Changes on the Horizon for Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts

If you're tuned into news regarding all things G Suite, you may have heard Google Hangouts will be discontinued in the near future. This message is somewhat misleading. More specifically, Google Hangouts will become "Classic" hangouts as they transition to the newer iteration Hangouts Chat designed for organizations using the enterprise G Suite (as opposed to the public gmail.com). This new iteration will appear first to Enterprise clients, which includes G Suite for Education, before eventually replacing Classic Hangouts at some point in the future.

If you have used Google Hangouts in the past, you currently have the ability to download and install Hangouts Chat for Windows desktop, and Android, iOS. It is not yest available as a desktop install for Mac, but may still be used through your Gmail homepage. Keep in mind, also, it is only available for your lclark.edu account and not for your personal gmail.com account.

Hangouts Chat will bring increased functionality, including features like dedicated virtual rooms, threaded conversations, and progress tracking (similar to Slack). More importantly, these features will be integrated with the existing Google Suite and designed to work seamlessly alongside apps like Gmail and Google Docs. We'll keep an eye on updates and provide additional information as it becomes available.