Choose Physical of Virtual Presence at Meetings with Google Calendar

Google Calendar has always been about interactions and collaboration. With Workspace introduction, it becomes even more so. One of the features Google has already announced and is to implement soon will let you reply to invitations with more detail. Specifically, you will be able to choose whether you will attend the meeting in person or online.

The way it works is the most logical for common situations. When you receive an invitation to a meeting or another event and confirm it by choosing and clicking “Yes”, a menu pops up. In this menu, you can choose between three options. The first is simply “Yes”. It applies when there is no choice between the physical or virtual presence or when you are not ready to specify yet. The second is “Yes, in the meeting room”; choose it if you intend to attend the meeting in person. Finally, “Yes, joining virtually” means that you’ll choose to appear in Google Meet (or, well, Zoom).

This option is first of all useful for meeting hosts. Seeing in advance who’s planning to come and who’ll be online, they can plan the meeting the best way. As for Google, this option assists it in collecting stats – the new gold of our days. And regular users will also appreciate this new element of precision in Google Workspace.

There is nothing strange in seeing such an option, we’d rather wonder why it took Google longer than it might. Still, even when the influence of pandemics is smoothened, remote work becomes the new normal, and this innovation by Google will still be demanded. So far, it’s to roll out gradually and to be available worldwide, on all platforms.

Do you often organize meetings and events? Would it be useful for you to see who prefers to be present online and who in person? Do you know any alternatives for hosts? Let’s discuss it in the comments below!