Director, High Technology Practice at Triniti Corporation
Real User
2024-07-12T08:50:15Z
Jul 12, 2024
The platform's screen-sharing feature and the participant panel could be improved. The current interface for sharing the entire screen could be more effective, and the participants' panel is considered clumsy compared to competitors like Webex or Teams.
Google Hangouts is not good enough to be used in a professional environment or for some official work, especially when compared to a product like Microsoft Teams. The aforementioned area can be considered for improvement in the product.
It would be better to have a feature for recording the meetings in Google Hangouts. I don't know if there is a feature in the basic version of Google Hangouts that allows for the recording of meetings, but I know that it is possible in Zoom. I think the advanced version or the licensed version of Google Hangouts may allow for the recording of meetings, but I have not explored it. Having a recording feature for the basic version of the tool would be helpful, as it is the only shortcoming of the product.
Account Executive - Special Accounts at Iron Mountain Incorporated
MSP
Top 5
2023-01-24T17:16:06Z
Jan 24, 2023
The solution can be improved by integrating other tools such as Microsoft Teams to make calls with different servers because many of our customers wouldn't have to change their tools to attend meetings. Additionally, the next release could include viewing the main screen and zooming in and out during a presentation on the desktop version.
Overall, it is a good platform. there isn't really anything lacking. We've noticed the product works better in Chrome and doesn't work as well in Safari browsers. They should work on improving their performance there.
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.
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.
Google Hangouts is pretty good as it is, so there's nothing I would like to change about it. I would like for the platform to have a call recording feature in the free version.
CEO at a energy/utilities company with 11-50 employees
Real User
2022-03-31T19:16:53Z
Mar 31, 2022
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.
Senior Cloud Architect and Team Lead at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2022-03-01T11:39:22Z
Mar 1, 2022
Google Hangouts is not as feature-rich as Slack, but it's sufficient. I'd like to see more features in this tool in the next release. What they need to do is add more features.
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.
Connectivity and voice clarity is good. If I had to rate it out of ten, I would give it an eight. However, there were times when I used Google Hangouts on my phone and the voice quality was bad. The back button functionality needs to be improved. When you hit the back button, you get out of the meeting. What should happen if you are in a meeting and you press the back button is that you would still be in the meeting but you would be able to see the other available features of your phone or use other apps. With Zoom, you are able to do those things. They don't have a way to schedule a meeting as you with other solutions. If you compare it to Zoom, in that product you can schedule a meeting and send a link to others. The option it provides is to start a meeting then to invite or add. If you don't know their Gmail address then you can't invite them to join. Google Hangouts restricts you to those with a Gmail account. It's not easy to share. If you are with Zoom there is not share or deny, you send a link and they will be able to join you. It's made to be simple. Once Google Hangouts is launched you are able to start meetings. Your contacts are all listed but only Google Hangouts contacts are available. If someone does not have Google Hangouts then there is no way to invite them to the meetings. The UI is good, but the transaction needs improvement. The flow from jumping from one screen to another is a bit complicated.
Testing Center of Excellence - Head at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2020-07-05T09:38:05Z
Jul 5, 2020
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.
There is a significant problem with performance when you have a poor connection. In these cases, it does not do a very good job of stopping the video automatically. The algorithm should be improved to automatically deal with poor connections in a better way. In the future, we would like to have support for multiple speakers at the same time. We would like to have a registry of attendance created automatically to show us who is in the session.
Network Administrator at Lahore Garrison university
Real User
2020-05-14T10:16:00Z
May 14, 2020
There should be more space for multiple users at a time so that multiple people can connect, can share, and even transfer control to another colleague, employer, student, etc. Another feature I want to add is a meeting date to schedule meetings or if I want a meeting after two days, I would like to have a reminder and a note.
I'm not completely happy with the message options in Hangouts because for now it's only possible to send pictures, which is unfortunate because I would also like to be able to send documents and other things. I also think that because we've all become very used to using WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, I think they could also include a reply option. I sometimes find that the topic that I want to speak to a particular person about, or the topic that we spoke about gets lost among all the words. A reply button would enable me to physically save certain information.
Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 10
2020-04-23T10:13:37Z
Apr 23, 2020
I would like to have a whiteboard feature, where I can draw a sketch or diagram and show it to the people in the meeting. Support for recording meetings would be helpful.
IT Manager at a transportation company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
2020-04-21T07:28:00Z
Apr 21, 2020
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.
Technical Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2020-04-20T07:27:24Z
Apr 20, 2020
I would like to see more focus on features for interacting with the participants in a group chat, such as screen sharing. This would be great. Having an option for participants to ask questions, like a "raise hand" feature, would be helpful because as it is now, they have to send a message and I have to watch for it. The message might be private for me or sent to the entire group but either way, I have to watch the list of participants all of the time for these messages.
