Tag Archives: Google Meet Hardware

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – August 19, 2022

New updates 


There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements. 


Previous announcements


The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



Improved quality and performance for Google Meet effects on the web 
Background effects are now more accurate for Google Meet users on the web. This allows you to experience more accurate background blur, background replace, and immersive background and styles. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus customers, and Workspace Individual users on eligible devices in eligible countries (Northern America, Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia, Southeastern Asia). Visit the Help Center to learn more about availability. | Learn more. 

More control over accessibility preferences in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings 
You’re now able to set preferences for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings individually, rather than having the same accessibility settings apply across these products. | Learn more. 

Updated user interface for managing email quarantines 
In the coming weeks, you will see a new user interface when using the email quarantine tool. This brings the email quarantine experience inline with other tools in the Admin console, making it more intuitive to navigate and use. | Learn more. 

See how much noise is being removed during Google Meet video calls 
Google Meet can now remove background noises such as typing, construction sounds, or background chatter. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Workspace Individual customers only. | Learn more. 

Conveniently connect site visitors with social channels in new Sites 
Site editors can now insert stylized social media links into pages within their site, enabling you to more conveniently connect site visitors with additional information and content on your social channels. | Learn more. 

Enhancements to the “Frame people” feature on Google Meet hardware devices 
We’ve introduced two enhancements on Google Meet hardware devices for the “Frame people” feature: 
  • The “Frame people” feature is now more easily discoverable and can be accessed in a meeting from the touch panel in fewer steps. 
  • A solution to a recent bug impacting the auto framing capability for some Google Meet hardware devices. The auto framing functionality has been restored to impacted devices with improved reliability and performance. 
Available to all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date. | Learn more. 

New color categorization in Calendar to better understand how you’re spending your time 
You can now categorize your time by naming and assigning a corresponding color label to an event within Time Insights in Calendar. | Available to Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 

Easily assign Tasks from Google Docs 
In Google Docs, you can now assign a checklist item to yourself or a colleague that will then show up in the assignee’s Tasks list. | Learn more. 


For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Enhancements to the “Frame people” feature on Google Meet hardware devices

What’s changing 

We’re introducing two enhancements on Google Meet hardware devices for the “Frame people” feature: 

  • The “Frame people” feature is now more easily discoverable and can be accessed in a meeting from the touch panel in fewer steps. Previously, this command required two steps by first selecting the camera control icon and then selecting “Frame people.” Now, it’s immediately visible on the touch panel. 



Note that you can still access the Camera control pane next to the new “Frame people” button. 

Camera control button





With this enhancement, we’ve also solved a recent bug impacting the auto framing capability for some Google Meet hardware devices. The auto framing functionality has been restored to impacted devices with improved reliability and performance. 


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

Being able to see people in a meeting room clearly is essential for improving the meeting experience in today's hybrid work environment. With the increased visibility of the “Frame people'' button on the Google Meet hardware touch panel, users can more easily and quickly adjust their camera to optimize the viewing experience for all participants. 


Getting started 

  • End users: No action required, these updates will be available automatically. Note: This feature is not available when other devices, such as a webcam, are plugged into a meeting hardware kit. 
  • Admins: There is no admin action required. 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available for all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date 

Resources

Google Meet call control for USB peripheral devices

What’s changing 

We’re introducing additional call control for Google Meet which will allow you to toggle between mute and unmute using headsets, speaker microphones, and other USB peripheral devices. 



Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

Video conferencing has become a cornerstone of the hybrid work experience, with Google Meet boosting communication and collaboration for teams of all sizes. This also means people consider the use of peripheral devices—from headsets, speakermics, mute buttons, and more—essential to their video meeting experience. 


To help ensure a more seamless meeting experience, you can conveniently mute or unmute yourself using USB peripheral devices. Additionally, you can use LED color changes on your device to determine when you are or aren’t muted. We plan to expand this functionality to muting video, ending a meeting, and more in the future. 


