Each Google App has its own settings in the console (as shown in the following screenshot):
Settings for specific applications
Now we will look at the primary ones.
The a ctivation of advanced features of Gmail such as Labs, video, or chat is up to the administrator of the Google Apps domain. Among the other useful settings, let's mention the possibility of creating a "white list" of IP addresses that will never be considered as a source of spam. The Postini Services should in particular be included in this list.
Another feature that will prove very useful when setting up a pilot for a migration project (see Chapter 13, The Pilot Project) is the automatic routing of messages whose destination is unknown to a mail server other than Gmail.
It is also possible to disable the POP and IMAP access.
An ad ministrator can choose to enable or disable Google Docs and decide which rights to grant to which members in the domain. Here are the available options. The more restrictive ones are listed first:
- Users cannot share any document outside the Google Apps domain to which they belong. An option however allows them to receive documents from outside the domain.
- Users can share a document outside the domain but will receive a warning.
- Users can share a document outside the domain and will receive no warning.
- The users can publish public documents on the Internet with no limitations.
The administrator can moreover control whether users will be able to submit their own templates and change the available categories for sorting them (see Chapter 4, Collaboration Tools).
The administrator can choose which categories of templates to make available for domain users and can create new ones.
Besid es enabling the service, the console also allows enabling or disabling chat history. Notifications to users who send instant messages outside the domain can be enabled.
An ad ministrator can define three levels for sharing calendars with other users in the domain:
- Allow sharing only availability information
- Allow sharing all information but in read-only mode
- Allow sharing all information in read-write mode
In a similar way, an administrator can define the default sharing options for calendars within the domain. In contrast with the visibility of agendas outside the domains (which only the administrator can change), users will be able to change this level of visibility:
- No sharing whatsoever between users in the domain
- Share only availability information
- Share all information
Besid es enabling and disabling the service, the administrator can define a list of recommended tags to use to describe a video. He or she can define a list of users authorized to upload videos.
The s ettings are here very similar to those of Google Docs. They allow the administrator to restrict the level of sharing of a Google Site with users outside the Google Apps domain.
The ability for users to define their own templates can be removed.
The URL of the site can be redefined and aliases can be defined.
The G oogle Sync service allows the synchronization of contacts and agendas on a smartphone with those in Google Apps. The service is based on Microsoft Exchange (used by iPhones and Windows Mobile phones, for instance). It can be disabled.
It is possible to add services to those that are already available in the Google Apps console. The US version (see domain settings for this) usually offers the most options.
The additional services that can be added in the Google Apps console
Recall here that the two services Google Apps Marketplace and Google Apps Engine were described in a dedicated section in Chapter 6, Extending the Platform.