With the privacy issues surrounding Zoom teleconferencing service and the subsequent banning of the service by a host of governments around the world, people have been looking for the best alternatives for Zoom. And as expected, Google is here to help you out.
The Video Conferencing app from Google -the Google Meet- went free for everyone who has a Google Account. In fact, the rollout for the users has gone live from today. The service will gradually be rolled out to the users in a gradual manner over the upcoming weeks.
What is Google Meet?
Google Meet, as you would have already understood, is the video conference tool that comes from the tech giant Google. A strong competitor to Zoom, it was so far available only for the paid users as a premium service.
Given the call lockdown guidelines in place due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the tech giant has understood the demand for the video call services from around the globe. That is exactly what made Google offer the service for free. The service so far required you to have a Google business or education account for the purpose. In essence, you would have needed to have the Google’s G Suite subscription.
How to get Google Meet Free?
From now on, going forward, the video conferencing tool from Google will be made available through the web portal for the purpose. You would also be able to download the service through Android and iOS devices. If you are using Google Calendar, you should also be able to use it from the platform. Google Meet lets you communicate with up to 100 participants in a single call.
Google made the announcement through its blog post to launch the service as free for all users. As stated by Javier Soltero, Vice President & GM, G Suite. “Today, we’re making Google Meet, our premium video conferencing product, free for everyone, with availability rolling out over the coming weeks,”
The statement further stated that “Starting in early May, anyone with an email address can sign up for Meet and enjoy many of the same features available to our business and education users, such as simple scheduling and screen sharing, real-time captions, and layouts that adapt to your preference, including an expanded tiled view.,”
The statement further said that
Will Google Meet Free offer be permanent?
Well, we are not sure. However, it may be noticed that Google has been offering a wide range of services for free and most of these options tend to be feature rich. We may perhaps expect the same thing with Google Meet as well.
“It’s going to last going forward, just like Gmail,….Video conferencing has pretty much become an essential service,” stated Smita Hashim, director of product for Google Meet. We have a reason to believe that, perhaps. Unless Google decides something else in future.
We would expect Google to add a host of other additional features in tune with other video chat apps. The Google Meet offering has so far been focussed on the productivity features. We can perhaps look for further tools and services such as video and photo editing features.
However, there is no way to confirm the possibility of introducing these new features. When asked about the possibility and timeline for the consumer features, Smita Hashim stated that the company will take a call only after listening to customer feedback.
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