What Is Hangout App Used For

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Google Hangouts works well for the solo user needing a simple and free communication tool. It is not for businesses and isn't the top video conferencing software bachelor. Just it's excellent for personal employ, despite lacking the capabilities of competitors like Zoho Meeting and RingCentral Video.

Compare Google Hangouts to The Best Video Conferencing Software

Google Hangouts failed to brand our pinnacle video conferencing software listing. Information technology was created to be a more bones tool, and information technology's no match for the top video conferencing tools designed to support businesses of any size. Nonetheless, as a personal communication tool, information technology is a skilful ane with a lot of advantages, including being free and easy to use.

Ii competitors in the video conferencing space are RingCentral and Zoho Meetings, both of which are affordable with splendid features for businesses of virtually every size. If you're looking for a video conferencing tool for your business, it'due south important to know the best providers. We've tried countless video conferencing tools to compile a list of the all-time. See all of our peak picks here to make an informed determination on what will work best for y'all.

Google Hangouts: The Practiced and The Bad

The Good

Google Workspace Integration: Like other Google products, Google Hangouts seamlessly integrates with other Google Workspace apps. This is a huge benefit for people who already use other Google apps. Users can pull contacts from Google Contacts and add a phone number with Google Voice. These integrations tin salve time and gives Google Hangouts a sense of familiarity with Google users.

Contacting Options: Google Hangouts as well has instant messaging, voice calling, and video calling. Contact flexibility is essential because video calling is not always preferred. You can use the chat choice for quick questions and calls for longer conversations. At that place is too a hybrid option combining both video calls and chats.

Ease of Use: Anyone even slightly familiar with technology can hands use Google Hangouts. When you want to conversation with someone, only blazon their name or email address in the search bar and send them an invitation.

To add more people and make it a group chat, yous'll click the plus icon at the meridian of the chatbox. The photos icon at the bottom correct allows users to easily send photos to the group.

For video calls, click the video call button, and a window will pop upward. Video call members can also exist invited through the search bar. Once a call has begun, users can plough off their cameras or mute microphones with a single click.

There is also in-call messaging, which is using the text feature during a phone call. This characteristic is perfect for sharing links, photos, and notes while speaking to others.

Users can invite more people to create group calls, and the screen share option allows all participants to focus on one user's screen. Screen sharing is perfect for going over step-by-footstep processes in existent-fourth dimension.

If you don't desire to use your personal prison cell phone number, you can sign up for a Google Vocalization phone number. Calls made in the United States are gratuitous, but international calls cost money depending on the land.

Mobile Apps: If yous need to use this service while away from your desktop, Google Hangouts has your back. It has a mobile app available for iOS and Android. This allows for piece of cake cross-advice between desktop users and mobile app users.

Free Software: If yous don't want to purchase video conferencing software, Google Hangouts may be for you. The tool is free and easily accessible for anyone with a personal Google account.

The Bad

Unclear Product Offerings: Google offers Google Hangouts, Google Conversation, and Google Run into. All are similar product offerings for slightly unlike uses.

Google Hangouts is geared toward personal consumers and includes chat and video calling. Google Chat is a chat service intended for businesses. Google Run across is a video conferencing service meant for businesses. Google Hangouts is free, and the other two vary depending on a user's Google Workspace plan.

This confuses potential customers. If Google were to simply combine these into ane product with different pricing plans, it would be a much clearer product offer.

Personal Use Just: Google Hangouts is extremely limited because information technology's but meant for personal use. While this software is easy to use, it's also extremely bones. Information technology lacks recording space, business organisation phone systems, and chore management features. Businesses needing proper video conferencing software will need to upgrade to Google Meet.

Google Hangouts Pricing and Options

Google Hangouts is completely free to employ. Google Encounter and Google Conversation are similar services meant for businesses and role of paid Google Workspace plans.

While Google Workspace pricing is unclear and unnecessarily complicated, Google Hangouts pricing is straightforward. It has one plan, and it's free.

Google Workspace

Before diving into the different products Google has to offer, it's of import to understand how Google Workspace's pricing structure works. Most Google apps can be used for complimentary. However, many of these apps have upgrades bachelor when purchasing Google Workspace plans. Confusing, correct? Allow united states of america simplify this for y'all.

Apps like Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Docs are gratuitous for anyone with a Gmail account to utilise. To upgrade these apps, yous must pay for a Google Workspace plan. Paid Google Workspace plans are meant for businesses, while individual consumers typically use Google's costless app versions.

Google offers a 14-day free trial with Workspace before needing to pay. Its Business concern Starter plan costs $6 per user per month. Information technology includes concern emails, thirty gigabytes of cloud storage per user, and 100 video meeting participants.

The Business Standard program costs $12 per user per month. Its video meeting participants limit increases to 150 people and allows telephone call recording. This program comes with two terabytes of deject storage per user.

The Business organization Plus program costs $xviii per user per calendar month. It includes enhanced security, five terabytes of cloud storage, and 250 video meeting participants.

Finally, the Enterprise plan has unlimited storage and enhanced customer support. Y'all must contact Google to notice out more about this plan's pricing information.

While Google Workspace'southward pricing complexity can cause headaches, it is affordable for the value it brings. We do non like the requirement to pay for enhanced support in the Business Standard and Business concern Plus plans.

Gmail

Most people reading this have heard of Gmail or already accept a Gmail account. There are over i.5 billion active Gmail users worldwide. Gmail is Google'south gratuitous email service. Information technology has a simple signup process and a sleek layout and includes a mobile app. It also integrates with all Google Workspace apps.

Electronic mail inboxes get cluttered, and many people forget to follow up on important emails. Fortunately, Gmail includes helpful reminders at the top of a user's inbox. Some examples of these are "Received 2 days ago. Reply?" or "Sent 7 days ago. Follow upwardly?"

