Tech Tip: Pin Messages in Google Meet so that Participants Joining After the Message Was Sent Can See It

 Below is copied from the Google Workspace Blog.

 

 

Updates

This official feed from the Google Workspace team provides essential information about new features and improvements for Google Workspace customers.

Pin chat messages in Google Meet

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

What’s changing 

You can now pin messages to the top of the meeting chat. Pinned messages will appear for all users, even if they join the meeting after the message was initially sent. This makes it easy to ensure that important messages - like links to presentations - are displayed prominently and easily accessible by meeting participants.

 

 

Getting started

• Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
• End users: 
  • Meeting participants can pin and unpin their own messages. Meeting hosts can unpin anyone’s message.
  • You can pin a message by hovering over it in the chat window and selecting the pin icon. Visit the Help Center to learn more about sending chat messages.

 

Use the pin icon to pin or or unpin a message.

Resources

• Google Help: Send chat messages to video meeting participants

Google Meet hosts can pin multiple tiles for all meeting participants

 

What’s changing 

If you’re a meeting host or co-host, you can now pin up to three specific tiles for all meeting participants. By doing so, you can help ensure the meeting is focused on key presentations and speakers. This is especially helpful for large meeting scenarios like webinars where hosts need to focus everyone on particular content. Note that meeting participants can unpin these tiles on their screen if they wish.

This feature will be available for Google Meet on the web and mobile devices.

Getting started

• Admins: There is no admin impact or action required.
• End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about pinning content in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

• Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on February 5, 2024

Availability

• Available to all Google Workspace customers

Resources

• Google Help: Pin or mute Google Meet participants

Copied from: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2024/02/pin-multiple-tiles-for-meeting-participants-google-meet.html

Raise your hand with gesture detection in Google Meet Coming Soon

 

What’s changing 

Until now, raising your hand to ask a question in Google Meet is done by clicking the hand-raise icon. Starting today, you can also raise your physical hand and Meet will recognize it with gesture detection. To ensure the gesture is detected, make sure your camera is enabled and your hand is visible to the camera, away from your face and body. As an active speaker, the gesture detection will not be triggered; when you’re no longer the active speaker, gesture detection will resume.

Getting started

• Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
• End users: This feature will be OFF by default and can be turned on by selecting More options > Reactions > Hand Raise Gesture. Visit the Help Center to learn more about raising your hand in Google Meet.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on November 21, 2023
• Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on November 28, 2023

Availability

• Available for Google Workspace Business Plus, Business Standard, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Starter, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers, and Google Workspace Individual subscribers

Resources

• Google Help: Raise your hand in Google Meet

Reposted from: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2023/11/google-meet-hand-raise-gesture-detection.html

Google Workspace License Transition

Update 6:56PM: The license issue is resolved and all features are restored.

 We are working with Google to transition to their new license model. There may be disruption to Google Workspace services during this transition such as loss of recording/live-streaming capability. We are working to get this worked out as quickly as possible. All services should be restored once the transition is complete. We do not have an estimated timeline at this point.

New Feature: Change your background in a Meet on your smartphone or device

You can now change your background in a Google Meet when you are on your smartphone or device! 

Google has announced the roll out of this new feature for both Android and Apple operating systems. To download the Google Meet app for Android OS, click here and to download the app for Apple OS, click here.

For more direction on how to change your background on your smartphone or device, please check out this link. 

Google Meet End Call For All/Quick Access Fix

Google has introduced a feature which allows the host to "End call for all". This means, as the host, you can now make sure that once you leave, no one else can stay in the Meet. However, choosing the end call for all option will turn also turn off your "Quick Access" settings. 

"Quick Access" is a host control that allows you to toggle a button on and off for "Quick Access" to the Meet, which means participants will be able to join automatically without requesting, or they will have to request to join even if they are using their @manhattan.edu email and the meeting host will have to manually admit participants one by one. The Quick Access panel also allows you to either allow or not allow everyone in the Meet to be able to share their screen or write in the chat but toggling the button on and off.

If you encounter this issue or would like further assistance with turning Quick Access features on and off please follow these steps.

Special thanks to Dr. Marc Waldman for creating the instructions linked above and sharing them with us!! 

ITS greatly appreciates any and all feedback from the community! 

As a reminder, if you have any ideas or suggestions for the creation of a Knowledge Base Article you think would be beneficial to the community, you can submit them here. 

Customize Your Google Meet Background with Images of Manhattan College!

You can now make Manhattan College your background in Google Meet!  

Google Workspace recently released a background feature that allows you to either blur or customize your background in a Google Meet by selecting one of the images google has provided or uploading your own. 

The office of Marketing and Communication provided us with some beautiful images of our  campus as well as a logo that you can now download to upload as your custom background. You can access the images directly from this link. 

Please use the following link for further direction on how to blur or upload a custom image for your background in Google Meet.

Google Meet Participant Limit is 250

ITS has become aware that members of the community are under the impression that there is a new Google Meet participant limit of 100 participants.  We pay for an Enterprise license for employees that entitles us to 250 participants.  You can see the details at this Google Meet Feature page.

There was one meeting last week that had a glitch where participants were unable to join and got a message referencing a 100 participant cap.  ITS is working with Google to investigate this one incident.  

As always, if you have any issues or questions with regard to technology, please reach out to its@manhattan.edu or dial 718-862-7973.

Google Meet- New Custom Background Feature!

In Google Meet, you now have the option to upload a custom picture for your background! For direction on this feature, please use this link. 

If you are not seeing this feature yet, make sure to check daily as it could take up to 14 business days to appear. 

Google Workspace Update: You Can Now Change Your Background In Google Meet!

You spoke and Google listened! 

Google has added a feature that now allows you to modify your background when in a Google Meet call. 

