Choosing between Google Meet and Google Hangouts (currently known as Google Chat) can be confusing. This breakdown clarifies the key differences between these two Google offerings, focusing on aspects like participant capacity, user interface, features, and pricing. Understanding these distinctions will help you pick the right tool for your communication needs.
Whether you need a simple platform for casual video calls or a feature-rich solution for professional meetings, this comparison will equip you to make an informed decision.
What Is Google Meet?
Google Meet is a video conferencing app developed by Google. It is part of the Google Workspace account (formerly G Suite) productivity suite, but it is also available for free to anyone with a Google account. Here are some key features and aspects of Google Meet:
- Video and audio conferencing: Google Meet allows users to host and join video and audio meetings with multiple participants. It supports high-definition video quality and clear audio.
- Screen sharing: Participants can share their screens, which is useful for presentations, demonstrations, and collaboration.
- Integration with Google Services: Google Meet integrates seamlessly with other Google services like Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Drive, making it easy to schedule and join meetings directly from these applications.
- Security Features: Google Meet includes various security measures such as encryption in transit, complex meeting codes, and the ability to control who can join the meeting. It also offers tools to manage participants and ensure meetings remain secure.
- Accessibility: Google Meet is accessible via web browsers without the need to install additional software. There are also mobile apps available for Android and iOS devices.
- Large meetings: Depending on the Google Workspace plan, Google Meet can support a significant number of participants, making it suitable for both small team meetings and larger webinars or conferences.
- Breakout rooms and polling: These features allow for more interactive and segmented meetings, facilitating group discussions and participant engagement.
The benefits of Google Meet for your business
Here are some of the benefits of using Google Meet's video conferencing tools for your business:
- Cost-effective: Google Meet offers a free tier for meetings with up to 100 participants, making it a budget-friendly option for small businesses or occasional video conferencing.
- Integration with Google Workspace: A major advantage of Google Meet is its tight integration with other Google Workspace tools like Gmail account, Calendar, and Drive. It also enables you to share your Google Workspace tools with your team.
- Security: Google Meet leverages Google's robust security infrastructure to ensure your meetings are protected.
- Accessibility: Google Meet is accessible from any device with a web browser, eliminating the need to download additional software for most users.
- Enhanced features: Paid plans of Google Meet offer additional features that can benefit businesses, such as increased meeting participant limits, meeting recording, live streaming, noise cancellation, and attendance reports, and filters and virtual backgrounds for your meetings.
Things To Know About Hangouts
Google Hangouts, once a popular messaging platform, is no longer available as of November 2022. While you can still access your old conversations through Google Chat, it can't be used for new messaging or calls.
The main features of Google Hangout
Google Hangouts, though discontinued in 2022 and replaced by Google Chat, offered a variety of features for communication such as video chat service, including:
- Instant messaging: Send text messages with emojis, images, and GIFs to individuals or groups of up to 250 people.
- Voice and video call: Make voice calls or hold an HD video chat with up to 25 participants. Hangouts even allowed texting during video chats for added convenience.
- Screen sharing: Share your screen with others on the call to present documents, collaborate on projects, or troubleshoot problems.
- Cross-platform compatibility: Access Hangouts from your computer through a web browser or Chrome extension, or use the mobile app on iOS and Android devices.
- Integrations: Hangouts worked seamlessly with other Google applications like Gmail and Calendar, making it easy to schedule calls and manage your communications.
Google Meet Vs Hangouts: Main Differences
Choosing the right platform for your online communication needs can be tricky. Here's a breakdown of the key differences between Google Meet, the current video conferencing champion, and the discontinued Google Hangouts:
Number of participants
- Google Meet: Accommodates large gatherings, with the free version supporting up to 250 participants. Paid plans remove this ceiling, allowing for truly massive meetings.
- Google Hangouts (Google Chat): Catered to smaller groups, with a maximum of 150 participants in chat and a mere 10 for video calls. This makes it unsuitable for large conferences or webinars.
User Interface
- Google Meet: Provides a clean, professional interface optimized for video conferencing. It prioritizes the speaker and participants, ensuring everyone is visible and the focus remains on the meeting content.
- Google Hangouts (Google Chat): Offered a more casual interface that resembled a messaging app. While functional for informal chats, it lacked the structure and focus needed for professional video meetings.
External users access
- Google Meet: Embraces open communication. Anyone with a meeting link or code can join, regardless of whether they have a Google account. This is ideal for collaborating with external partners or clients.
- Google Hangouts (Google Chat): Primarily functioned within the Google ecosystem. While guest access was available in limited cases, it was not the primary focus.
Abilities and features
- Google Meet: Packed with features designed to enhance video conferencing experiences. These include screen sharing, meeting recording (paid plans), live captions (paid plans), noise cancellation (paid plans), and breakout rooms (paid plans) for focused discussions within larger groups.
- Google Hangouts (Google Chat): Offered a basic feature set, including screen sharing, text chat during calls, and location sharing. While helpful for casual interactions, it lacked the robust functionality needed for professional meetings.
Recording
- Google Meet: Allows recording meetings in paid plans, enabling you to capture important discussions for future reference.
- Google Hangouts (Google Chat): Did not offer built-in recording functionality. If you needed to record a Hangouts session, you'd rely on third-party tools.
Integrations
- Google Meet: Integrates seamlessly with Google Workspace tools such as Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Duo, and Drive. This allows for simple scheduling, streamlined file sharing, and centralized management of your meetings and activities.
- Google Hangout (Google Chat): Also integrated with Google Workspace tools, but the connection wasn't as smooth or comprehensive as with Google Meet.
Auto caption
- Google Meet: Provides live captions (paid plans), making meetings more accessible for deaf or hard-of-hearing participants and those who want to follow along with the conversation visually.
- Google Hangouts (Google Chat): Did not offer live captions.
Prices
- Google Meet: Provides a free tier with basic features, while paid plans unlock additional functionalities like recording and increased participant limits.
- Google Hangouts (Google Chat): This was a free service, but it's no longer available as of November 2022.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while both Google Meet and Hangouts serve communication purposes, Google Meet stands out as the more robust and feature-rich option, especially for professional video conferencing. However, capturing these meetings for future reference is crucial, especially when screens are shared to present documents or collaborate on projects. Here's where third-party tools like Bluedot shine.
Bluedot goes beyond basic recording, offering a solution for Google Meet users. It seamlessly captures your meetings and provides high-quality transcriptions, allowing you to easily revisit key points. Furthermore, Bluedot boasts features like auto-generated emails and meeting templates, streamlining post-meeting communication and ensuring consistency.
Most importantly, Bluedot securely stores your recordings, making them readily accessible for future reference. With its focus on Google Meet integration and a feature set designed to empower productivity, Bluedot stands out as the best tool to record and transcribe your Google Meet meetings.
FAQs
Can external users join meetings on Google Meet and Hangouts?
Google Meet allows anyone with a meeting link or code to join, regardless of whether they have a Google account. Google Hangouts primarily requires users to have a Google account, with limited guest access.
Can I record meetings on Google Meet and Hangouts?
You can record meetings on Google Meet, but this feature is only available in paid plans. Google Hangouts does not offer built-in recording capabilities.
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