Last year, Google Chat added support for talking with users outside their company, thus expanding from being just an internal team communication tool. Google Workspace admins are now getting the ability to limit that external Chat access.
Initially, Workspace admins could either allow or disable external Chat with other Gmail users and other companies that use Google for email. More granulation options now permit them to limit external Google Chat to people in pre-specified “trusted domains,” while that allowlist can be applied to an entire organization or just specific teams.
Trusted domains for Chat gives admins more fine grained control over external chat in their organization. This can help the right users communicate with the stakeholders they need to work with, while helping to prevent inappropriate or undesired external chats.
From the Admin Console, those with access can set this preference at Apps > Google Workspace > Settings for Google Chat and classic Hangouts. Google also specifies how:
Trusted domains only allows communication with domain managed accounts in those domains. Email verified consumer accounts will not be trusted.
In addition to Google Chat, trusted domain controls can also control Drive sharing, Sites, and Classroom.
It’s available to the following Business and Education tiers over the coming weeks: Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers.
More about Google Chat:
- [Update: Android] Gmail and Google Chat now support custom statuses on the web
- Chat is getting review bombed on the Play Store due to phased Hangouts migration
- Google Chat file and image sharing can now be disabled by Workspace admins
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
