Google's New Hangouts Chat Will Soon Be Available; Features Include Audio And Video Conferencing; Competes Directly With Slack?

By Carrie Winters - 10 Mar '17 16:34PM
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Google is reported to launch Hangouts Chat and it will take on Slack directly. The new app will be available as part of the G Suite platform. The chat is intended to run in the Google world.

According to a report, Google Hangouts will be made brand new and is hinted to be a competitor for Slack. The new app is called the Hangouts Chat and will gradually be rolled out in Google soon. This is the latest for Google's communication space.

It is indicated that the Hangouts Chat is more like a clone of Slack. The discussions in the new Google app are threaded and there is an auto-complete mention of usernames. The main output bar is labeled "Create a New Discussion."

Reportedly, the Hangouts Chat have different new features. The app has a Google Meet feature. This feature enables audio and video conferencing in Hangouts. This is very convenient for larger companies that need to do meetings with the team.

Hangouts Chat also runs on G Suite platform. This means that the user must be a G Suite user for a certain firm. This cannot be used by just anyone that happens to drop in. It is indicated that Hangouts chat is easy to use.

Meanwhile, Hangouts Chat can still be used for one-on-one chats and it can work with Android and iOS. The new app is integrated into Google Docs and Sheets. This means that the docs are assigned automatically if used by the teams.

Additionally, the Hangouts Chat has a bot on @meet. It can automatically search for schedules of the team member in order to create a meeting. The new app will soon be available and it will initially be available to companies using Google's "early adopter." The features that may have a fee are not yet known once Hangouts Chat becomes available.

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