Important Message About The Manhattan College Transition to Google Chat on June 15th

We’re excited to share that we’ll be transitioning everyone at Manhattan College to Google’s newest enterprise-grade collaboration product, Google Chat. Chat has a modern/easy viewing interface as well as team rooms that support better team collaboration, emoji reactions to make work fun, and bots to help you be more productive. Manhattan College is receiving early access to some great new features, such as an upgraded Gmail integration and the ability to chat with external users (non-Manhattan College users).

Beginning Monday, June 15th, 2020, all teams will be using Chat for direct messages (DMs), group messages, and team discussions. Classic Hangouts apps will no longer be accessible in Gmail..

How do I get Google Chat?

It's important to do the following before 6/15 as classic Hangout apps will stop working:

1. Explore the new Web experience at chat.google.com
2. Download the new mobile app for Android or iOS.
3. Please make sure you install the Chat mobile app (Android or iOS) before 6/15 to minimize chances of missed messages.
4. Download the new standalone desktop app if you've been using the classic Hangouts Chrome extension or app. You'll be able to access the desktop app from a prompt that will appear inside chat.google.com
5. On 6/15, refresh your Gmail to get the new Chat in Gmail experience.

Where do I find my old chats?

1. You will be able to continue recent direct messages from classic Hangouts in Google Chat, but group messages from classic Hangouts (including their history) will not be migrated to Google Chat. This means on 6/15 you will no longer see any group messages you had using classic Hangouts in your Google Chat.
   
2. All previous chat history from classic Hangouts will be accessible in the Gmail Chat label.
   
3. The classic Hangouts web interface for chat, hangouts.google.com will remain available during this transition in case you need more time to access and move certain group conversations. Users cannot chat in classic Hangouts by visiting hangouts.google.com in a mobile browser. Using hangouts.google.com will be the only way to access your classic Hangouts group chats.
   
4. The classic Hangouts bot in Chat will also notify you of missed group messages from classic Hangouts. This means if you are using Google Chat and someone messages a classic Hangouts group you are in, you will receive a message with a link to the conversation. Please use this link for further assistance if you need to add the classic Hangouts bot to Google Chat. 

What are the limitations of Chat?

1. Google Voice and Google Fi are not currently available through Chat:

• Users who already have a Google Voice account can access Google Voice at voice.google.com, by selecting Voice from the App launcher , or by downloading the Google Voice app (Android, iOS).
•  Google Fi users must use the default SMS app on their mobile device to send and receive SMS messages

2. Group messages from classic Hangouts (including their history) will not be migrated to Chat. Users can still access these group messages in hangouts.google.com.

       If you have important group messages in classic Hangouts, we recommend that you recreate them as Rooms in the new Chat.


3. Group direct messages and rooms that are started in the new Chat will not send messages to users who are still on the classic Hangouts apps.

Where do I go for help?

G Suite Learning Center for more information about the new Chat.

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.