What Is Google Meet and How Does It Work? A complete Guide!

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Google Meet is a video conference service by Google. It is a great way for individuals and businesses to connect via audio and video calls. Although it was created from Google Hangouts and has some unique features,

This article will explain what Google Meet is and how it evolved from Google Hangouts. We will also discuss the best Google Meet features and how to join or create a Google Meet meeting.

What is Google Meet?

Google Meet is a video conference service. It was initially only available for enterprise customers. But anyone can use Google Meet free.

Google Meet is available on and smartphones and tablets for Android as well as iOS.

Google Meet was originally designed to be used for hosting video meetings. You can turn off the microphone and camera separately, so that you can use it for audio calls only if necessary.

You can invite your family and friends to join you in ad-hoc calls. You can invite them by entering your meeting code, or sending them a link they can click.

Google Meet’s best feature is the fact that you don’t have to install any software on your desktop. The organizer and attendees must both be using modern web browsers to participate in the call.

Google Meet vs. Google Hangouts. vs. Google Chat

Google is well-known for its multiple chat services, which all do the same thing. Google often changes the names of its services or retires them, leading to more confusion.

Google Hangouts allows you to video chat and message others. Google Hangouts was split into Hangouts Meet, Hangouts Chat and Google Chat.

Google Hangouts, Google Meet and Google Chat are all separate services that still exist. Google Duo ( our guide on Duo) and Allo are also available. Google Hangouts will be retired at some point by Google, although the exact date is not known.

Google Meet is a great way to host video meetings for multiple people. Google Hangouts and Google Chat are great for one-on-one conversations. You can find Google Hangouts tricks and tips here.

More information about the differences between chat apps can be found on Google’s FAQ page.

What are the best features of Google Meet?

Google Meet is free for meetings up to an hour. However, this support has been extended to 24hrs until September 30, 2020.

You can host as many meetings as possible, and you don’t have to meet the hour limit.

A meeting can have up to 100 participants. If your meetings grow in size, you may want to mut other participants.

Google Meet filters out background noises that aren’t speech. Google Meet also offers a live caption feature that automatically captions what people speak. It’s reliable and very useful for accessibility.

You can also share your screen with everyone on the call. You can share a particular window or your entire desktop. It also works on mobile devices.

Google claims that video conferences are encrypted during transit and that our safety measures are constantly updated to provide additional protection. While enterprise-grade security is available to business users, privacy settings for average users are fine.

What Does Google Cost to Meet Your Needs?

Google Meet is available for everyone to join and create calls. You only need a Google account (which will be available if you use Gmail), and that’s it.

Google Meet features are not available to all users without a paid G Suite subscription. It costs $10 per active user/month. G Suite is Google’s suite of productivity and collaboration apps.

G Suite offers additional features to Google Meet:

  • Meeting length: 300 hours
  • 250 participants in the meeting
  • International dial-in numbers for the USA or Canada
  • Google Drive – Meeting recordings
  • 24/7 Online Support

You can find more information on the Google Meet pricing page.

How to start a Google Meet Call

Go to the Google Meet website to start a Google Meet Call on your desktop. Click Start new meeting. If you are not signed in, you will be asked to log into your Google account.

There will be a waiting area. You will be asked by your browser if you would like meet.google.com to access your microphone and webcam. To begin, use the preview area to prepare yourself. Click Join Now.

The window will open with a link that you can share with others to join the call. This can be brought up at any time by clicking Meeting details at the bottom-left.

Open the Google Meet app on your tablet or mobile device and tap New Meeting. You will see the details of your meeting invitation in a pop-up. To send it directly to another app, tap Share.

How to join a Google Meet Call

You can join a Google Meet Call in one of two ways:

1. Use the Google Meet Invite Link

First, ask the host to send the invite link. This will be formatted like meet.google.com/xxx-xxxx-xxx. (The characters at end of URL also represent the meeting code. They are used in the second method.

Click the link on your desktop to join the meeting. If you are not signed in, you will need to log into your Google account. However, if the host uses G Suite, this step is unnecessary.

If you are using a tablet or mobile device with the Google Meet app installed on it, click the link to launch it and join the meeting.

2. Use a Google Meet Meeting Code

You can also ask your meeting host for the meeting code. This code can be used to join the meeting.

Go to Google Meet Website on your desktop. Input the code into the Enter Meeting Code box, then click Join.

Launch the Google Meet app on mobile or tablet. Tap Meeting code and enter it in the box. Finally, tap Join meeting.

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