Google Hangouts is a communication software product developed by Google, and originally a feature of Google+. According to TechCrunch, Google had indicated it would transition all Hangouts users on G Suite to Hangouts Chat and Meet, with an expected date of October 2019. The aim then was to retire the classic version of Hangouts. However, since many G Suite users have expressed a desire to keep classic Hangouts, Google has revised the Hangouts retirement date to “no sooner than June 2020.”
The question remains whether these updates will make any difference to users and will they shift the market in terms of the collaborative workspace?
To learn more about the update and to consider if he update will improve Google’s market share, Digital Journal sought the opinion of industry expert Kara Longo Korte, director of product management at TetraVX.
According to Korte a refresh is necessary, however this may not be enough for Google to come out come out on top. As Korte says: “If Google intends to compete with the likes of Microsoft, Cisco, Slack, and so on, they will need to reconsider its approach to collaboration tools. With Hangouts initially designed for a consumer audience, it lacks key features that most enterprise organizations have come to expect from a UCC system.”
She also finds that: “The proposed plan that we’ve seen so far is that Google Hangouts users will be migrated to the newer, business targeted platforms of Google Chat and Google Meet. However, even these platforms present concerns since the common theme for growing UCC providers is a single consolidated application, similar to that of Microsoft Teams.”
In other words there is more that Google should add and improve to its refresh. Certainly the company needs to understand why speed of innovation is going to be crucial to the success of Google.
