Google Chat has also rolled out Huddles, an instant voice and video conference service built right into the chat application. This new feature mirrors the already successful Slack Huddles, allowing teams to seamlessly go from typing to talking and share real-time discussions all within the same environment.
What Are Google Chat Huddles?
Huddles now allows users to create brief audio conferences from a chat window. Users can open a Huddle by clicking the video call icon and tapping “Open a Huddle”. It starts out as a voice call and you can add video or share your screen to turn it into a Google Meet-powered meeting.
This upgrade saves time and avoids the need to toggle between applications, increasing productivity and teamwork. It’s available for private and corporate chats, making it an all-in-one platform for modern workplace communication.
How Huddles Aligns Google Chat with Slack
Google’s choice to integrate Huddles puts it at a clear distance from competitors such as Slack, which launched its own Huddles product in 2021. This decision underscores Google Chat’s determination to stay ahead of the collaboration software curve. By utilising its existing Google Meet infrastructure, Google is building real-time messaging tools into its service without compromising on quality or usability.
Rolling Out to Workspace Users
The Huddles extension is already rolling out to all Google Workspace users, and will be fully rolled out in January 2025. This is a critical step in Google’s effort to refine and expand its collaboration tools in line with changing user requirements.
Additional Enhancements in Google Chat
There are several updates to Google Chat over the past couple of months, all with the intention of making the application more usable and more collaborative. These include:
- AI-Powered Summaries: Automatically condensing long conversations for quicker comprehension.
- Improved Search Capabilities: Enhanced search features to locate messages, files, and conversations efficiently.
These new developments represent Google’s commitment to building a single platform to meet the shifting requirements of businesses and teams across the globe.
Looking Ahead: Google Chat’s Competitive Edge
Amongst all the new tools for workplace communications, Google Chat is making itself an increasingly formidable competitor with its own add-ons such as Huddles. It combines messaging, voice and video seamlessly, which makes it appealing to organizations that need the complete package.
By challenging Slack and others, Google Chat is establishing its authority as a collaborative software platform. Huddles heralds a new period of efficiency that allows teams to reach out instantly and efficiently.