Google Workspace is now officially available

Google announced today that its Workspace services are now available to everyone for free. The service was formerly known as G Suite. Now it is presented with several new capabilities. 

This powerful online tool aims to enable deeper collaboration between users. 

Workspace hosts secure, high-quality video meetings. It uses the same Google productivity apps like Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Meet, Sheets, Slides, Chat, etc. However, it is wrapped differently, providing deeper interactions between different apps. 

For the users desiring more from their Workspace, Google offers paid service. Individual subscriptions will cost $9.99 a month. However, an introductory price is $7.99 a month. After the subscription, the users will get access to premium capabilities such as smart booking services, personalized email marketing, and professional video meetings. The paid service will soon be available in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Brazil. 

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, also mentioned the new chat service at the Google I/O developers conference. He talked about the ability to create Rooms collaboration space in Google Chat. With its help, the users will be able to share ideas, pictures, and videos, keep everyone up to date, and keep track of all their essential information. 

The company also introduced several Workspace futures. 

Google Meet

Google Meet is getting a companion mode in September. This feature aims to meet participants in a physical meeting room and interact with remote participants. It makes screen sharing, polls, in-meeting chat, hand raises, and Q&A live captions available on the partners’ devices. Every participant using the companion mode will also get their video tile.

RSVP option

The new PSVP option will allow the users to select whether they will participate remotely, or in a meeting room, or do not participate at all. Also, new moderation controls empower hosts to mute and unmute individual participants. 

The company also announced that it would let users bring their encryption keys. Currently, it encrypts user data but manages the key for them. Since you may want to increase your security by bringing your keys to the service, Google tries to enable this. The company has partnered with providers such as Futurex, Flowcrypt, Thales, and Virtru.

On the other hand, Google will introduce trust rules for Drive. It will give admins control over sharing files within an organization or externally. Besides, the company helps protect your data against phishing threats by allowing admins to enable phishing protections.