Email, Calendar, Contact and Cloud Services

In the old days when a large group of people were emailing collectively (like that of a sporting group or  committee), we would copy and paste a big long list of emails in the CC or TO box. But if somebody mistyped an email, or somebody's email changed, or somebody recently left or joined the group... people would miss out on the group email.

To avoid this from happeneing, we would create a special email address called an "email alias". Google Workspace goes a step further and has created a feature called "Google Groups". 

For example, we can create an email address like "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." and add people's email addresses to it. If anyone sends an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., everyone in that group will receive that email. When people come and go in the group, we can update what that email address does behind the scenes.

This is handy for organisations and committees where members are coming and going. People only need to remember the email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and all the right people will recieve it... nobody being forgotten about or left out.

 

Google Groups

Google workspace goes a step further than an email alias. With Google Groups, all the emails (conversations) that have passed through the group are stored for future reference. You can also assign members to manage new members.

To see the group conversations, members and to manage the group - go to www.groups.google.com

 

When setting up a Google Group from the Google Admin panel we generally use the settings below... 

Google Workspace Group Settings

Notes with these settings:

  • Anybody can contact the Group owners. This is handy if people need adding to the group.
  • Members without Google Emails can still be part of the group (like an email alias).
  • Anybody outside the group can send an email to "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." and all those members will receive it (like an email alias).
  • Only Group Managers and Owners can add members to the group (and give them access to see the conversations).
  • Only invited uses can join the group.

 

Google Cloud print makes your printers available online to any device (phone, tablet, computer) that is using the Cloud Print Service.

You can buy printers now that are automatically configured to work with Google Cloud Print.

This article is for setting up non-Cloud Printers with the Windows Cloud Print service.

First you need a computer that is connected to to the printer (either via WIFi or able). This computer will need to be on so it can share its connection with the Cloud. We will call this computer your print Server. 

There are two ways to share your printer connection...

  1. Setup a Windows service on the Print Server
  2. Run Chrome on the Print Server (and keep it running) (see other docs about this)

Windows Cloud Print Server

Install the Windows Cloud Print service on your Printer Server to share it out to devices on your Google Cloud. You can download the Windows service here:

https://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudprintservice/index.html

You don't need to run any other programs if you are using Windows 7. It will run on Home versions (and Business Versions) of Windows.

When running this program, it will ask you for the computer username and password. It needs a password - or it will come back with a "The server did not start due to logon failure". In this case the server it is referring to is your print server.

If you don;t have a password on your Windows PC, you can create another Windows account and assign a password to it. OIn Windows 7, see Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts 

More info on Google Cloud print service here: https://support.google.com/a/answer/3179170

Printing from an Android Phone or Tablet

In Google Play store, download the free Google Cloud Print app (from Googel Inc).

Your other applications need to know about printing. Some do - and some don't. Eventually they will catch up and Cloud Printing will be standard.

Google Drive will print to a cloud printer. 

When checked April 2014, Google's Quick Office nor GMail did not print to cloud printers - so use Google Drive to do the printing.

Printing from any PC to a Cloud Print Printer...

Install this printer driver any PC's that is not dirctly connected to your network - and you should be able to print. It will print over the internet.

https://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudprintdriver

Antivirus and Outlook

Google Workspace Mail is scanned for viruses when an email is received into your inbox and again when you download the message. So there is no need to run antivirus software on your Outlook folders when using Google mail.

In fact, if you do run antivirus on your mail folders - you risk corrupting your Outlook files.

So if you are running Outlook with Google Workspace Mail - we would recommend that you configure your Antivirus to exclude your email files.

We still recommend that you have an Antivirus program installed to scan for other files and drives (particularly when you insert a usb drive). Our recommend solution for this is AVAST cloudcare. We do not recommend any free antivirus software for business use.

Reference: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/25760?hl=en

Rules and Filters

Any rule setup in Outlook will only apply is Outlook is running. If Outlook is not running, you rules will not take effect on your smart phone, tablet and other devices.Google's equivalent to Outlook Rules is Filters.

If a Google Filter is applied (via the Google's webmail interface), these rules will work across every device at all times.To apply a filter in GMail/GAPPS - open the message, click the "More" downarrow, and then Select "Filter messages like this"

More info on Google's Mail filter here...https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6579?hl=en&ctx=mail

Google Workspace Mail - Searching for unlabled email

Google Mail can sometimes store email that is not labled (ie: is not in what Outlook woudl call a folder). 

