This guide has been created to discuss some Frequently Asked Questions regarding Google Integration with Bromcom, how it works and common questions posed by those who want to use it.
Access: The permission required to access Google Integration is found in the Setup Module of Config>Setup>Roles & Permissions.
Provisioning
Q – What is the difference between provisioning and syncing?
A – Provisioning is setting up the Scopes on Google (Groups, users etc), while syncing would be the process of adding data to or removing data from those Scopes based on the data in Bromcom.
Q – What do Primary and Secondary Domains mean?
A – This is essentially the package that Schools have and use with Google. The Google administrator for your School should know which domain is being used, further guidance can be found on this Google FAQ; https://support.google.com/a/answer/175747?hl=en&ref_topic=3542755
Q – Do I need to sync Google and Bromcom manually?
A – Within the Google Integration configuration on Bromcom, there is an option to use Auto Sync. Using this means that on a daily basis, the Bromcom data will sync with Google for all configured entities. Even with this option on schools can still sync manually as and when required.
User Provisioning
Q – What exactly do Staff & Student Email Address formats control?
A – This will be the Email that Google themselves use to send notifications to the Students/Staff’s Teams accounts – Google Administrators will see these on the admin console and also the user sync page within Bromcom. There are different configuration options that Administrators can set based on how they want the emails to be formatted.
Groups and Classroom Provisioning
Q – Within the Group Settings, what should I sync across?
A – This depends entirely on which type of notifications need to be received on Teams. Tutor Groups and Teaching Classes would need to be synced for almost every School. If Departments or Subjects are synced, this provides the ability to create a mail list for all Subject Teachers or Heads of Departments using Google. Whatever options are ticked in the configuration settings when syncing with Bromcom will pull across to Google.
Q – What is Classroom Provisioning?
A – The first feature of setting the School ID is more for the Multi Academy Trusts (MATS) because it allows them to differentiate each of the classrooms for each of their schools on the admin console. The other feature of setting the Academic Year is beneficial to easily distinguish current and achieved classes each Academic Year. So for example, a Year 10 class for 2021 cannot be mistaken for a Year 10 class in 2022 because the ability to archive older classes is given and prevents any confusion.
Q – What if I don’t want all of my Classes to sync from Bromcom to my Google Tenancy?
A – Use the Sync Exclusion option, this allows you to exclude specific Teaching Classes from the Classroom Sync process.
Calendar Provisioning
Q – Will all Events on Bromcom sync across if I use the Calendar Sync settings?
A – This comes down to which Calendar events are ticked and how these are setup in Bromcom beforehand. Within Bromcom, if every Staff member can see Diary or School Holiday Calendar events then it would be recommended to sync those across too.
Please note: We only sync the next 30 days of Calendar events.
End of Year
Q – When classes are no longer in session, will the system automatically tidy them up from our tenancy?
A – Any class or groups that have an end of this academic year e.g 21/22 will get archived in your tenancy. We don’t delete any of the classes or groups.
Q – In KS4 and KS5 we would like to roll Teams over to the next academic year where possible (i.e Year 10 into Year 11 and Year 12 into Year 13) this is to ensure the continuity during GCSE and A’ Level.
A – If you want a class or group to roll over into the next academic year you will need to make sure there is no ‘End date’ on the class or group. As the group will have moved you will all need to change the ‘Year group’ year in the class details to now reflect it’s a year 11 instead of a year 10.
Q – When will my Staff and Students sync across from Bromcom for the new Academic Year?
A – When a new Academic Year approaches, Staff and Students will sync across on or after the day they become active on Bromcom. So if Students start on 01/09/22, this is the date they will sync across and populate Google Classrooms.