Google is offering a new feature which will allow business and education users on Gmail.com to directly take calls on its video conferencing tool ”Meet” starting from Thursday.
The integration of Meet with e-mail is the first of several features being launched ahead of schedule because of a surge in demand for video conferencing, according to Google vice president Javier Soltero.
Meet, which is available only to schools, businesses and governments and is distinct from the consumer-focused Hangouts tool, has added daily users faster than any other Google service since January.
Millions of institutions now are relying on Meet because of lockdowns associated with the coronavirus, the company said.
Other functionalities will be added later this month, Soltero said.
Meet will offer a layout displaying up to 16 call participants at once, resembling a popular option on rival Zoom that its users have compared to a grid in the opening sequence of American TV show “Brady Bunch.”
In addition, Meet will improve video quality in dim lighting and filtering of background noise, such as keyboard clicks and slamming doors.
Soltero declined to specify Meet’s user growth rate, but said a recent peak was 60% more users compared to a day earlier.
Google announced last Thursday that Meet, which is available on a desktop browser or through mobile apps, was adding 2 million new users per day and had more than 100 million education users across 150 countries.
Google is not charging customers for upgrades to Meet-related features like large video calls during a six-month period ending in September.
The policy, which is aimed at winning over customers in the long run, could add to the strain on Google’s profits at a time at when its ads sales business is taking a hit.
