Introduction
One recent snowy day, the Communications Team had a monthly scheduled meeting. The weather outside was frightful and driving was not delightful. What to do? Google Meet to the rescue!
Google Meet is video conferencing software that allows up to 30 high-definition video users to meet and share screens over the Internet. As of October 2019, Google Meet replaced Google Hangouts for G Suite Enterprise users, such as LLI. If you are logged into Google with your LLI account, you might get unpredictable results if you try to use Hangouts.
Google Meet allows users to join virtual meetings through a browser (such as Chrome), a mobile app, or even a phone call. Once in the meeting, users can present their screens to share what they see as either a full screen or just a window. Users can see little thumbnail videos of each person in the meeting (if the person has a camera). The on-screen display focuses on the person talking and will change when someone else speaks.
Quick Tour of Google Meet for ATTENDEES
The simplest options in Google Meeting are easy to access. The person hosting the meeting will send you an email with a link to join the meeting. Just click on that link and you can enter the meeting. Google Meeting seems to work best in the Chrome browser. You can:
- See a video feed from each participant by clicking the “people” icon in the upper right. If the participant’s device does not have an enabled camera, there will be no video feed from that person.
- Send a text message to the whole group by clicking the “message” icon in the upper right.
- Make selections in the bottom menu where you can mute or unmute your microphone, hang up, turn your video feed on or off or present your screen. If you don’t see a bottom menu, move the cursor down to the bottom and the menu will slide up into view.
Click here for a great article on the Dos and Don’ts of video meetings that will help keep everybody happy and every meeting PG.
Host or Start a Google Meeting
Like other apps in G Suite, you can get to the Meeting through a browser (Chrome browser works best):
- Log into your LLI account
- Use one of these two quick ways to get to Meet:
- Click the checkerboard icon in the upper right (3 rows of 3 dots each) and choose the Google Meet icon OR
- Go to meet.google.com (like all Google apps, just add the app name before the “google.com” in your browser address bar).
While it helps to have a camera and a microphone on your computer, neither is required. If you don’t have a camera, other users will not be able to see your smiling face. If you don’t have a microphone, you can always dial into the meeting on your phone.
If you are starting the meeting, once you are in Meet, follow the prompts:
- Click “Join or start a meeting”
- Enter a meeting nickname and click “continue”
- Click the “join meeting” button
- Click the “Add people” icon and send an invitation to anyone you want to join your meeting. You can enter single people (group email addresses do not work, such as [email protected]).
Everyone you invite will get an email invitation and then just click the link and there you go!
Google Meeting FAQ'S
Google Meet FAQs
Do invited participants need an LLI account?
No, people with external email domain names can be invited to join a Meeting.
What is the maximum number of participants?
30
Can you dial in on a phone to join a meeting?
Yes. The joining invitation includes dial-in instructions.
Can you use Google Meet on mobile devices?
Yes, there are native apps for both Android OS and iOS. You can download them from the app store for your device.
Are there other ways to join a meeting?
Yes. Users can join pre scheduled meetings. Google Meet integrates with G Suite Google Calendar and Gmail, providing links in the calendar to your Google Meeting.
Have you used this for technical training?
Yes. The “present screen” function is very helpful for one-on-one training and it saves everyone from a trip to Bard to physically meet in a conference room. Many times, this is all that is needed.
How did the Communications Meeting on the snowy day work?
While we prefer to meet in person in a conference room, this really saved us all. We made many decisions and kept our workflow going, even though we could not meet in person.
HOW DO I GET A GOOGLE ACCOUNT?
If you are an LLI member, you can get your own LLI account by sending an email to Al Gersbeck at [email protected] or emailing [email protected]. You will get an invitation from Google to set up your account with a link to click. When you click the link, you will need to change your password to something you remember, at least eight characters long. It’s that easy!
You must be logged in to post a comment.