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.
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.
The platform's screen-sharing feature and the participant panel could be improved. The current interface for sharing the entire screen could be more effective, and the participants' panel is considered clumsy compared to competitors like Webex or Teams.
Google Hangouts is not good enough to be used in a professional environment or for some official work, especially when compared to a product like Microsoft Teams. The aforementioned area can be considered for improvement in the product.
It would be better to have a feature for recording the meetings in Google Hangouts. I don't know if there is a feature in the basic version of Google Hangouts that allows for the recording of meetings, but I know that it is possible in Zoom. I think the advanced version or the licensed version of Google Hangouts may allow for the recording of meetings, but I have not explored it. Having a recording feature for the basic version of the tool would be helpful, as it is the only shortcoming of the product.
The improvement needs to be done as per customer requirements.
They should increase the platform's session time beyond an hour.
I actually prefer Google Hangouts compared to Microsoft Teams. The user interface is an area with shortcomings and needs improvement.
There could be more precise instructions for beginners using the solution. Presently, it takes time for them to log in to the meeting.
The solution could integrate more automation into the product.
The call reliability could improve in Google Hangouts.
There is no recording feature in Google Meet. Zoom has a recording feature and we use it for any calls that require recording.
Google Meet could be more secure.
The solution can be improved by integrating other tools such as Microsoft Teams to make calls with different servers because many of our customers wouldn't have to change their tools to attend meetings. Additionally, the next release could include viewing the main screen and zooming in and out during a presentation on the desktop version.
In the next release, I would like to see call recording made available.
Overall, it is a good platform. there isn't really anything lacking. We've noticed the product works better in Chrome and doesn't work as well in Safari browsers. They should work on improving their performance there.
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.
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.
Support could be a bit faster.
The solution completely fulfills our needs. We don’t have any complaints.
Google Hangouts is pretty good as it is, so there's nothing I would like to change about it. I would like for the platform to have a call recording feature in the free version.
There is no delete option for messages which could be an added feature in a future release.
The security should be improved. They could be better at it. Maybe they should offer more security features.
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.
Google Hangouts is not as feature-rich as Slack, but it's sufficient. I'd like to see more features in this tool in the next release. What they need to do is add more features.
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.
Google Hangouts could work on making the service better for slow connections.
The solution can improve by having more integration with different platforms.
It is not as stable. They can improve its stability.
Connectivity and voice clarity is good. If I had to rate it out of ten, I would give it an eight. However, there were times when I used Google Hangouts on my phone and the voice quality was bad. The back button functionality needs to be improved. When you hit the back button, you get out of the meeting. What should happen if you are in a meeting and you press the back button is that you would still be in the meeting but you would be able to see the other available features of your phone or use other apps. With Zoom, you are able to do those things. They don't have a way to schedule a meeting as you with other solutions. If you compare it to Zoom, in that product you can schedule a meeting and send a link to others. The option it provides is to start a meeting then to invite or add. If you don't know their Gmail address then you can't invite them to join. Google Hangouts restricts you to those with a Gmail account. It's not easy to share. If you are with Zoom there is not share or deny, you send a link and they will be able to join you. It's made to be simple. Once Google Hangouts is launched you are able to start meetings. Your contacts are all listed but only Google Hangouts contacts are available. If someone does not have Google Hangouts then there is no way to invite them to the meetings. The UI is good, but the transaction needs improvement. The flow from jumping from one screen to another is a bit complicated.
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.
There is a significant problem with performance when you have a poor connection. In these cases, it does not do a very good job of stopping the video automatically. The algorithm should be improved to automatically deal with poor connections in a better way. In the future, we would like to have support for multiple speakers at the same time. We would like to have a registry of attendance created automatically to show us who is in the session.
There should be more space for multiple users at a time so that multiple people can connect, can share, and even transfer control to another colleague, employer, student, etc. Another feature I want to add is a meeting date to schedule meetings or if I want a meeting after two days, I would like to have a reminder and a note.
I'm not completely happy with the message options in Hangouts because for now it's only possible to send pictures, which is unfortunate because I would also like to be able to send documents and other things. I also think that because we've all become very used to using WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, I think they could also include a reply option. I sometimes find that the topic that I want to speak to a particular person about, or the topic that we spoke about gets lost among all the words. A reply button would enable me to physically save certain information.
I would like to have a whiteboard feature, where I can draw a sketch or diagram and show it to the people in the meeting. Support for recording meetings would be helpful.
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.
I would like to see more focus on features for interacting with the participants in a group chat, such as screen sharing. This would be great. Having an option for participants to ask questions, like a "raise hand" feature, would be helpful because as it is now, they have to send a message and I have to watch for it. The message might be private for me or sent to the entire group but either way, I have to watch the list of participants all of the time for these messages.
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.