Google Workspace Changes

Google Chat now supports external interoperability with Microsoft Teams via NextPlane OpenHub.

Google Chat has launched external interoperability with Microsoft Teams through NextPlane OpenHub, enabling seamless cross-platform collaboration across organizational boundaries. This integration supports presence, 1:1 and group chats, Channels and Spaces, file sharing, and meeting/call initiation. Designed for enterprise governance, OpenHub is deployed as a dedicated single-tenant service in a customer-owned GCP project and is managed through the existing Google Admin console and Microsoft Teams admin center, requiring separate NextPlane licensing.

Polly is now available for Google Chat, enabling interactive polls within conversations.

Polly allows teams to create interactive polls directly within Google Chat conversations by mentioning @Polly. This integration helps teams drive consensus, manage meeting logistics, and gather team preferences in real-time without leaving the chat stream, reducing friction and speeding up decision-making. Admins can install the app for their organization, or end users can find it via the Google Workspace Marketplace.

Gemini in Google Chat now supports additional languages for refining message drafts.

Google is expanding the capabilities of Gemini in Google Chat by adding support for French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish when refining message drafts. This update allows a broader range of global users to improve the clarity, grammar, and professional tone of their communications, which is particularly beneficial for teams in multilingual environments.