The options available to organizations which allow them to host and conduct a wide variety of virtual meetings for workplace collaboration has expanded significantly over the last 18 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. One option, Google Meet, which is part of Google’s Workspace productivity suite, recently added a handful of new features to address meeting management and safety. In addition, they expanded these safety-related features to all Google Meet users.
Previously these features were only available to Google Workspace for Education customers.
New Google Meet Safety Feature: Meeting Host Controls
Once host management is turned on in Google Meet through the new Quick Access control, up to 25 meeting participants can be designated as co-hosts for any meeting. These designated co-hosts can control the meeting in any of the following ways:
- They can limit which participants can share their screen during the call.
- They can limit who can send chat messages to other participants.
- They can mute all participants with one click.
- They can end the meeting for all participants with one click.
- They can allow people to join and participate in the meeting.
Quick Access is toggled on by default.
If Quick Access is turned off, then the meeting controls are restricted to a host and they can do the following in meetings:
- Hosts must start the meeting first before others can join.
- Invited participants are allowed to join without asking. Anyone who attempts to join the meeting that did not receive an invitation, must ask the host for permission to join the meeting.
- Anonymous participants are not allowed in the meeting.
- Only the meeting host can add a participant who needs to join using their phone.
According to Google, making these controls more widely available will help prevent potential disruptions in meetings on Google Meet and across Google Workspace.
The new Host Management setting will be added to the admin console in the coming weeks. In addition, a setting will be added to determine if Quick Access controls under Host Management will be on or off by default.
Customers on Google’s Rapid and Scheduled Release domains for Workspace will see a gradual rollout of these features across the web plus the Android and iOS apps.
Any Google Workspace users under the following plans will have access to the new meeting controls:
- Workspace Essentials
- Workspace Business Starter, Standard and Plus
- Workspace Enterprise Essentials, Standard and Plus
- Workspace Education Fundamentals, Plus, Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade
- Nonprofits
- G Suite Basic and Business
- Personal Google Accounts
All Google Workspace, G Suite Basic and Business users will have access to Quick Access Settings. However, Google Workspace individual customers and those with personal Google accounts do not have access to Quick Access settings.
And the customers under the following Google Workspace plans will have the ability to add meeting cohosts:
- Workspace Essentials
- Workspace Enterprise Essentials, Standard and Plus
- Workspace Business Standard and Plus
- Workspace Education Fundamentals, Standard, Plus and Teaching and Learning Upgrade
Note: The co-host option is not available to Workspace Business Starter, Frontline, Nonprofits, G Suite Basic and Business.
Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams
The addition of these new control and safety features for Google Meet now matches capabilities that have already been present in one of Google Workspace’s main competitors, Microsoft Teams.
