Google’s Hangouts has been coming out with a lot of new features in the last few months to make it the default mobile and desktop communications app. Now, it’s the turn of Hangouts for Enterprise to enhance how it can be used to maximize “face to face” digital conversations within your business. The most important update now is that you can now use Hangouts without having to sign up for a Google+ account.
As long as the user has a Google Apps customer account, you can now use the video meetings of Hangouts without needing a G+ account. The feature allows up to 15 people to join a face-to-face hangout, as long as they are on a computer or a Chromebox. But they assure that this capability will also arrive soon for mobile phones and tablets as well. They are also allowing people on other video conference systems, like Blue Jeans (for H.323 or SIP-based videoconferencing systems) or InterCall (for those with mobile phones but through an InterCall audio-conference bridge).
Hangouts for Enterprise is now also included in the Google Terms of Service for other Business products like Gmail and Drive. This means that users can also avail of the round-the-clock customer support and a 99.9% guaranteed uptime. Later on, they will also be adding enterprise integration for Hangouts with the Google Apps Vault. Your company’s IT administrator will also now be able to easily manage these video meetings from the Google Apps Admin Console. You can start, mute or end a meeting all from the comfort of your own computer.
While Hangouts for Enterprise has been a great tool (as they claim) for companies like Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Eventbrite and Kaplan, it still has not caught on as they would like to in the corporate world. But as digital business meetings continue to evolve and Google Business apps try to improve integration and go mobile, Google might still be able to penetrate this market.
SOURCE: Google Enterprise