Start using Hangouts Chat right now

Beginning April 16, 2019, Google Hangouts Chat and Meet together are the next version of Hangouts. They will replace the original version (classic Hangouts) in G Suite.  

Classic Hangouts will be retired for all G Suite customers starting in October 2019 and all remaining users will be transitioned to Chat.

This means all classic Hangouts users can also use Chat at chat.google.com or by installing the Chat mobile or computer apps.

Learn more about Chat and classic Hangouts interoperability.

Switching from classic Hangouts to Hangouts Meet

Hangouts Chat is for continuous text chat with your team. Hangouts Chat was implemented by many people who transitioned from classic Hangouts. The chat app is filled with many features to work productively. Google has included a bot it calls @meet that can look at the schedules of anybody in a group chat and automatically suggest a meeting time then schedule it directly in Google Calendar. For more information review Get Started with Bots! ITS blog post.

Hangouts Meet is how teams communicate using video calls, one can easily hold video meetings with people inside or outside their organization.

Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet are the next generation of Hangouts that focus on team communication. Later this year, Google will  transition classic Hangouts users to Chat and Meet.

Classic Hangouts Timeline:

Classic Hangouts is a Google video messaging app. It is being phased out and will be retired for all G Suite customers in October 2019.

For more information review material from Google on these apps: Switching from classic Hangouts to Hangouts Meet.

For further details please review:  Upcoming Hangouts service consolidation for all G Suite customers

For help in getting started with Hangouts Chat please contact: ITS@manhattan.edu or TEL:  718-862-7973.

Get Started with Bots!

Hangouts Chat makes it easy for teams to be able to get their work done in one place. From direct messages to group conversations, Chat helps teams collaborate easily and efficiently. With dedicated, virtual rooms to house projects over time — plus threaded conversations — Chat makes it simple to track progress and follow up tasks.

Google's Bots are special accounts you can chat with, just as you would with people. Bots provide a conversational way for you to connect to services in Hangouts Chat, such as looking up information, scheduling meetings, performing tasks and so on.

From your Google Chat Dashboard, Navigate to the: Find Person, room, or bot section in the top left corner, then select: Message a Bot. That will show a number of popular bots where you can search through. 

Bots are created by software developers and added to Hangouts Chat by Google. Every Hangouts Chat user can use bots, including the @meet bot.

Google Hangouts Chat isn't just for talking to people - it's also a great place to chat with your bots, too. They can help you book meetings, find flights, poll your team, check your calendar and much more - they are very interactive and powerful.

In Hangouts Chat, you can add bots to a specific room, or you can chat with them directly on your own. There are bots already built for Hangouts Chat today, including Meet, Drive, Giphy and more. 
The Drive bot will update you about new comments, access request, files share with you and your storage. The Giphy bot will insert GIF's directly into your chat room.
The Summarize bot can extract the most important information, keywords and key phrases from:
• weblinks and documents - just share your link with the bot or copy-paste your text • audio files • images with text.

You can ask the Meet bot to check your calendar or book a meeting with someone else on your team or in your organization.

Review Use @meet bot for instructions on how to use a bot to set up a meeting.

For help in getting started with Hangouts Chat please contact: ITS@manhattan.edu or TEL: 718-862-7973

Get Started with Hangouts Chat: A Messaging Platform Built for Teams

Hangouts Chat

A messaging platform built for teams

• Hangouts Chat makes it easy for teams to be able to get their work done in one place. From direct messages to group conversations, Chat helps teams collaborate easily and efficiently. With dedicated, virtual rooms to house projects over time — plus threaded conversations — Chat makes it simple to track progress and follow up tasks. Chat currently supports 28 languages and each room can support up to 8,000 members.

Hangouts Chat is Deeply Integrated with G Suite:

Easily upload items from Drive, Collaborate on Docs, Sheets or Slides, join online meetings with Hangouts Meet.

Get started right away with Hangouts Chat. 

For more information please visit @ Hangouts Chat.

Partially reposted from @ Hangouts Chat.