With the recent removal of Google Hangouts from the Google Workspace environment, we have created a way to monitor the new Google Chat platform. Setting up Google Chat monitoring in this way will allow us to monitor the text in the chats as well as the media attachments (images and videos).
To monitor Google Chat, we will be using Google’s Third Party Archiving option within your Google Workspace account.
Get Started
STEP 1: Navigate to your Google Workspace Admin Dashboard.
STEP 2: On the left, select Apps > Google Workspace > Google Chat and Classic Hangouts.
STEP 3: Configure the following settings:
- Gmail and Google Chat is enabled for students.
- History for Chats and for Spaces is enabled and unable to be adjusted by students.
STEP 4: Click on Third Party Archiving Settings. Select the Organizational Unit (OU) on the left that you wish to monitor Google Chat for.
STEP 5: Checkmark Archiving enabled and enter in chat@bark.school as the destination address. Set the Archival frequency to 1 hour.
STEP 6: Repeat the above for other OUs if needed.
STEP 7: Navigate back to the Google Chat and Classic Hangouts settings page.
STEP 8: Select the Organizational Unit (OU) on the left that you wish to monitor Google Chat for.
STEP 9: Select Service Status. Select Chat Only and click Save at the bottom.
STEP 10: Repeat the above for other OUs if needed.
Congrats! 🎉
That's it! With these settings in place, we will be able to monitor student text messaging (including media attachments) on the new Google Chat platform.
