Google Meet now free in India: How to use it?
What's the story
A few weeks ago, Google had announced its plan to make Google Meet, its premium video-conferencing service, free for all. Now, the internet giant has completed the transition, making the platform available to every individual who wants to have a virtual meeting with their friends, family, colleagues, or other connections. Here's more about the free version of Meet and the way to use it.
Offering
Free video meetings with up to 100 people, no limits
Originally exclusive to G Suite customers, Google Meet is now free for all in any part of the world. You just need to have a Google account to sign-in and start a virtual meeting with up to 100 participants. The conferences won't have a time limit, but Google has already confirmed that a 60-minute meeting restriction will be introduced after September 30.
Features
Popular premium features included in free version
According to Google, the free version of Meet has been re-engineered from the G Suite-specific version, but it still has the same robust security and many premium features of the latter. This includes simple scheduling and screen sharing, real-time captions, and layouts that adapt to your preference, including an expanded tiled view that shows up to 16 people at the same time.
Sign-in
Google sign-in requirement is also for security
The free version of Google Meet makes a better package than competitor Zoom, which caps its free meetings at 40 minutes. But, in this case, both hosts and participants are required to sign-in with their respective Google accounts before starting a video-conference. Google says it kept this requirement to give hosts more control over calls and prevent unauthorized members from gate-crashing the meeting.
Process
So, how to start Google Meet calls?
To start a Google Meet call, go to meet.google.com, or download the iOS/Android app of the service. Then, sign-in on the site/app with your Google account and click on the 'Start a meeting' option to initiate the video-conference and share its URL with all the people you want to join. Then, these participants would be able to use that link to join the meeting.
Integration
Google Meet integration also coming on Gmail
In the next few days, Google also plans to integrate the options to start and join a Google Meet call in Gmail. This will be a perfect addition for people using Gmail for work and will certainly contribute towards boosting the user-base of the Meet, which, as of last month, was already raking in 3 million new users every day.