For instruction on how to use this feature, please reference this link. 

Google Licensing Issue Some Accounts Cannot Record or Livestream

Update 10/19/20:

ITS leadership is following up with Google as licenses were presented to us as having the same functionality.  According to this link, licenses are not the same.  Employees are assigned the "Full-domain license" and students and non person accounts are assigned the "Partial-domain license".  While we are inquiring with Google about this discrepancy, the assignment of licenses will not change.  This means that unless Google adjusts their licensing terms, only employees will be able to record and livestream going forward.  If a club or student needs to record or livestream, an employee must make the calendar invite.  As long as an employee makes the event, it will be able to be recorded and livestreamed.  We apologize for any confusion.  Please remember that the enhanced features provided to us during the beginning of the pandemic, were free during a limited time.  Once this time expired we need to pay for these licenses.

Original Post:

As you may be aware, Google provided us with free enhanced features, including recording and live-streaming, to our account through September 30th due to COVID-19.  We recently upgraded our Google Licenses to continue these enhanced services and this change was applied today. We are getting reports that some accounts can no longer Record or Livestream. We have to follow up with Google to determine the root cause. Once we have it sorted out, we will update here. We apologize for any inconvenience and ask for your patience as we get to the bottom if this.

Google Meet Attendance Feature Temporarily Paused

If there is a need for an attendance report while Google works out the kinks, employees can submit a request for an attendance report using this service.

Original Post 10/7/20:

 At this time, Google has announced that they have paused the Attendance Report feature temporarily. This means that you will not be receiving an email after your Meet has ended with the attendees and their attendance information right now. 

Please make sure to check the ITS blog and announcements frequently, as we will post an another announcement when the feature resumes. 

For more information about this feature and the pause, please reference this link.

Google Meet Livestreaming Capabilities

If you would like to livestream a Google Meet using your @manhattan.edu email address please review this link in regards to the live streaming capabilities of your Manhattan College gmail account. 

Changing your resolution in Google Meets can help with quality issues!

If your Google Meets chat is slow, laggy and or blurry, your WiFi connection may be the issue. One simple solution can be to change your Google Meets resolution. Your resolution is the amount of pixels your computer will show. A higher resolution will show sharper and more clear image quality. Sometimes a higher resolution will hurt Google Meets performance, especially if you have an older computer or a poor WiFi connection. Lowering your resolution through Google Meets can help this problem. Typically the resolution is lowered from 720p to 360p.

Please use this article for directions on how to do this. 

Grid View Version 1.37 and Sidebar Layout

This morning a new version of the Grid View extension was released.  The latest version is 1.37.  Please make sure:

• Your computer's operating system is fully updated.  
• Your Chrome browser is fully updated
• Your Grid View extension is at 1.37

Before turning on Grid View, make sure that you first change the native Google Meet layout to "Sidebar".  These instructions show how to do this.

If you are still experiencing issues, please email its@manhattan.edu to report the issue.

Please make sure to subscribe to the blog for updates.

Google Meet Grid View Issue

ITS has been made aware that some users are experiencing issues when using the GridView extension.


If you are experiencing an issue, we recommend that you use Google Meet’s native tile view. This is only temporary until the issue has been resolved by the developer.

ITS is monitoring the problem and will communicate any additional information that we receive.

Friendly Reminder: 4 Brand New Google Meet Features

This is a friendly reminder that Google is rolling out 4 new top requested features. These new features will help ensure that your future Google Meets run seamlessly and effortlessly.  You will be able to focus more on your meeting now! 

1. Tiled layouts for larger calls. You can now see 10+ people in a tiled view during your meetings.

2. Present higher-quality video content with audio. This means that you will now be able to more successfully show a video with audio while you are presenting to a meeting. This can be done by now selecting "present a Chrome tab" when sharing your screen. 

3. Low light mode. Google Meet can now auto adjust your video to make you more visible when you are in sub-optimal lighting conditions. This is currently being rolled out for smart phone users but will become available to web users in the future. 

4. Noise cancellation. Meet can now filter out some background noises such as the dog barking or the sound of someone typing while you are in the meeting. 

These features will be rolled out within the next couple of weeks, with some users possibly already having access to them. For more information on these features and their timelines,  please visit this link. 

4 Brand New Top Requested Features In Google Meet!

Google is rolling out 4 new top requested features. These new features will help ensure that your future Google Meets run seamlessly and effortlessly.  You will be able to focus more on your meeting now! 

1. Tiled layouts for larger calls. You can now see 10+ people in a tiled view during your meetings.

2. Present higher-quality video content with audio. This means that you will now be able to more successfully show a video with audio while you are presenting to a meeting. This can be done by now selecting "present a Chrome tab" when sharing your screen. 

3. Low light mode. Google Meet can now auto adjust your video to make you more visible when you are in sub-optimal lighting conditions. This is currently being rolled out for smart phone users but will become available to web users in the future. 

4. Noise cancellation. Meet can now filter out some background noises such as the dog barking or the sound of someone typing while you are in the meeting. 

These features will be rolled out within the next couple of weeks, with some users possibly already having access to them. For more information on these features and their timelines,  please visit this link. 

New Version of Chrome Grid View

A new version of the GridView extension for Google Meet has been released.

This is because Google has released a new version of the GridView which can be downloaded from here.

You will need to select “Add to Chrome” and then a window will appear asking your permission to add the extension, select “Add extension”.

1.



2.

Once you have added this extension you will have the most up to date version of GridView.

Join a Google Meet Directly From Your Email!

Google has announced that it will be releasing a new feature which will allow you to join a Google Meet directly from your Gmail account. This means that you can now create or join a meeting right from you inbox!

Be on the lookout for this new feature as Google has begun to roll it out. For more information on what this new feature will look like and how to use it, check out this link.