Google Apps/Gsuite

[dvdmon]

Hey Jerry,

I was wondering if you might speak here or on the podcast to the issue of people who have a Google Apps/Gsuite account. As a long-time developer, I got my own domain name back in the late 90's and it's been used primarily to have a permanent email address ever since. I switched to Gmail around 2005, maybe a bit earlier, and have been using mostly Google services ever since.

The problem is that with many new services Google seems to hold off on offering them to Google Apps/Gsuite users. If I could downgrade to a "normal" account without losing my domain-specific email address, I'd do it, but I don't think that's possible. So for those of us who are not necessarily Gsuite users for "business" reasons, we get to wait for a lot of things longer than the normal user, and I would argue that most of us are more early-adopter types than the "normal user."

The latest example of this is Google Home/Assistant. I can use it, but can't take advantage of any of the account-specific features. So I can't say "Ok Google, good morning" and have it spit out my calendar events for the day. I've had mine now for three months and still can't do this and I have no clue when I will. Pretty frustrating!

I'm wondering why these accounts are so different that items like this cannot be offered in some form as with normal accounts? I understand 98% of Google accounts are probably of the "normal" variety, but many of the power users are in that 2% that are being frustrated and feel like we are being disadvantaged by the fact that we are indeed actually paying Google for the privilege of having these special accounts.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Yep. It sucks.

We use gapps accounts here at AC, so i know what you mean. All my work "stuff" is basically siloed away from all the good new Google stuff. Google Home is really cool, but it would be so much more useful if it could index my work appointments and data.

I've asked about it, and asked again when I was frustrated about Google Home, and the reasoning behind it is aggravating.

Gapps accounts are paying customers. Google doesn't want to add or change anything that could have a negative effect on how everything works. And a lot of the new stuff brings along account changes and privacy "issues" that they think Gapps customers might not like.

AN example I was given is that Google home can announce meetings or other confidential information to anyone within hearing distance, and they haven't decided what they can do if a gapps customer doesn't want that to be allowed for all their employees/users. Right now, it's all or nothing. And yeah, I get that because Google Home can also say things in front of the kids or your mom that could be a little iffy.

My response is to allow them but make them opt in through the Admin console. This way you and I can use the stuff with our gapps account, but a company who doesn't want to use it until sensitive things can be filtered can ignore it and not enable it.

It's cool that they think before they make changes that could upset paying customers. But it's still stupid, especially when I want it lol.

 

[dvdmon]

Thanks, Jerry. Yeah, totally understandable and totally sucks at the same time. Heck, there could even be a "beta" program that allows Gapps users to opt in to things that our corporate brethren may not. What I guess makes it that much harder for me is that I'm not a corporate entity, just someone who wanted a custom email address, and the only way to do that without hacky forwarding schemes, at least in the past, and still enjoy Google services tied to said account, was to set up a GApps account. I don't need anything else that GApps offers, just the ability to point my MX-Name to Google...

 

[michaelp68]

Thanks, Jerry. Yeah, totally understandable and totally sucks at the same time. Heck, there could even be a "beta" program that allows Gapps users to opt in to things that our corporate brethren may not. What I guess makes it that much harder for me is that I'm not a corporate entity, just someone who wanted a custom email address, and the only way to do that without hacky forwarding schemes, at least in the past, and still enjoy Google services tied to said account, was to set up a GApps account. I don't need anything else that GApps offers, just the ability to point my MX-Name to Google...

That all makes a lot of sense, but there is also the notion that I, as a paying customer of Google, would like to have access to all of the features that non-paying customers have. I'm extremely annoyed and frustrated with Google. Shame on them.

 

[Scot Sunnergren]

This needs to be continuously bumped up so that maybe Google will do something about it. I actually got a Google Home as a marketing endeavor to have a call with one of their staff regarding implementing GSuite for my company. Seems kinda stupid since when I tried to use said Home, it could not read my calendar.

Android Central published an article today, https://www.androidcentral.com/amazon-echo-dot-3rd-gen-vs-google-home-mini, that listed pros and cons between the Alexa device device and google home. I think it really should be on every "con" list that the Google Home does not talk to your GSuite account until Google decide to fix this.