Google Workspace Changes

Updates to Hangouts Meet home screen, screensaver, and custom wallpapers for in-room displays.

Google has introduced several updates to the Hangouts Meet TV display to improve user orientation. These include displaying the room agenda on the in-room display even when a touchscreen is connected, moving the clock and logo to the top of the screen, adding a new Meet logo screensaver for idle devices, and allowing administrators to upload custom wallpapers via the Admin console for specific organizational units.

International Hangouts Meet dial-in phone numbers added for Colombia, Croatia, Lithuania, and Portugal.

Google has expanded the availability of international dial-in phone numbers for Hangouts Meet to four additional markets: Colombia, Croatia, Lithuania, and Portugal. This functionality is available exclusively for G Suite Enterprise edition users, enabling teams to stay connected by dialing into meetings from these regions.

All G Suite customers can now create Hangouts Meet meetings with dial-in phone numbers.

Google has expanded dial-in capabilities for Hangouts Meet, allowing all G Suite users to include a US dial-in phone number in meetings created via Google Calendar. While all G Suite editions now have access to US dial-in, international dial-in numbers remain exclusive to G Suite Enterprise users. Administrators maintain the ability to disable the dial-in feature through the Admin console.

US dial-in feature for Hangouts Meet is now available to all business and education customers.

The US dial-in feature in Hangouts Meet, which allows users to join meetings via phone, is being made available to all business and education customers and will be rolled out in the coming months.

Dial-in phone numbers for Hangouts Meet expanded to six additional countries.

Google has expanded the availability of international Hangouts Meet dial-in phone numbers for G Suite Enterprise domains to six additional markets: Dominican Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, and Luxembourg.

Call US or Canadian phone numbers for free from Hangouts Meet

G Suite users can now add participants to a Hangouts Meet video call by calling US or Canadian phone numbers for free directly from their web browser. While this feature initially required G Suite admins to enable Google Voice in the Admin console, an update on May 15, 2018, removed this requirement, making the feature accessible to all G Suite domains.

Warning message for iOS users without Meet enabled

Google Meet will now display a warning message to iOS users whose accounts are not Meet-enabled, explaining that they can only join meetings and cannot create them. This message aims to clarify the missing functionality for non-G Suite users or users in organizational units where Meet is disabled, mirroring a message already available on the web.

Standalone Meet speakermic available for larger rooms.

Google is offering a standalone Meet speakermic for pre-order to improve audio quality in larger rooms. The device reduces echoes and background noise and supports daisy-chaining up to five speakermics together.

New Hangouts Meet room kit available for larger rooms.

A new Hangouts Meet room kit is available for pre-order, designed for larger rooms of up to 20 people. It includes a Logitech PTZ Pro 2 camera with 10x optical zoom and pan-tilt capabilities.

Hangouts Meet hardware expands to the Netherlands and Denmark.

Hangouts Meet hardware is now expanding to two additional countries, the Netherlands and Denmark, bringing the total number of countries where the hardware is available to 14.

Hangouts Meet now supported on Android and iOS tablets.

Hangouts Meet is now available for use on Android and iOS tablets, enabling team members to join video meetings from a wider variety of devices.

Hangouts Meet metrics added to G Suite Reports API.

Google is introducing over 50 new metrics to the Reports API Customer Usage report for Hangouts Meet, providing details on call duration, size, and device-specific characteristics. Additionally, Hangouts-related metrics previously provided under the Google+ metrics group have been migrated to a new 'Meet' metrics group.

International Hangouts Meet dial-in phone numbers expanded to nine additional countries.

Google has expanded the availability of international dial-in phone numbers for Hangouts Meet to nine additional markets: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, and Turkey. This functionality is available exclusively for G Suite Enterprise edition users, enabling teams to stay connected by dialing into meetings from more global locations.

Hangouts Meet now supports up to 50 participants for G Suite Enterprise users.

Google has increased the participant limit for Hangouts Meet meetings to 50 for users of the G Suite Enterprise edition. This limit supports a mixture of video and dial-in entry points, enabling larger global collaborations.

Enable Hangouts out-of-domain warnings to reduce the risk of data leaks.

Turn on a setting that will show warnings to your users if anyone outside of your domain tries to join a Hangout, and split existing group chats so external users can’t see previous internal conversations. This substantially reduces the risk of data leaks or falling prey to social engineering attacks.