Google Hangouts Reviews

We primarily use Google Hangouts to communicate with one another. We've moved on from Google Hangouts and are now using Google Chat. You will notice that people are getting out of Hangouts. Hangouts will be going to go away.

I haven't used Google Hangouts in two months, and I used to use it more than two dozen times a day.

It's really good, it works out pretty well.

Google Hangouts is an excellent tool.

Hangouts will go the way of the Dodo. Google will not have two identical chat platforms. Google Chat is always a winner because it is compatible with my device. Google Hangouts, however, was not. Google Hangouts is a browser-based application.

It's very stable. We have no issues with the stability of Google Hangouts.

Google Hangouts is very scalable.

In terms of Webex and potentially losing some quality having a good meeting often entails muting everyone except the speaker and then switching from one speaker to another. Because whenever there is an open forum, or there is a larger audience, and I believe the number is usually around 16, your chances of having a know-it-all who has something to say about everything skyrocket. Being able to mute somebody, would be very valuable.

Anybody who needs that many people and you need professional services like that, it's time to start paying the subscription and support the product. If they want to have control of the venue, the only way to have control of the venue is with the paid version.

It pays for itself. Having a meeting go off the rails is an embarrassment.

Webex is probably one of my only 10s, but I am really starting to enjoy Microsoft Teams. It has the features that I need. It's built into Windows. I get it as part of my subscription to Microsoft Office from the company. I have only had one issue where I made a mistake. There's a little rule that you should have. If it's your meeting, it needs to be your meeting, it should be your tool choice. if it's your meeting, you should be the one to schedule it, even if it's very difficult, the project manager with the client wants to host the meeting himself.

For example, I had a very interesting little experience, only a few weeks ago, where it was my meeting, but the project manager from the client set up the meeting. I did not know this, but he had me muted. When I was responding to people, it was as if nobody was listening to me. I didn't know what was going on. Then, after about 15, or 20 minutes, the project manager said, "are you going to respond to this?" And I said, "Is anybody listening to me?" I've answered these questions I don't know how many times. One of the people on the call called me up, not even 15, 20 minutes ago, and said, "by the way that meeting you were in yesterday, you were muted." I would recommend if it's your meeting, it's got to be your tool.

It's PAM, and PAM Solutions are notoriously politically fraught by those who want to have their environment secured versus those that like things the way they are, and we had one of those.

I would recommend using Google Chat.

It was nothing out of the ordinary in comparison to others. I would rate Google Hangouts a seven out of ten.

We use the tool for external meetings and communication. 

Google Hangouts is user-friendly. It supports low internet bandwidth. 

I have been using the product for two years. 

I rate the solution's stability a six out of ten. 

I rate the solution's scalability a seven out of ten. 

I have never contacted the solution's support. 

Google Hangouts' deployment is easy and can be done in two to three minutes. 

Google Hangouts doesn't require a license. 

I rate the overall product a seven out of ten. Our use depends on others. If somebody asks us to use Google Meet, we use it. 

I am using Google Hangouts for classes online if we do not have physical lectures in the classroom. For example, a lecturer schedules a class at a specific time and then we use a link to join the video call.

The most valuable feature of Google Hangouts is the ability to record the classes that I'm not able to attend. I can use the class recording to view whatever I missed later.

Google Hangouts could improve by allowing someone to record a meeting without the need to have a company email. You cannot record with a Gmail account.

I have been using Google Hangouts for approximately three years.

Google Hangouts is stable as long as you have a reliable internet connection and there is nothing wrong with our system.

The scalability of Google Hangouts has been good in my experience. We only have a few people in the class and we haven't faced any problem with anyone having to be kicked out of the meeting because it was not able to accommodate the numbers.

We have approximately 40 people per class that are using the solution. In our whole university, I am not sure of the total number of users that are using it.

We have a number of online lectures and they have increased this year, there is a plan to increase the usage.

I have not had any problems with the need to contact support.

The initial setup of Google Hangouts is straightforward. The setup was basic, it only involves opening an application, scheduling, or starting a call immediately.

The implementation of the solution can be done in-house and it does not require a third-party implementation.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Google Hangouts a nine out of ten.

We use this solution for video calls for group meetings. It used by more than 50 people in our business. 

The most valuable feature has been the ability to present presentations during meetings. 

It would be great if this solution could be added to smart TVs. We would also like the ability to broadcast to a YouTube channel when having a meeting or session using this solution.