To clean up your mailbox, you can filter for email that is does not have a label and that is not in your Inbox, Send or Draft areas. Use this filter to find these "leftover" emails and then delete them:

has:nouserlabels -in:Inbox -in:Draft -in:Sent

Other cool Google App Mail filters...

Find emails older than 1 year:

older_than:1y

Larger that a particular size - like 5 Mb:

larger:5m

Date Range...

after:2009/07/01 before:2009/05/01

Search for today

date:today

Search for unread in inbox

in:inbox is:unread

 

Archiving

Google does not recommend using Outlook's AutoArchive tool. Google does not archive in teh same way as Outlook.

When Outlook archives - it takes the email off the server and saves it in a pst file. The tool was built to deal with Outlook's exchanger server mail box limits.

Google on the other hand can deal with large online email boxes. When they archive - they keep in the email on the server - but they remove the inbox label - so that email does not show up in the inbox. The email will be seen in Google's All Mail - and in Outlook folder [Archive] .

More info on Google Archive: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6576?hl=en

Archive vs Deletion:

For Google mail, any mail deleted will go straight the trash, and in 30 days will be deleted forever.

Archived mail, on the other-hand, will stay on the server forever.

 

MS Outlook will sometimes send attachments wrapped up in winmail.dat files. This is not a common format, and other users may not be able to open these files.

If you are using Outlook - avoid sending emails in the RTF (or Rich Text) format. Instead use the universal standards of HTML.

To change this setting, in Outlook 2003...

Step 1: Under Tools/Options...

winmaildat1

Step 3: Mail Format Tab, Select HTML

winmaildat2

Step 3: Click the "Internet Format..." button and select "Convert to HTML format"

winmaildat3

If you are using Google Apps, you don't need Outlook's (or Thunderbird's) junk mail filters. The Google mail server will handle this for you.

To turn off the Outlook Junk Filter...

  • Outllok 2007: Tools > Options > Preferences
  • Outlook 2010: Home Tab > Delete Section > Junk Button > Junk Email Options.

outlook junk filter

Setting up

Step1: From the Google Workspace Admin Control Panel, email delegation needs to be actived. It is usually deactived by default.This setting is under Settings > Email > Mail Delegation

This setting can take 30min to become effective.

Step 2: Once this is done, open a different browser and log into the shared email account (the one for delegation) and select the Gear Icon >  Settings > Accounts > Grant access to your account:> Add another account. Follow the prompts.

Step 3: A confirmation email will be sent to the delegate's email account. You will need to log into this account and accept the delegation.

Then wait another 30min for settings to take effect.

Step 4: Use Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook and update the profile. On the delgate's PC, choose Google Workspace Sync > Add account for delegation - and follow the prompts.

Delegation Notes

  • There is only one level of access.

  • Sent mail from the delegate on behalf of a shared email will be in the delegates inbox - not the shared email. If this is neccessary - CC in the shared email.

Reference:

Dropbox works by copying files to your local computer. That's why its so fast to open those files. Because it is a copy - it can't (currently) lock the file. When somebody saves a file, dropbox checks the cloud and will initiate a "sync" to copy the new files over.

When Dropbox is Syncing - you will see the little blue circle. When is has synced - you will see a green tick.

If two people have the same file open at the same time, and they both save, Dropbox will rename the second file as a "conflicted copy" - it will have these words and the pc name in the filename.

This can be a common thing when running MYOB on multiple computers, sharing the company file with Dropbox.

To avoid conflicted files...

  • Wait for the Dropbox files to be fully synced (green tick) before opening MYOB.
  • If somebody has just finished MYOB, give it a few minutes before opening the file on another computer to give it time to sync.
  • Be sure you are the only one opening MYOB at the same time. If you see the Access01.flk and Lock001.flk files in the MYOB directory - then somebody has MYOB open.
  • If your MYOB file has "Conflicted Copy" in the title - then two MYOB sessions were open at the same time. You need to sort out which one is the most current and delete the old one.

How to tell if somebody has the MYOB company data file open...

Look for the Access01.flk, Acces51.flk and Lock0001.flk files...

myob