Google Meet, the premium video conferencing service operated by Google, is now free for everyone around the world. The move from the internet giant comes as part of an effort to make virtual meeting services accessible to every
individual who has been hit by the coronavirus crisis and is unable to have direct face-to-face meetings at this time.
individual who has been hit by the coronavirus crisis and is unable to have direct face-to-face meetings at this time.
Free calls with up to 100 participants
In a recent statement, Google announced the decision to open Meet to anyone who has a Google account.
This means you and your team will soon be able to sign-in on the platform, which was originally exclusive to G Suite customers, to host/join virtual meetings with up to 100 people.
The conferences will not even have a time limit until October, the company added.
Meet's premium features will also be provided
Google says that anyone who uses Meet for free conferences will be able to access many of the premium features available to G Suite customers, including simple scheduling and screen sharing, real-time captions, and a tiled-layout optimized to show 16 people at the same time.
The service will also have the same secure and reliable experience that Meet has been offering until now.
Google account requirement for security
The free version of Google Meet makes a better package than competitor Zoom, which limits free calls to 40 minutes.
But, in this case, both callers and joiners will have to sign-in with their Google account before hosting or attending a meeting.
Google says it kept this requirement to give hosts more control over calls and prevent unauthorized members from gate-crashing a meeting.
Roll-out in coming weeks
Google says the free version of Meet will become available to users around the world in the coming weeks.
This means right now you might not be able to start calls via Meet website (meet.google.com) but that will change sometime in May.
Notably, it will be a big boost for Meet, which, the company says, is already getting 3 million new users every day.