I have been using this solution for three years. 

This is a stable solution. 

We have not experienced any issues so have not reached out to the customer support team. 

I have previously used WebEx and Zoom. WebEx is very complicated but does have enhanced features compared to Google Hangout. However, Hangouts is a lightweight solution that can be used across devices including phones. It is easy to download and is readily available. You don't need to sign in separately and this makes it convenient to use. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

We have a group of people that uses Google Hangouts. We chose Google Hangouts because most of the users are on Google and we don't want to use WhatsApp. We publish things like documents for all the members who are on it. I can use WhatsApp, but I prefer Google Hangouts because with Google Hangouts we can directly share our screen. If you have two or three on Google Hangouts directly, someone can share their screen, and you can see what he's doing.

The ability to share a screen during a meeting is one of the most valuable features. You can also be directly connected to the computer and on the phone with the same account. It is flexible.

We purchased a videoconference system called Zoom. We want to see if Google Hangouts has the ability to integrate our Zoom device to use it with Hangouts and meet directly. I would like for Hangouts to have a professional cloud service in which people will be able to connect the device up to and need not to go through another competitor. I'd rather just use one single service. 

I have been using Google Hangouts for five years. 

It is stable. 

If someone is using Zoom and is using Skype, the two devices can be connected directly, there is no need for a license. If someone is using Skype and issues a Google Hangouts conference code or a Meet conference code, you are not able to dial with the two devices. Skype and BlueJeans, also work together but Google and Skype directly do not. 

We have around 100 users using Hangouts in our company. 

Our support is based out of Kenya. They're good. If you have any issues, it will take them around two days to resolve it. 

Per user, we are paying $50 a month. 

Most of the companies are going to Microsoft products but Google is easier to use.

Google is a good product but it'll be better if they fix some videoconference issues. With Microsoft, you can integrate all of your devices. With Logitech and other companies, you can connect it directly through the cloud and you can use it directly, no need to go for another supplier. But with Google, you need to go with another supplier.

I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

In the next release, I would like the ability to videoconference with a connectivity plugin.

I work for a project-oriented company, and we focus on product design and development, cloud services development, etc. We have multiple virtual meetings daily, both internally and with our clients, so our primary use case for Google Hangouts is for our meetings.

The value of Google Hangouts is that it enables us to communicate project status very effectively. It also allows us to plan effectively, and get people all over the world into our virtual meetings.

An additional feature I'd like to see in Google Hangouts is more of a personal preference, e.g. it's not a pain point. There may be little differences in the way virtual backgrounds are handled, but it's no big deal.

We've been using Google Hangouts for two years. The company started standardizing the use of the platform at the beginning of the pandemic, e.g. that's when we made the shift to Google Hangouts.

I've seen some stability problems in Google Hangouts, particularly when communicating with developers in Eastern Europe, but that's to be expected given the current situation there.

The initial setup for Google Hangouts was straightforward, and I never experienced any issues with it, but it would still depend on how technical the users are, e.g. the pain points are going to differ.

I evaluated Zoom.

The company I'm working for is a big Google user, so we use Google Hangouts, and we share Google sheets, Google docs, etc. We use different Google solutions for work.

I can't think of any pain points in Google Hangouts that would make me say: "I wish it had this capability, or not." I do so many virtual meetings, and I have to think if it's going to be on Zoom, or if it's going to be on Google Hangouts, e.g. what are we using for this meeting, because we have different clients, so every once in a while, we get called into someone else's meeting, but internally, we use Google Hangouts.

I'm in very much in favor of Dev Ops, e.g. I like to see those updates come, but I have no problems with updates for this platform, because Google is normally doing something, or fixing a problem, or providing an enhancement, etc. The key is I manage when I apply updates, so it's not a problem for me. For some people, it can be a problem, but the updates don't bother me. I managed a Dev Ops environment, so we were putting out updates regularly, so we don't surprise people too often.

I have no information on the pricing of Google Hangouts, because I was not involved in that aspect.

My advice  to others looking into implementing this platform is that we've had good success with it. I have no issues. It's worked for us, and we keep using it. We're not looking at anything else, so that for me, says it all.

I'm giving Google Hangouts a rating of eight out of ten, as I rarely give nines or tens.

I use Google Hangouts for both chat and online meetings.

