U-M Google Updates

Temporary premium Hangouts Meet features now available

3/23/2020

At the beginning of March, Google announced they would extend temporary access to some premium Hangouts Meet features until July 1, 2020. These features are now available within the U-M domain:

Important: U-M Google is not HIPAA-compliant. Review the Sensitive Data Guide for types of data permitted for use with Hangouts Meet. If HIPAA-compliance is needed, check out the BlueJeans conferencing service 

(retiring May 1, 2021).

To learn more about using Hangouts Meet:

Use a Phone for Audio in Google Hangouts Meet

3/20/2020

You can now use different sources for your audio and video feeds in a Hangouts Meet video call. Specifically, you can use a phone for audio while still using your computer's camera and web browser for video.

This can be done by dialing into the call directly, or by having Meet call your phone. You can use your phone for audio immediately upon joining, or anytime after joining if you’d like to switch.

You can use your phone for audio on Hangouts Meet calls to ensure you have consistent and reliable audio quality, even if your network connection is poor, or if your computer’s microphone and speaker aren’t working. You’ll still be able to share and see video and presentations in the meeting.

Additional details

  • Please note that the Meet dial-out option is currently only available in the US and Canada.
  • Visit the Help Center to learn more about using a phone for audio in a video meeting.
  • According to Google, this feature could take 15 days or longer to become fully visible.

Google Hangouts Chat now available

3/19/2020

To better accommodate the need for team-based chat and collaboration, Google Hangouts Chat is now available for use at the University of Michigan. Hangouts Chat is a G Suite for Education core service. It is free and covered under U-M’s agreement with Google and also can be used for certain kinds of sensitive data. It should not be used for protected health information (PHI) or HIPAA-regulated data.

For several years, Google classic Hangouts has been a part of Google at U-M and is integrated into Google Mail. Hangouts Chat is an updated, team-based experience, and will eventually replace classic Hangouts. This will happen sometime in late 2020, until then, the two services will co-exist.

Screenshot of Google Hangouts Chat.

How to Access Google Hangouts Chat

Getting Started

To learn more about Hangouts Chat, visit the U-M’s “Getting Started with Google Hangouts Chat” documentation article or U-M Google support site. You can also visit Google’s Hangouts Chat Help Center or Learning Center for additional information.

Current Limitations

  • Hangouts Chat does not yet integrate directly into U-M Google Mail but is expected to later this year.
  • There are a number of constraints related to interoperability between classic Hangouts and Hangouts Chat:
    • Direct messages: Direct messages can be viewed and replied to across both services.
      • Note:  Currently, messages from people outside of U-M only appear in classic Hangouts, and not in Hangouts Chat.
    • Group messages: Group messages of more than two people do not cross between both services. Wherever you made that group message is where that group message now lives.
      • Google recommends recreating any classic Hangouts group messages in Hangouts Chat.

This service has been activated and should be available now for campus-wide use.

Zoom for GSuite add-on now available in U-M Google

3/18/2020

To provide the best experience scheduling Zoom sessions from within Google Calendar, the Zoom for GSuite add-on is now available to install in U-M Google. To learn more about how to install and use this add-on, visit our U-M Google documentation page.

With the Zoom for GSuite add-on, you can use Zoom to easily schedule, join, manage, and customize meetings from Google Mail and Google Calendar.

  • Schedule a Zoom meeting with details from any email, automatically adding the topic, attendees, and attachments based on subject, recipients, and sent documents.
  • Automatically add Zoom meeting details to your Google Calendar invitation. 
  • Customize meeting options like join with video on, join with audio muted, and more.

Note: This add-on is not usable by Michigan Medicine users of U-M Google, as they do not use Google Calendar or Mail.

If you currently use the Zoom Scheduler Google Chrome extension, we recommend that you uninstall the extension from your web browser and use the Zoom for GSuite add-on. The add-on provides the same user experience across all web browsers and the Google Calendar mobile application. For more information on how to uninstall a Chrome extension, visit Google’s Help Center.

Note: Add-ons/apps within the G Suite Marketplace are currently disabled for the University of Michigan domain, with a few exceptions, like Zoom for GSuite. ITS is currently developing a formal process for requesting and evaluating add-ons/apps for U-M Google.

Important Google Hangouts update related to working remotely

3/12/2020

Due to the possibility of the university community moving to remote work, the U-M Google team has opted to turn off the need for an invitation in classic Google Hangouts. This will make the service easier to use.

In the past, when an individual whom you’ve never chatted with via Google Hangouts wanted to send you a chat message, you would receive a notification (“Let’s chat on Hangouts!”) inviting you to accept. You would need to accept that invitation for the chat to occur.

With this change, it will be easier to connect with others using classic Google Hangouts to chat. While chat messages will now appear automatically, you will still need to accept video calls. Additionally, you will still have the option to block future messages and video calls from individuals, if desired.

According to Google, you should begin to see this change over the next 24 hours.

For more information on using classic Google Hangouts, visit the U-M Google Hangouts page.