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.
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:
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.