Google Meet

Hangouts Meet is already available from within Gmail. It's simple to add to a meeting invitation from Gcal or to launch for impromptu meetings from the G-Suite launchpad.

Many large organizations have firewall settings that block this tool. Also, Google definitely is no longer a privacy advocate, so be aware that your call.video is stored on one of their servers for their purposes. Finally, while this is all browser-based on Macs/PCs, it is a resource hog, but not as bad as Webex.

My colleagues began our work-from-home adventure using Zoom and quickly encountered some problems, mostly with hitting the limits of our license very quickly. We explored buying more licenses and then decided to give Google Meet a try since it's included with the purchase of the G Suite, which includes other useful tools like Google Drive and Gmail. Google Meet is easy to use, intuitive and has a great mobile app.

The only drawback to switching to Google Meet was needing to relearn some basic functions like sharing screens. Many of us spent the first six months of COVID exclusively using Zoom, so it took some time to pivot to Google Meet. That said, we're fully entrenched in Google now and like it very much. My IT guy also praises the enhanced security since our Google Meet accounts are linked with our Google Logins, which automatically include two-factor authentication.

I have to say I have mixed review about Google hangouts.When I first found out about the Google hangouts I was really excited about it and I introduced her to my students. It was working great they could do projects together after school they could meet each other and chat about some thing they could find out what the homework was things like that also I am it really works during the COVID-19 because they can’t get together and work next week on there but they can chat to each other on the Google hangouts. With all of that sad I am I also like to use it for my colleagues and to reach out real quick and touch base. But I guess I’ll put the negatives in the con box because I do have negatives.

When I first found out about the Google hangouts I was really excited about it and I introduced her to my students. It was working great they could do projects together after school they could meet each other and chat about some thing they could find out what the homework was things like that also I am it really works during the COVID-19 because they can’t get together and work next week on there but they can chat to each other on the Google hangouts. With all of that sad I am I also like to use it for my colleagues and to reach out real quick and touch base. But I guess I’ll put the negatives in the con box because I do have negatives.

I adore the overall simplicity and cleanliness of the GUI. As a standard feature available with any of the tier of the new Google Workspace it is very accessible, and most of the clients I work with are already somehow connected to the Google platform, either through email or their phones. I love the option to change my GUI and have multiple screen layouts (not revolutionary, but nice to have). The fact that a shortened link is automatically created on starting a new meeting is also a deal breaker because it's very easy to communicate where to meet with the clients and coworkers. I love the fact that the Meet can create captions to be able to understand others more easily.

The nice use of white space and the emptyish GUI is also an issue somehow because some of the functionality is lacking. I would love a dedicated desktop app (like Skype, or Zoom, have) - for example to be able to share files just by drag&dropping them into the conversation windows. It would be great to be to chat with people in particular and not just the entire group all at once. Also, a fantastic option would be to be able to record the entire session.