7 ways to access Google Meet

7 ways to access Google Meet

Google not only lets you start Meet sessions from Android, iOS, or Chrome on the web, but also lets you access Meet from other apps.

Google Meet started as a video conferencing solution for people in organizations that use G Suite. Then, in late April 2020, Google announced that Meet would soon be available to use for free to anyone with an email address and internet access. The change makes Google’s scalable, stable, and secure modern meeting app available to everyone.

But, Google also has woven Meet connections into other apps, such as Gmail, Google Chat, and Google Classroom. These interconnections give people who use Google’s tools a wide range of options for collaboration. People may select whichever tool best helps them accomplish a task, then move from typed text to Google Meet when merited — with all the emotion that video can convey.

The many paths to Google Meet, as detailed below, suggest that Meet video conferencing will remain an essential Google app for many years. 

Note: If you use an organizational account, your G Suite administrator might manage or restrict some settings for apps mentioned below. If you can’t access a capability, check with your G Suite administrator.

SEE: Google Sheets: Tips and tricks (TechRepublic download) 

How to video conference now using Google Meet

In Chrome on a computer, go to meet.google.com, sign in (if needed), then select + Join Or Start A Meeting. Or, on mobile devices, install the Meet app on either Android or iOS. When you want to meet, open the app, tap + New Meeting to start a session. You may then share the meeting info with the people you want to join.

How to access Google Meet via Google Calendar

When you create a new event with Google Calendar on the web and in the Calendar apps on Android or iOS, you also may add video conferencing with Google Meet.

In Chrome on a computer, go to calendar.google.com, sign in, then select + Create to create a new event. Choose Add Google Meet Video Conferencing, then add all other event details, or select More Options, then fill in details, and select Save. In the Google Calendar apps on mobile devices, tap the + button, tap Event, then tap Add Video Conferencing, add event details, then tap Save.

How to access Google Meet via Gmail

Sometimes it makes more sense to talk than to continue an extended email exchange. Helpfully, Gmail (in a web browser) includes access to Meet as part of Chat. To enable Chat, open mail.google.com in Chrome, select the sprocket (upper-right area), choose Settings, then Chat and choose Chat On, then Save. The options to Start A Meeting or Join A Meeting will display with your chat window.

How to access Google Meet via Google Classroom

A teacher—or anyone who has created a class with Google Classroom—may make a single, repeatedly-usable Google Meet link for the class. The link will only work for students when the Classroom teacher is in an active Meet session. Once activated, the teacher also may choose to make the Meet link visible to students. If enabled, the link will display in two places:

  • On the Classwork tab, to the left of the Google Calendar and Class Drive folder links, and
  • On the Stream tab, near the Class Name and Class Code, in the top portion of the page.

To enable Meet links in Google Classroom, the teacher needs to select the sprocket (in the upper-right), select the Generate Meet Link button, then choose Save. If needed, the teacher also may Reset the link.

How to access Google Meet via Google Chat

Within Google Chat (formerly known as Hangouts Chat), you may add a video meeting, which provides each person in a Room access to the Meet link. From Chat on the web, choose a Person or Room (from the left-side area). Then either choose + New Thread or select an existing thread and click-on or tap the Google Meet icon to add a video meeting. Select the Send icon (the triangle that points to the right) to share your message via Chat.

How to access Google Meet via Google Slides

The Google Slides mobile apps on both Android and iOS let you present Slides directly to any active Google Meet session. You’ll need to know an active Meeting ID first. Once you do, start Slides on your device, open the set you want to present, then tap the Present icon (the right-pointing triangle), then Present To A New Or Existing Meeting. Paste or type in the Meeting ID. Typically you would use this capability when you already have an active Meet connection on another device.

How to access Google Meet via your Jamboard device

Finally, if you have the Google Jamboard device, you may have it join Google Meet sessions, too. However, a G Suite administrator will first need to configure and enable this capability. A Jamboard shared to a session gives your team the ability to draw and discuss together. 

Note: Even if you don’t have access to Jamboard hardware, you can use the Present option in Meet to share a Chrome tab open to the Jamboard app on the web.

Your thoughts?

Much as Gmail set the pace for email in the late-2000s, Google has the opportunity to advance video as a powerful collaboration tool—that works in conjunction with all sorts of other apps—into the 2020s. If you use Google Meet in conjunction with other Google applications, what has your experience been? What path do you use most often to start a Meet session? Let me know how Meet works for you, either in the comments below or on Twitter (@awolber).

Also see

Large circle with Meet logo in center, 6 smaller circles surround it with logos of Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Slides, Jamboard, and Classroom, with lines with arrows pointing to Meet in the center.

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