translated captions feature, which will be offered in Meet by means of by the finish of the year. Google says it’ll translate meetings in English to French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, with more to come in the close to future.

Meet hardware

Google also announced additions to its Meet hardware portfolio, following the unveiling of its Series One Room Kits earlier this year. One is the Series One Desk 27, an all-in-one 27-inch device, and the other is the Series One Board 65, a 65-inch 4K show that can be paired with an optional stand. Both have been made in partnership with Avocor, have Google’s Jamboard app constructed in, and can be applied as an external show by way of USB-C.

New third-party choices incorporate the Logitech Rally Bar Mini and Rally Bar, which are developed for little and mid-sized rooms, and the Rayz Rally Pro, a mobile device speaker dock by Appcessori that automatically launches Meet for video meetings.

These devices will be the 1st to assistance bidirectional interoperability with Citrix, permitting customers to launch a Meet meeting on Webex hardware and a Webex meeting on Meet hardware. Calling interoperability among Meet and Webex is supported on Series One Board 65, Series One Desk 27, and the rest of the Meet hardware portfolio, as properly as Webex Room Series, Room Kit Series, Desk Series, and Board Series. Google expects basic availability later this year.

“As some people return to the office, teams need that ability to flexibly collaborate from anywhere, anytime,” Ahari stated in a press release. “At Google, we face the same challenges that I’ve heard from many of our customers: how do we stay in sync, make decisions, and build team culture in a hybrid environment? The innovations we’re bringing to customers today help bridge the gaps of virtual and in-person collaboration. I’m especially excited about spaces — a new, dedicated place in Workspace to share information, advance projects, and build community as teammates.”

Growth in remote meetings

The expansion of Workspace comes as providers commence to recognize the advantages of remote and hybrid work. Businesses save an typical of $11,000 per half-time telecommuter per year, as per the newest survey by Global Workspace Analytics. Nearly 9 in 10 staff state that video conferences decrease the time it requires to total their projects, resulting in prospective operational savings.

“With long-term hybrid workflows gaining traction, organizations are looking for better ways to adapt to rapidly changing work environments and needs of employees,” Dan Root, senior analyst at Wainhouse Research, stated in a statement. “Workspace is continuing to expand its product offerings and capabilities in order to provide the right technology and tools that allow individuals and organizations to embrace a work from anywhere culture. For example, the new Meet Series One hardware devices can flex and scale to the user’s desired workflow, helping to more readily bridge the gaps of hybrid work.”

Google stated throughout its July earnings get in touch with that Workspace income rose in the previous quarter, driven by development in each seats and typical commit per seat. The company’s Google Cloud unit, which homes collaboration tools, saw sales climb 54% year-on-year to $4.6 billion.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz