Google has announced that it is making its Workspace service (previously known as G Suite) available to everyone, including consumers on free Google accounts. Users starting this Monday can enable the integrated experience in Google Workspace by turning on Google Chat in Gmail.
Apart from Workspace integration, Google has also announced new innovations that address the specific challenges and opportunities of the hybrid work world. It has also launched a subscription offer called ‘Workspace Individual’ to help business owners grow, run, and protect their business.
The new Workspace Individual service provides users with premium capabilities, including smart booking services, professional video meetings and personalized email marketing and more.
With Workspace now being made available to everyone, Google states that users will now be able to easily manage all their personal and professional commitments from one place. They will also have access to Google support to get the most out of their solution.
Workspace Individual will soon start rolling out to six markets, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brazil and Japan.
“Our focus is on delivering consumers, workers, teachers and students alike an equitable approach to collaboration, while still providing the flexibility that allows these different subsets of users to take their own approach to communication and collaboration,” said Javier Soltero, VP and GM, Google Workspace.
Other new features
Google has introduced Spaces for the Rooms experience in Google Chat. It will be a dedicated place for organising people, topics and projects in Google Workspace. Spaces will integrate with files and tasks.
The new Companion Mode will be available on the web and Google Meet’s upcoming progressive web app in September.
The hybrid meetings feature will soon be making its way on to Google Meet, which will allow attendees to RSVP with their join location, indicating whether they’ll be joining in a meeting room or remotely.
Google has also stated that they will be debuting key moderation controls for hosts of Google Meet meetings providing them with the ability to prevent the use of in-meeting chat and prohibit presenting during meetings.