Additional Details 

Supported browsers 
This feature is currently only supported in Chrome or Chromium based browsers. 


Supported devices 

  • Call control will work with most USB telephony peripherals; however, the experience may differ from device to device. You can find a listing of Meet-certified headsets or speaker microphone can be found here. 
  • Bluetooth devices are not supported at this time. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin impact. 
  • End users: Enabling call control for your USB peripheral: 
    • In the pre-call green room navigate to Audio > Call Control > Connect device. You’ll be prompted to connect your USB peripheral. 
    • This setting can also be accessed during a call from More options (three-dot icon) > Audio > Call Control > Connect device.



  • How to use call control with your USB peripheral 
    • When you’re  in a meeting, you can press the mute / unmute button on the physical peripheral to toggle your mute state during the meeting.
    • Additionally, if your peripheral has an LED status light, the light will sync with your current mute status.


Rollout pace


Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.


Resources

Share your video feed when using Companion mode in Google Meet

Quick summary 

When using Companion mode in Google Meet, you can now turn your camera on and share your video feed with all other participants. For in-room participants attending a hybrid meeting, this feature helps improve collaboration and representation equity by giving everyone the ability to share their own video with other on-call participants.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: 
    • This feature will be available by default. You can join a meeting on the web using Companion mode from the green room before your meeting. To share your video feed, select “Turn on camera” from the Meet toolbar.
    • Use this Help Center article and video guide to learn more about using Companion mode in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

Share your video feed when using Companion mode in Google Meet

Quick summary 

When using Companion mode in Google Meet, you can now turn your camera on and share your video feed with all other participants. For in-room participants attending a hybrid meeting, this feature helps improve collaboration and representation equity by giving everyone the ability to share their own video with other on-call participants.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: 
    • This feature will be available by default. You can join a meeting on the web using Companion mode from the green room before your meeting. To share your video feed, select “Turn on camera” from the Meet toolbar.
    • Use this Help Center article and video guide to learn more about using Companion mode in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

Refreshed ASUS Google Meet Hardware kits available now

What’s changing 

Asus have refreshed their Google Meet hardware kits to give you powerful, easy to deploy solutions suited for hybrid work. 



Who’s impacted 

Admins 

Why it matters 


New hardware elements improve in-room experience
Debuting with the Asus hardware kits is the newly designed Google Speaker Mic for Google Meet (2nd gen). It provides excellent audio performance for your rooms with a sleek 30% smaller industrial design. It also comes with a magnetic table mount for easy installation.




Another part of the Asus hardware kits for Google Meet is “Myst Capture,” the new touch controller from Mimo. The Mimo Myst Capture features a refreshed industrial design which will give your conference rooms a more modern look. The new controller features standard HDMI and USB-C connectors and a USB-A connector for the speaker mic. Together with the included five-meter USB A-C cable, the new kit offers faster, simpler, and more reliable installations. 



Getting started 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers, with Google Meet hardware devices 

Resources 

New port for Google Meet media and TLS support for Meet on mobile

Quick launch summary 

Google Meet now supports SRTP in TLS on mobile, which increases overall compatibility and helps ensure a higher quality video meetings with Google Meet. 


In addition, Meet is introducing support to UDP port 3478 to deliver media (note that existing ports 19302–19309 deliver media as well). 


Getting started 

  • Admins: If you already use Meet today, configure your network to support Meet on port 3478. Note: If the port is blocked, Meet will fallback to port 19302​–19309. If you use DPI technology on port 443, add the corresponding user SNIs to the allowlist: 
    • Google Workspace admins: Meet traffic over TLS and port 3478 will use the same fixed IP range dedicated for Google Meet in Google Workspace domains. 
    • Non-Google Workspace admins: Meet traffic over TLS and port 3478 will use the fixed IP range dedicated for non-Google Workspace users. 
  • End users: No end-user impact. 

Rollout pace 

Meet traffic over TLS 
  • This feature is available now. 

