Google Hangouts Makes the Enterprise Switch with Meet

By Sia. in Mobile. Updated on December 9, 2017.

While the consumer-focused version of Google Hangouts may be dead, the spirit of Hangouts lives on in a new video conferencing app that Google is calling "Meet".

Currently only available as a web-based platform, Meet by Google Hangouts appears to be part of Google’s G Suite products, even though the feature is not yet listed as such at the G Suite’s page.

According to information that can be extrapolated from screenshots of the app, as well as descriptions found on the app’s App Store page that has seen been removed, Meet appears to be a version of Hangout that is tailored made for businesses.

For starters, Meet will be able to support high-definition video meetings with up to 30 participants. In the event of large-scale meetings or conferences, Meet will actively put the speaker on the main window while other participants are listed below the main window.

To participate in a conference, all the user needs to do is open up the Meet application and tap on the Join button. For participants whose company is on the G Suite Enterprise plan, they can also join the meeting via dial-in numbers.

Keeping track of all your scheduled meetings will be a breeze to as Meet is integrated into both Gmail and Calendar for G Suite users. On top of that, Meet’s main screen displays all of your scheduled meetings, making it easy to keep track of upcoming conferences.

There is no denying that Meet sounds intriguing right now, but if you’re looking to try out the service right now, you may be disappointed. As of the time of writing, Meet is unavailable on both iOS and Android devices.

While the web version of Meet is up, Google has yet to implement the ability to start a new meeting, meaning you’re limited to joining a currently active meeting via a meeting code. Seeing as Meet hasn’t been officially launch yet, Google has probably silently launched the service as a way to conduct tests for the service.