In today’s world, we can’t imagine a work day without video conferencing. Google offers Google Meet as part of their Google Workspace offering and has invested heavily in it. This reflects in a lot of interesting new features that were released in the past months and are upcoming in the near future.
More participants in a single meeting
Most online meetings we have are with 2-6 people. However, in some cases you want to invite more participants. Think about training courses, CEO briefings or webinars. Previously a maximum of 250 people could follow and participate in a Google Meet. This has now been upgraded to 500 participants. Read more.
In need for more? Checkout the livestream options available in most Google Workspace plans.
Companion Mode
Use Companion Mode to improve collaboration during hybrid meetings. Companion mode allows you to access interactive features and controls such as chat, screen sharing, hand raising, polls, host controls and more. In short: use your second screen for a video call, without compromising on the tools and controls that you have available.
Want to learn more about how you can integrate your Google Workspace environment with your meeting rooms? Get in touch with our experts, and learn more about the hardware options for small, medium and large rooms.
More control over your meetings capabilities
In 2020 Google released breakout rooms, polls and Q&A’s to make meetings more interactive. In 2021 they added host controls ahead of the meeting to give the organiser even more control over the interactivity of a meeting. An organiser can now assign co-hosts to help facilitate interactive meetings. Read more.
Once the breakout session is done, you can easily move all breakout room participants back to the original meeting. Read more.
Join a Meet from Docs, Sheets or Slides
How often do you present a Slides presentation, Doc or Sheet with your Meet? Do you miss seeing the other participants while sharing your screen? With this new feature, this is in the past. You can now join and present to a Meet directly from within your Google Doc, Sheet or Slide.
Many more features to come
Google recently announced a couple of features it plans to release in the upcoming months.
Emoji reactions
In-meeting reactions will let attendees visually express themselves with 👍 ❤️ 😆 and more, bringing energy into the meeting and giving immediate feedback to speakers and other attendees. These reactions will appear in a participant’s video tile, or overflow alongside their name if their video tile isn’t visible.
Can’t get enough?
The following features were also released in the past months:
- Lock audio & video during a Google Meet on iOS
- New integrated view for Gmail features email, Google Meet, Google Chat, and Spaces in one place
- Expanded occupancy detection now on Google Meet hardware devices
- Live translated captions in Google Meet are now generally available
- Start and join meetings from 1:1 chats on mobile
- Participate in Google Meet polls and Q&As on Chromebase for meetings
- Expanded access for noise cancellation in Google Meet
- Background noise reduction now available for Google Meet Hardware devices
Personal video through Companion Mode
People in conference rooms will also be able to add their own personal video tile from Companion mode and their laptop camera, making it easier for other attendees to see their expressions and gestures.
Picture-in-Picture mode
Sharing something else than a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide? This feature allows you to present and view the reactions of up to 4 meeting participants with the picture-in-picture mode which is coming to Google Meet later this year.
