As COVID-19 cases decline across the world, many companies are shifting to a hybrid working environment. Amidst the changing circumstances, Google has released a major update to its video conferencing platform, Google Meet, which aims to make it easier for office goers to collaborate and manage their day-to-day operations.
in-meeting reactions
As a part of this update, Google is rolling out In-Meeting Reactions for Meet. In-meeting reactions enable Google Meet users to use select emoji, including thumbs up, heart, laugh out loud, thumbs down, surprise, and clap, as a way to respond or give their feedback to other participants. A screenshot of the feature shared by the company shows that users will also be able to change these emoji using the settings menu, which will appear right next to these emoji, when they are in a meeting with the screen sharing button appearing right next to it. Click on the clock icon.
The company says these reactions will appear in a participant’s video tile, or if their video tile isn’t showing up then overflow with their name and they’ll be available for use soon.
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Picture-in-picture mode (PiP mode)
Another feature that Google is bringing to Google Meet is the support for picture-in-picture mode (PiP mode). In a blog post, Google said it is bringing picture-in-picture to Meet running on the Chrome browser to help presenters and multitaskers see their audience while navigating through different tabs and windows.
Starting in April, Google Meet users will be able to view up to four video tiles of meeting attendees in a floating window on top of other applications as they share content or send a message in Gmail. Clicking picture-in-picture will immediately return them to the entire meat session.
Meet in Docs, Sheets and Slides
Google is also bringing Meet directly to Docs, Sheets and Slides in the coming weeks. With this feature, Google Meet users will be able to quickly start a meeting and bring it into a document, spreadsheet or presentation. They will also be able to present this material to all the meeting attendees.
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Better Companion Mode
Google has also announced that it is improving Companion Mode, which gives in-room meeting attendees a way to stay engaged using their personal devices while taking advantage of in-room audio and video. The company said that in the coming months, people in conference rooms will also be able to add their own personal video tiles in Companion Mode and from their laptop cameras, making it easier for other attendees to see their expressions and gestures.
Other Features
Google also said that later this year, livestream attendees will be able to participate in Q&A and polls. In addition, the company will enable meeting hosts to stream meetings directly on YouTube from the Meet Activities tab. This feature will be available in Meet later this year.
Lastly, Google will roll out an update in May this year that will bring optional client-side encryption to Google Meet. “This feature gives our customers direct control of the encryption keys and identity providers used to access those keys,” the company wrote.