
Google Hangouts Screenshot. Google expanded guest access to Hangouts, allowing business meetings to be conducted in a more efficient and productive manner.
Google expanded guest access to Hangouts, allowing business meetings to be conducted in a more efficient and productive manner.
One no longer needs a Google account to join a video call or video conference with Google Hangouts. If you’re invited to a Google Hangouts video call or conference it is sufficient to join the one-on-one or multi-participant discussion.
As Google expanded guest access to Hangouts business users see it as a streamlining efficiency move that allows easier access to meetings. Patrick Wynn, the product manager for Google’s Google for Work division declared in a blog post that after much deliberation Google reached the conclusion that joining a Hangouts meeting should in fact be as easy as walking into the meeting room per se.
No accounts, no strings attached. The initiators of the Hangouts meeting simply need to send invitations to participants. Even without a Google account, joining the meeting becomes as easy as clicking on the invite link. At the same time, the environment is highly controllable and secured, perfect to meet the needs of Hangouts business users.
Hangouts was introduced with the switch to Google+. The updated extending guest access to Hangouts will be rolled starting this week. The invitations send to participants without a Google account will be made through Google Calendar. According to Wynn, the same procedure stands for the mobile app, for web or Chromebox.
Hangouts business users are excited with the perspective of no longer needing Google accounts to join online business meetings. Google accounts may be common at this point. However, if only one participant to a meeting didn’t have a Google account or did not wish to use it for this purpose, the entire meeting could be compromise.
Video calls and conferences are gaining ground in the business environment. Time and cost efficient, they are an uncomplicated tool to address the most pressing issues of the business while connecting participants wherever they may find themselves.
From this perspective, updating the policy and extending guest access to Hangouts earn Google some extra points.
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