Google is making Hangouts available for everyone, even for people who do not have a Google account. The new feature is expected to help Google further establish itself as an enterprise services provider with business tools that are easy to use and hassle-free.
Patrick Wynn, product manager at Google for Work announced the update in a blog post, where he likened online meetings held over Google Hangouts to in-person meetings where attendees should be free to join and participate without technical restrictions.
"Joining a meeting should be as easy as walking into a room," says Wynn. "This week we're rolling out an update to Google Hangouts that makes joining a video call as simple as clicking a link in an invitation. No filling in forms, no need for a Google account, just simple, easy access to meetings."
Meeting organizers still retain control of who can and cannot join their hangouts. To invite people with a Google account, they simply have to create invitations on Google Calendar. On the receiving side, users who are invited will see a link, which they can click to type in their names and enter the Hangout. This will then send a request back to the organizer to accept or deny the person.
Meeting organizers can invite other people without a Google account simply through Google Calendar. Those who are invited will then receive a link which they can click, type in their names and enter the Hangout. On the other side, meeting organizers retain control of who can and cannot join meetings by accepting or rejecting requests and muting or ejecting members from the meeting.
The new feature is available to all versions of Hangouts, including the web client and mobile apps. It is a small feature update, no doubt, but it certainly has quite a large implication for Google, which is putting out all the stops to beef up its enterprise offerings. Hangouts is only one of many Google apps receiving a boost from its maker. It went from a purely social chat tool with limited use in Google+ to a standalone business tool added to Google's roster of Apps for Business in July 2014.
Microsoft also sees the importance of making its own messaging app available to everyone, even without an account. Not too long ago, the Redmond-based company made a similar move by opening up Skype to allow anyone to join chats and video calls.
