Google Workspace customers recently have been treated with access to integrated Google Chat and Rooms. And as per new developments, Google is boosting the Gmail experience by letting Chat users set their status to away or Do Not Disturb.
Google Chat is not one of the popular options for users to get in touch with friends or employees. Though it has been gaining a few nifty features over the past few months.
Notably, the ability to allow users to set their Google Chat status to away or Do not disturb is something pretty handy. It will appear right beside the search field.
Moreover, there are basically three statuses that the users can choose from, i.e. Automatic, Do not disturb, and Set as away. When the ‘Automatic’ status is chosen, it will set the status as per the activity on Gmail.
When the ‘Do not disturb’ status is chosen in Google Chat, then it will mute all the notifications. Lastly, if the ‘Set as Away’ status is being used by the user, then it will show that your status is away. That means you are not available.
Mobile Gmail users can access these Google Chat status from the navigation drawer
Apparently, this Google Chat status feature is also arriving for the mobile version of Gmail as well. In order to access these Google Chat status, you have to head over to the navigation drawer on the left side.
The different status options will be shown on top of your various inboxes and labels. This feature is pretty handy as it will let others know when you are active. Helping you to focus on your work, uninterrupted.
Besides, for users who still use classic Hangouts, for them the “Show when you were last active” setting will show as “away” in Google Chat for others.
As per the official blog, this feature is rolling out to Gmail users on desktop and the Gmail app on iOS. Sadly, Android users will have to wait for some more time before this Google Chat status feature shows up.
However, Google notes that this feature will arrive on Android soon. There is no admin control over this feature and it will be disabled by default for the end-users.
So, you have to set the status as per your convenience, manually. The Rapid Release Domains have started getting this feature from yesterday, i.e. October 29, 2020.
While the Scheduled Release domains will pick up this feature starting from November 12. 2020. Additionally, this feature is live for Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers.
But it is not available for the Essentials customers. Therefore, do make a note of this.
