Google Apps: 5 New Features For Businesses

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Google had a busy first half of the year pushing out updates and new features to Google Apps, its suite of productivity tools.

Earlier in the year, it launched add-ons for Docs and Sheets; tested a new Promotions tab in Gmail; added a setting to control who can email you through your Google+ account; and rolled out new editing tools for Google Slides and Drawings.

Over the past few months, the company has shifted its focus to bring new capabilities and tools to its Google Apps for Business users. These updates include a new premium version of Google+, Hangouts integration with Microsoft Outlook, new admin controls, and more.

Here's a look at what's new and how you can take advantage of the new features.

[Take advantage of Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and more. See 10 Great Google Apps Tips.]

1. Restore deleted Drive files
If user deletes files from Google Drive and then empties the trash, the files are no longer gone forever. Admins can now restore them quickly for a specific date range from up to 25 days ago.

To restore a user's files, sign into the Google Admin console. Click Users, and then click the person's username. Click the icon of a trash bin with an arrow, and then select the date range for the files you want to restore. Finally, click Restore Data and click Close.

This feature, which Google added last month, will not work for users who have filled their Drive storage quota, Google said.

2. Add video calls to Microsoft Outlook meetings
Google Apps for Business users can schedule Hangouts with other Outlook users at their company using the Hangouts plugin for Outlook. Chromebox users who don't have Google Apps for Business can also use this plugin for meetings by entering the video call name using the remote control.

To install the plugin, you must have admin privileges on your computer. Once it's installed, two new buttons will appear in the Office Ribbon for Outlook Mail and Calendar -- one to create or attend a scheduled video call, and one for unscheduled video calls.

3. Upgrade to the premium version of Google+
Last month, Google added a new premium version of Google+ for its enterprise and business users that includes a handful of new business-specific features. These features give admins more granular controls over Google+ sharing and new Hangouts capabilities.

If you activate Google+ premium features, you'll gain additional control over what's shared outside the organization with a new default setting. Admins can choose from "unrestricted," which means posts and communities are visible to those outside the organization; or admins can make the default setting for new posts "restricted," which means only members can view posts and communities.

By default, users can start a Hangout On Air from within Google+. By enabling the premium version of Google+, admins can restrict access to Hangouts for the entire organization, or they can enable certain settings for different organizational units, Google said.

In addition, admins can control whether users' profiles can be indexed

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