Meet traffic over port 3478: 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

Expanded access for noise cancellation in Google Meet

Quick summary 

All meeting attendees can now use noise cancellation capabilities in Google Meet if: 

Additionally, if a user has noise cancellation, it will function in all meetings regardless of whether the meeting organizer has noise cancellation or not. 


We hope that by making noise cancellation available to all meeting attendees will help improve the quality of meetings by limiting background noise distractions. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace 

  • This feature is available now for all users. 

Availability 

  • Noise cancellation is on by default for: Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Frontline, Enterprise Plus, and Workspace Individual Subscriber accounts. 
  • Noise cancellation is off by default for: Education Plus, and Teaching and Learning Upgrade accounts. 
  • For all Google Workspace accounts: If the settings is on by default for your organization in a meeting with other people outside of your organization, they can also use this feature during that meeting. 

Resources 

Built-in Webex interoperability on Google Meet hardware expanded to devices with remote control

What’s changing 

In December 2022, we began supporting built-in Webex interoperability on Google Meet hardware devices. When it originally launched, this feature required a Meet hardware device with either a connected touch controller or built-in touchscreen. With this latest update, we've added Webex interoperability support for Google Meet hardware devices that use only a remote control. 

Built-in Webex interoperability will now be available across all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 

We hope this update makes it even easier for Google Workspace customers and their users to connect and collaborate with people outside the Google Meet ecosystem. 


Additional details 

There is no additional cost associated with this new built-in Webex interoperability feature on supported devices. 

Please note that core video conferencing features are supported. Some advanced features, such as polls, breakout rooms, and dual-screen support, may not be available when using Meet hardware to join Webex calls. 

For interoperability needs beyond Cisco Webex, we recommend Pexip. Pexip enables users to join Meet calls from a range of third-party video conferencing hardware, including older devices that may not support built-in interoperability. Use this Help Center article to learn more about Pexip. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: Webex interop on Google Meet hardware will be available on devices by default and can be disabled at the OU level at Devices > Google Meet hardware > Settings > Device Settings. 
  • End users: When enabled by your admin, you can join a Webex meeting from a Google Meet hardware device by: 
    • Joining an ad-hoc call by selecting Join a meeting using your remote control and then selecting Webex from the dropdown options 
    • Joining a scheduled call by adding a room to an event with Webex meeting details. 
      • Note: Calendar events that originate outside of Google Calendar must be duplicated and populated with room details manually. 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about Meet interoperability. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available for all supported Google Meet hardware devices that have not yet reached their auto-update expiration date.

Resources: 

Background noise reduction now available for Google Meet Hardware devices

What’s changing 

We’re bringing our software-based noise cancellation capability to the following Google Meet hardware devices: 
Use this YouTube video to learn more about noise cancellation in Google Meet. 


Additionally, we’ve added a new admin control which allows you to specify whether noise cancellation is on or off at the beginning of each call. See below for more information and availability. 


Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 

To help limit distractions in your video call, Google Meet devices can remove background noises such as typing, closing a door, or the sounds of a nearby construction site. Noise cancellation helps make calls more productive by reducing distractions that can divert attention away from the content of the meeting. 


Additional details 

  • Noise cancellation is not available for Series One Meet Compute Systems. Series One Meet Compute Systems will only use "True Voice" for noise cancellation, which requires a Series One Smart Audio Bar or Series One Mic Pod. 
  • The admin setting for managing noise cancellation will not change the behavior for SeriesOne devices at the time of this launch. This will be implemented in the coming weeks — we will provide an update on the Workspace Updates Blog at that time. 

Getting started 


Admin console per-device setting for controlling noise cancellation for each call




On-device setting for controlling noise cancellation while on a call





Rollout pace 



Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Teaching & Learning, Education Standard and Education Plus customers, as well as G Suite Business and Basic customers 
  • Not available to Google Workspace Essentials and Nonprofits customers 

Resources