Seemingly out of the blue, Google has surprised the enterprise world by launching a brand-new video conferencing solution for HD video meetings, called “Meet”. The mobile and web application is the latest solution in Google’s line-up of business products “G-Suite”. You can see the new offering here: meet.google.com.
If you click through, you’ll find that the site resembles the landing page you’d get for Hangouts, but there are no options for starting a text chat or call. Instead, you’ll need to enter a “code” to join a meeting, or see the meetings you have scheduled. Based on details from the app store page, Meet should be able to service as a business-friendly option for Hangouts, the Google consumer-focused video chat app.
What to Expect from Google Hangouts Meet
Similarly to Hangouts, Meet offers a range of group video call solutions, including not only video chat, but expanded capacity interactions too. For example, while Hangouts is limited to only 10 people, Meet supports high-def video for up to 30 participants. It also includes a host of other features that make it easier to access the calls you need on-the-go, along with useful dial-in numbers for people in the midst of travelling, and links you can join with a single click.
The main screen of the app displays a list of scheduled meetings, alongside new details like subject, location, time, and attendees. You can also click a “join” button to visit a meeting from your phone which can launch the video chat interface with buttons to switch off video or mute calls. Meanwhile, for larger conferences, there’s a primary window up top where you can view who’s talking, alongside a list of longer participants in the area below.
Although dial-in numbers are only available to G suite Enterprise customers thus far, that’s the only limitation we’re seeing at present.
We’re Waiting on an Official Announcement from Google
Up until now, Google hasn’t actually announced Meet’s launch officially, though it has acknowledged that a team-friendly type of Hangouts was on the horizon last September. During this acknowledgement, Google said that “the team is already thinking about which other Hangout features it can enable”, however back then it wasn’t using the “Meet” branding.
Currently, the mobile application is available here, and the solution comes at a time when Google has been focusing on changing its efforts regarding Hangouts. In January of this year, Google shutdown it’s Google+ Hangouts API, following a decision to concentrate more on enterprise users. Additionally, Google also purchased a start-up called “Limes Audio” to boost voice quality in their Hangout apps.
Though Meet hasn’t officially replaced the Hangouts app in the G-suite product portfolio, it’s interesting to see what the future holds for collaboration-based apps in Google.