The most valuable feature is the seamless integration with Google Suite. For example, in Google Calendar, if you set a meeting then it will automatically prepare the google Meet or Google Hangouts meeting for you.

It gives you the ability to make online presentations, and there is a little-known tool that allows you to use it as a remote desktop.

It is very easy to use and is available as soon as you open a Google account.

The recently added noise-cancellation feature works well.

I would like to see support for showing virtual backgrounds.

A better resolution that is capable of showing hi-resolution videos would be useful.

The capability of transferring files through chat, other than just images and videos, would be useful. There are some workarounds for it, but they are not as robust as the other features. Most other messenger allows you to send files through chat.

I have been using Google Hangouts for several years, since 2012.

I use it every day and the stability is pretty good. It has never quit on me except in the case where my internet connection was down. Basically, if you have a working internet connection then it's up.

I have not tested the scalability, but I have been part of meetings with more than 100 participants. My understanding is that it can handle up to 250 concurrent users in a meeting. For our purposes at work, it has been good.

I have never been in contact with technical support.

I also use Zoom and Microsoft teams, although not as extensively as Hangouts. Zoom allows you to show a virtual background, which is a nice feature. Also, most other messengers support sending generic files through chat, whereas Google Hangout supports sending images and videos only.

One problem with Zoom is that you can only have chats when you're in a video conference, whereas with Hangouts, it's real-time. The chat box is always there. I have never used the chat feature in Microsoft Teams.

I have not explored the integration between Teams and Microsoft Office.

Running Hangouts for the first time is pretty seamless. Once you have a Google account, there is no setup that is needed. You simply log in and it's there.

It was easy to set up on my own.

This solution is available for free with the opening of a Google account.

My advice for anybody who is looking to start using Google Hangouts is that it is plug-and-play, and comes free with Google Suite. The minute you have a Google account, it's already there. It is easy to use and works right out of the box.

Having more than 100 people in a meeting is pretty good.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We're a very distributed environment. We are a group of trucking companies and we're spread out across Western Canada. We've got about 20 offices with about 250 people right across 20 offices and communicating with each other is very important and so we use Google Hangouts. It provides inter-company communication, primarily for meetings and things like that. It has reduced cell phone bills and all those sorts of things.

The screen sharing is the most valuable feature. It ties in with Google docs and Google sheets so that we can work on a single document as a whole group at once. That's the biggest feature we rely on. Other than that, it's quick communication. You can send a quick chat message if you need or you can have a long video call conference if you need as well. It is flexible. It's a very good all-around solution.

The way it works with anonymous users should be improved. That could be strengthened to let anonymous users do more.

If we could get the person that we call that doesn't have a Gmail account and to screen share would be helpful. There have been times when I actually wanted to do remote control through Google and that would be really helpful too. That would help support a lot too. 

We have been using it for around five years. 

It is stable. 

The scalability is very good. We have around 150 users who use it every day. 

It's at least half of our company that uses it pretty regularly. Our users range from data entry clerks who use the chat function to ask quick questions of their counterparts, dispatchers who communicate with other dispatchers inside that company. Managers use it for their weekly calls. It's really every level of our organization uses it.

Before Hangouts we were using a regular teleconferencing solution where we would dial the number of a code and we would pay a bill every month for the number of minutes we used. We've never used a solution like Hangouts.

The setup is complex. There are many settings buried in the Google Admin that are hard to find. It can be a pain. 

It took about a year to get people into it and to set it to the way we wanted it. It required constant tweaking.

We have seen a return on our investment and we're all very satisfied with it. I just prefer to pay what I used to.

This time last year I would've said the pricing is fantastic but Google increased their pricing recently and so our costs doubled. I don't think it's as cost-effective as it used to be. I would say it's sort of in the middle as far as cost-effectiveness now. It's the other things that come with Hangout that make it valuable. Part of its value is that it's got a whole suite of tools. I do in fact recommend it to people because of that. 

The one piece of advice I would is to be prepared regarding who else is going to use Hangouts outside of your organization. If you want people to be able to use a phone number, you have to pay for a whole different license with Google, your whole Google license has to be upgraded. Granted it has lots of other features. The dial-in feature to Hangouts is only accessible in the business class of G suite. 

If it's only your company that is going to use it, then you're great at the regular license level. But if you think you're going to have people who are required to dial in, then you need to be prepared to pay more.

I would rate it an eight out of ten.