G Suite Tips: Getting G Suite Help and Training

Google is constantly making improvements to its services, and GRCC Staff and Faculty will directly benefit! Google announced April 2, 2019 that they will be adding a quick access button and Help menu options for the Google Help Center, Google Support Learning Center, and product update information within their applications. This feature will be on by default, and will start to appear April 17, 2019 so be sure to check it out in your Gmail Pilot account on that date.

What does this mean?

For help in Gmail, Calendar, and Drive, a “?” button will now appear in the upper right-hand corner next to the apps menu and your user icon.

In Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, the Help drop-down in your toolbar will also include Training and Updates options.

What is the difference?

• Help: links to the relevant product Help Center.
• Training: links to the relevant product Learning Center.
• Updates: Info about recent product updates.
• Send feedback: Lets users provide product feedback directly to Google.

G Suite Transition – Department Assistance

Are you concerned about how your department’s business practices will be continued or improved in our transition to Google?

The IT Customer Support Desk wants to make sure that your team has emailing and calendaring practices in place before the transition. In order to do that, we are making ourselves available for consultation appointments to meet with you and your team to help develop best practices in Gmail and Google Calendar.

Leverage the experience and knowledge of the Information Technology department to:

• Increase productivity & efficiency
• Identify new departmental business practices for operating in the Google G-Suite environment
• Implement technology orientated processes and procedures

You may request this service online or contact the GRCC IT Support Desk at (616) 234-4357.

G Suite Tip – How to Sync Google Chrome Profiles and Why It Is Helpful

Logging into the GRCC Google Pilot environment is highly encouraged for you to become familiarized with the features and layout of Gmail.

If you use multiple Google accounts (such as a personal account and a work account,) it’s recommended that you set up Chrome profiles in your Google Chrome browser to switch between them quickly. This is especially useful, as it will help separate your pilot account from your GRCC production account during both the training and months leading up to the go-live date.

With profiles, you can keep all your Chrome info separate, like bookmarks, history, passwords, and other settings.

Profiles are ideal for:

• Sharing a computer with multiple people.
• Keeping your different accounts, like work and personal, separate.

You may also view our Knowledge Base resources about creating a work Chrome profile, syncing GRCC Chrome profiles, and other helpful Google topics.

What happens when you sync:

• You can see and update your synced info on all your devices, like bookmarks, history, passwords, and other settings.
• You’ll sign in automatically to Gmail, YouTube, Search, and other Google services. If you were signed in before turning on sync, you’ll stay signed in.
• If you change devices (like if you lose your phone or get a new laptop), you’ll get all your info back.
• You’ll personalize your experience in other Google products by including your Chrome history with your Web & App Activity.

Note: You can only sign-in and sync your data with your GRCC credentials. Syncing is disabled for all other accounts.

Turn on sync

1. On your computer, open Chrome.
2. At the top right, click the Profile icon
   • If you’re already signed in with your Google Account, this will be your account photo.
3. Click Turn on sync Turn on.

If you’re not signed in, you’ll have to sign in to your Google Account to turn on sync.

G Suite Tip – Accessing your archived emails after the transition to G Suite

Wouldn’t it be great if you had access to all of your emails, all of the time? How about if they didn’t automatically delete after 6 months? If you’re thinking “YES!” then you’re going to love Gmail.

After the switch to Gmail, you will no longer need to navigate away from your inbox to find old mail. Unless deleted, your mail will remain in Gmail indefinitely. As a best practice, we recommend labeling the mail you want to hang on to, and using the “archive” button. Once archived, your mail will always be available from the “All Mail” folder, or by simply using the search box at the top of your Gmail inbox.

To test this feature out, try logging in to the “pilot” environment to familiarize yourself with the features and layout of Gmail.

“What’s going to happen to our old email in Retain?”

Retain will be available after we migrate to G Suite. This means that up to the day Gmail officially goes live, emails and calendar items will be backed up in Retain and held in the archival system for you to access, if necessary.

For more tips on managing your inbox, see the G Suite Learning Center’s guide on organizing your inbox.

The IT Support Desk has also compiled a handful of tips regarding the transition to Gmail. If you ever feel stuck, take a look in our knowledge base over at the online Support Desk – we have a section dedicated to G Suite related topics.

If you have difficulties logging into your pilot account, please contact the GRCC IT Support Desk at (616) 234-4357.

Disclaimer:

The G Suite Pilot accounts are only for testing and training purposes. Any content migrated from GroupWise to pilot for testing and training purposes will not be moved to the production G Suite environment.

G Suite Transition: Google Guides

As our campus prepares to switch to Google’s G Suite, in addition to the IT Support Desk staff, we have a dedicated group of faculty and staff who are trained and ready to help you with any questions you might have! Our Google Guides can be found in most departments and buildings, check out the list to find a Guide closest to you!

G Suite Transition: 1-to-1 GroupWise to G Suite Guide

The G Suite transition team has compiled a collection of top functions and terms from GroupWise and built a comprehensive guide on how to do the same function in G Suite. Follow each link to a Knowledge Base article with specific instructions to walk you through the new process.

You can test out these new functions using your G Suite pilot account. To log in,

1. From any web browser navigate to google.com
2. Enter your Campus Network username and password:
   1. Username: your_network_username@pilot.grcc.edu (e.g. janedoe@pilot.grcc.edu)
   2. Password: Your GRCC Campus Network password (Same one you’d use to login to a computer, Groupwise, or Blackboard.)

