G Suite Admins: How to enable the NEW Gmail experience

Gmail has been resistant to Google's typical product tinkering and fiddling tendencies. Gmail has remained pretty much the same for the past 6+ years. 

That doesn't mean Google hasn't been thinking about the future of Gmail.  Inbox by Google was a smart way of trying out some new, experimental features without putting long-time Gmail users into a panic. Inbox is a fun experiment, but not for everyone.

Based on user feedback on Inbox, Google has begun moving some of the most useful and popular features from Inbox into regular Gmail.

Features of the NEW Gmail experience: 

• A new clean, modern user interface
• The ability to "snooze" an email
• Smart replies based on email content
• Better integration with Google Calendar and Google Keep
• An updated Task manager
• New security options for sensitive messages. 
• Better offline support

You can view the full run down on all of the new features here. 

G Suite for Education and Business customers can not access the new Gmail experience until a domain administrator enables it. 

Enabling the new experience will NOT make it the default experience, it simply allows individual users to try it out as they wish. 

How to enable the new Gmail Early Adopter Program for G Suite users:

1. Log into the Google Admin Console 
2. Visit Apps > G Suite > Settings for Gmail > Advanced settings
3. Look for "New Gmail Early Adopter Program" and select "allow." 
4. Save your changes

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Once this setting has been applied users can sign into their mail accounts, click on the "gear" icon and select "try the new gmail."

Users will be able to move back and forth between the new and classic versions of Gmail until Google retires the classic version (most likely 6-8 months from now).

Make Email Great Again! ✉

Google is trying to make email great again...

When I started using Gmail it was a revelation. It was fast, easy to organize, and had sooooo much storage! Well, now it's 2017 and things have changed again. We get MORE email than ever before and are primarily checking mail on mobile devices. It's time for an email refresh:

Meet Inbox, by Google!

Inbox is a new, modern take on your email. Optimized for your mobile phone (Android or iOS)
Swipe to "snooze" emails until a later time. Create reminders (no need to email yourself!)
Smart reply (artificial intelligence at work!)

"Bundle" related emails together (like trip reservations) Get information without the hassle

Gmail isn't going anywhere, and you can use Gmail and Inbox at the same time (I do). Each has different strengths and they seamlessly sync together.

I would like to highlight my two favorite features of Inbox.

Information without the Hassle

I travel a lot. Finding reservation information in my email is a hassle. Not with Inbox! It automatically finds all of my confirmation emails, figures out that they are related (destination) and bundles them together. It also generates a simplified view of the email with all of the important numbers and details about my reservation. Awesome! Inbox does this with Invoices, Shipment notifications, and more!

Travel information is neatly collected and present in an itinerary.
I didn't do anything to organize this information! 

Inbox even finds my online purchases and lets me track a shipment with a single click! No more hunting for the tacking ID!

Google Classroom Bonus!

Inbox recently started bundling and integrating with Google Classroom! Notification emails from Google Classroom include a link that takes you directly to the assignment or question from the email!

Auto Reply

I have an iPhone. Siri suggests responses to my emails and text messages all the time. Her suggestions are lame.

The auto-replies in Inbox are....creepily amazing. This is another example of Google's research into machine learning (here's an in-depth explanation for those who are super nerdy!). Open an email and Inbox will suggest three replies based on the content of the message AND your own personal writing style. The more you use Inbox, the more accurate the replies become. Whoa!

As educators, email is a necessary part of our job, but it is not our job. The goal is to spend as little time as possible looking at email. Inbox will help. Furthermore, I anticipate that Google will integrate Inbox with Google Classroom. Look for some very cool student-focused features in the near future!

If you haven't given Inbox a try, you should! Just visit inbox.google.com. Just to warn you, there is a bit of a learning curve as it is a LOT different than Gmail. If you start to freak out, send me a tweet (@jrsowash) and I will talk you off the ledge!

Do you have a favorite Inbox feature? Leave a comment and let me know!

InBox Zero in Gmail

It's January second and all across American people are starting their New Year's resolutions. The gyms are packed, the cupboards are empty of junk food, and storage bins are on sale in all the big box stores!

If getting organized is one of your resolutions, let me give you a hand.

A year ago I began implementing the concept of "Inbox Zero." This concept is proposed by productivity blogger and expert Merlin Mann. He was even invited by Google to come and share his ideas with Googlers at the Googlplex in Mountain View, California. If you haven't watched the video, I would recommend it.

The basic premise of Inbox Zero is as follows:

Each morning, millions of people open up their email to figure out what they need to do today. This is a grave mistake as urgen (but not important) things typically fill up our inboxes. You need to prioritize. You need a plan. Don't be a slave to your inbox!

When an email comes in, it needs to be processed. There are many ways you can process your email. The fewer options you have, the better. I have three options:

1. Archive
2. Add to calendar
3. Add to task list

Gmail makes this very simple to do. Here's how

Rapportive, A Gmail Plugin

My Rapportive Profile

I am absolutely enthralled with Rapportive, a Gmail add-on that replaces the typical Adsense sidebar with information about the person you are emailing.

The information that Rapportive pulls is from social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. If you have an account on one of these sites Rapportive will display your profile image, latest status update, and links to your blog or other web content that you have created.

There are a lot of people I communicate with regularly that I have never met. Being able to see a picture of them while I am typing up an email to them makes email a little more personal. Give it a try!

How to Make Free Calls Through Gmail

Did you know that you can call US based phones within  Gmail for free? It's a really neat feature that I have been taking full advantage of! If you have Google Voice, you can also receive calls placed to your Google Voice number within Gmail.

Google will be offering free phone calls within Gmail until the end of 2011. You can also place calls to international numbers for very reasonable rates. This feature is only available for US based Gmail accounts.

Save time with the Gmail "Canned Response" Lab

If you find yourself writing the same thing to reply to multiple email messages then you should take advantage of the "canned response" lab from Gmail. Use it to format a pre-written response and then quickly insert it into an email message. For complete instructions, view the video below.