The Smart Compose Personalization characteristic creates personalized suggestions depending on a user's writing style to save fourth dimension. Equally far as security is concerned, Gmail has your back. It warns users of suspicious emails and blocks 99.ix% of dangerous emails.

It even places an "Ad" logo to highlight advertisements in a user'south inbox. The inbox is separated into a Primary tab, a Social tab, and a Promotions tab for easy organization.

Gmail is an manufacture leader in the electronic mail service infinite. We recommend Gmail for anyone seeking an easy-to-use service that syncs with Google Workspace apps.

Google Bulldoze

Google Drive is Google'southward cloud storage and syncing service. Information technology lets users store, share, and edit files from their desktops, tablets, and computers. In addition to Google Workspace integration, it also connects with third-party apps like Adobe, DocuSign, and Salesforce. It is admittedly top of the line for collaborative documents, forms, spreadsheets, presentations, and more than.

Google Drive offers 15 gigabytes of storage infinite for free. Later 15 gigabytes, users will need to pay more for additional storage via Google Workspace plans. Google Bulldoze is one of the leading cloud storage providers in its infinite, and its free version offers a solid amount of storage.

Google Docs

Google Docs is an intuitive document software that is function of Google Drive. Information technology lets users write, edit, and collaborate on documents. The collaboration tool allows more than one person to edit a document in real-time. Users can share documents with anyone, chat with each other, and add comments. Information technology comes with styling and intelligent editing tools and lets users add together images, drawings, and links.

Google Docs isn't only for typical documents. Information technology has pre-made templates for help with resumes, reports, and meeting agendas. When users aren't connected to the cyberspace, they can yet access their documents from the desktop or mobile app in offline mode.

Google Docs eliminates the need to salvage documents manually; the documents auto-save to the cloud whenever whatever change is made. If you make a fault, you tin but look at previous versions of the certificate through the version history. Therefore, there is no demand to worry about losing the changes.

Google Docs is free to use, and information technology's the perfect tool for users who demand to collaborate on and save documents. For business utilise, the app can be upgraded with Google Workspace plans. For people who adopt more traditional certificate software like Microsoft Word, Google Docs may not exist the correct fit.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar focuses on managing its users' schedules so that they take more gratis time. Information technology is primarily used via its mobile app but tin be used on a desktop likewise. The Schedule View separates it from dull calendars by adding images, color-coding, and maps to events.

When users receive a scheduling email to their Gmail account, it is automatically added to their Google Calendar. This is helpful when receiving flight data, hotel check-in details, or restaurant reservations. The interface lets users see different views of their days, weeks, and months.

Users can invite guests, and events are automatically backed up online. For piece of cake organization, events can also be color-coded.

Like other Google Workspace apps, Google Calendar is free to use. Google Agenda is a elementary calendar tool for users who appreciate automatic scheduling features.

Google Conversation

Google Chat is an app that helps companies and teams communicate with each other more than quickly than with e-mail. Information technology can be used on its ain or inside of Gmail.

Users tin can create a virtual room to keep projects on track and organized and add together their team members. These rooms support up to 8,000 users, and Google Chat can be gear up to 28 different languages.

The search feature lets users find specific $.25 from previous conversations. Safety is a priority with Google Chat. Google'southward anti-abuse measures keep organizations safe, and all information is encrypted at rest and in transit.

Google Conversation has more intuitive chat options than Google Hangouts. Unlike Google Hangouts, it can exist upgraded through the paid versions of Google Workspace.

Google'southward Chat and Hangouts differences can be a niggling disruptive, and we think it's unnecessary to separate them into 2 carve up tools. Every bit a reminder, Google Hangouts is for smaller-scale use, and Google Conversation is for larger businesses.

Google Meet

In addition to Google Chat, there is also Google Run into. Google Run into is geared toward video conferencing. It is gratuitous to employ merely tin exist upgraded for boosted features via Google Workspace plans. While Google Hangouts also has video conferencing, Google Meet'due south video conferencing is intended for larger businesses.

Meetings tin be started instantly or scheduled on Google Calendar. Google Encounter's free version is aught special. Yet, the upgraded versions pack much more value.

Advanced features like breakout rooms, polls, Q&A, and live streaming are included with Google Workspace's paid plans. These plans also feature paw raising, noise cancellation, meeting recording, and omnipresence tracking.

The further you upgrade your Google Workspace plan, the more than valuable this tool becomes. While this video conferencing software is a step upwardly from Google Hangouts, it's not one of the all-time available.

How Google Hangouts Ranks

Google Hangouts does not make our list of top picks because information technology doesn't stand upward to the superlative video conferencing tools on the market today due to its limitations. Microsoft Teams tin host meetings with upward to 10,000 members with 24-hr time limits. Zoho Meeting lets users customize meeting forms with company names, logos, and colors, and Livestorm gives users loftier-stop webinar experiences.

Google Hangouts does none of these, and information technology's simply meant for personal use. For more information on the all-time video conferencing software available, check out our article here.

RingCentral – Best video conferencing software for well-nigh businesses
Zoho Coming together – All-time for uncomplicated webinars at a budget-friendly price
Microsoft Teams – Best video conferencing tool for large businesses
Vectera – Best for branded 1:ane video calls with customers & clients
Livestorm – Best if you focus heavily on webinars and live events

Summary

If you need video conferencing software for your business concern, steer articulate of Google Hangouts. This software is only meant for the individual consumer and lacks many of the features necessary for business apply.

Tools like RingCentral, Livestorm, and Microsoft Teams are better options for business concern users. They have unique tools that tailor to businesses, and Google Hangouts can't compete. Google Hangouts is a more suitable tool if all you demand is a uncomplicated free tool for personal use.