1-to-1 Guide:

What I did in GroupWise:	What I do now:
Send an email	Compose an Email Article
Reply to an email	Reply to a Gmail Message
Send an appointment Request	Create an Event
Busy Search	Find a Time for Events
View Multiple Calendars	View a Coworker’s Calendar View Calendars Side by Side
Notes	Create Notes In Google Keep
Retract/Resend Appointment	Retracting/Deleting an Event Restoring a Deleted Event
Create Rules	Creating Filters for Incoming Mail
Task List	Create a List of Tasks in G Suite

Terminology:

Groupwise	Google
Appointment	Event
Busy Search	Find a Time
Folders	Labels
Rules	Filters

Please Note:  The G Suite pilot account is only for testing and training purposes. Any content migrated from GroupWise to pilot will not be moved to the production G Suite environment.

If you have any questions about how to do a specific task or function in G Suite, contact our Google Guides by emailing GoogleGuides@grcc.edu or contact one of our Google Guides directly!

If you have difficulties logging into your account, please contact the GRCC IT Support Desk at (616) 234-4357.

G Suite Transition- Learning Opportunities Added

Due to popular demand, four additional G Suite learning opportunities have been added! Keep in mind that these courses do not need to be taken in any particular order.

To register for a session, visit the Going Google page.

Remember, if you’ve attended any of these sessions and still have questions, you may request an individual or team follow up meeting with one of our Guides. Simply fill out this form to request an appointment!

G Suite Tip: Moving your GroupWise folder structure to Gmail

In other email programs, including GroupWise, you might have stored email in folders. In Gmail, you use labels to categorize your email. Labels are like folders, but with a twist — you can apply several labels to an email, then later find the email by clicking any of its labels from the left panel.

You can also:

• Open a label in the left sidebar to see all email with that label.
• Nest labels within labels.
• Search for all email with a label.
• Set up your inbox as you prefer:
  1. See labels on email in your inbox to quickly identify different types of email.
  2. Auto-archive email to route it away from your inbox, as you did with rules and folders.

Create a label:

1. Go to Gmail
2. In the top right, click Settings (gear icon) and select Settings.
3. Click the Labels tab.
4. Scroll to the Labels section and click Create new label.
5. Enter the label name and click Create.
6. You can also create nested labels, which are like subfolders.

Create a label from an email:

1. From an email, click Labels (tag icon) > Create new.
2. Enter the label name and click Create.
3. (Optional) Click Nest label under and choose an existing label to place it under.
4. The new label automatically applies to your email.

Try this by recreating your GroupWise folder structure as Labels in your Gmail pilot account!

Please Note: The G Suite Pilot accounts are only for testing and training purposes. Any content migrated from GroupWise to pilot for testing and training purposes will not be moved to the production G Suite environment.

For technical assistance, please contact the IT Support Desk at x4357 or submit a service request on our Support Desk webpage.

G Suite Tip – Accessing your archived emails after the transition to G Suite

Wouldn’t it be great if you had access to all of your emails, all of the time? How about if they didn’t automatically delete after 6 months? If you’re thinking “YES!” then you’re going to love Gmail.

After the switch to Gmail, you will no longer need to navigate away from your inbox to find old mail. Unless deleted, your mail will remain in Gmail indefinitely. As a best practice, we recommend labeling the mail you want to hang on to, and using the “archive” button. Once archived, your mail will always be available from the “All Mail” folder, or by simply using the search box at the top of your Gmail inbox.

To test this feature out, try logging in to the “pilot” environment to familiarize yourself with the features and layout of Gmail.

“What’s going to happen to our old email in Retain?”

Retain will be available after we migrate to G Suite. This means that up to the day Gmail officially goes live, emails and calendar items will be backed up in Retain and held in the archival system for you to access, if necessary.

For more tips on managing your inbox, see the G Suite Learning Center’s guide on Organizing your inbox.

The IT Support Desk has also compiled a handful of tips regarding the transition to Gmail. If you ever feel stuck, take a look in our knowledge base over at supportdesk.grcc.edu; we have a section dedicated to G Suite related topics.

If you have difficulties logging into your pilot account, please contact the GRCC IT Support Desk at (616) 234-4357.

Disclaimer:

The G Suite Pilot accounts are only for testing and training purposes. Any content migrated from GroupWise to pilot for testing and training purposes will not be moved to the production G Suite environment.

G Suite Tip – Departmental Transition Assistance

Our Google Guides would like to thank the Counseling, Student Success & Retention, and Music departments for inviting us to their departmental meetings to discuss in depth what GRCC’s transition to GMail will look like and how it will impact their business practices.

If your department would like to have a Google Guide attend your team meeting, simply contact one of our many Google Guides. Alternatively, for in-depth support in migrating your business practices, you (or your team) may request a consultation request through our service catalog.

G Suite Tip – Configuring Chrome Profiles

If you use multiple Google accounts (such as a personal account and a work account), it is recommended that you set up Chrome profiles in your Google Chrome browser to switch between them quickly. This is especially useful, as it will help separate your pilot account from your GRCC production account during both the training and months leading up to the go-live date.

You may also view our Knowledge Base resources about creating a work Chrome profile and other helpful Google topics.

1. Open your Google Chrome browser.
2. At the top right, click the button with your Initial or User Icon.
3. Click Manage people.
4. Click Add person.
5. Choose a name and a photo (optional).
6. Click Save. A new window will open and ask you to sign in
7. Enter your username and password:
   1. Username: your_network_username@pilot.grcc.edu
      e.g. janedoe@pilot.grcc.edu
   2. Password: Your GRCC Network Password
      Same one you’d use to login to a computer, your GroupWise, or Blackboard
8. (Optional) Turn sync on in Chrome with a Google Account for the new profile. Their bookmarks, history, passwords, and other settings will automatically sync.

For technical assistance, please contact the IT Support Desk at -4357 or submit a service request at supportdesk.grcc.edu