Google Hangouts (Classic)

Overview
Product	Rating	Most Used By	Product Summary	Starting Price
Google Hangouts (Classic)	Score 7.5 out of 10	N/A	The classic version of Google Hangouts is a communication platform that includes messaging, voice, VoIP, and video call capabilities. It was part of Google’s G Suite offering and integrated with applications such as Gmail and Google+. Users of the classic version of Hangouts will be migrated to the new Hangouts Chat collaboration tool, and Google continues to support conferencing via the new Hangouts Meet.	N/A

Pricing

Editions & Modules

No answers on this topic

Offerings

Pricing Offerings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
Free Trial
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No

Entry-level Setup Fee

No setup fee

Additional Details

—

More Pricing Information

Community Pulse
	Google Hangouts (Classic)
Considered Both Products	Google Hangouts (Classic) Verified User Account Manager Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google Hangouts integrates into our current workflows well (we use g-suite) and is quite user friendly. It is great for small to mid-size internal team meetings. It is also good for informal client meeting. There are other cases where other tools are needed/superior for the … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Team Lead Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Best part of Google Hangouts is its simplicity, and performance. We never had connection problems, or quality interruptions, something that is more frequent with the other tools listed above. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User General Manager Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google Hangouts is by far the most practical and easy communication tool I have used. Skype sees lots of drop rate but never faced any such issue with Google Hangouts. Mobile accessibility is also easier with Google Hangouts. Incentivized Helpful? Ejaz Hussain Senior Analyst Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) well, google hangouts classic doesn't stack up that well when compared to either Skype or Teams, as it lacks advanced features. But the fact that it nearly costs anything to get it set up & running in no time is a positive point for the platform. I'm pretty sure that Hangouts … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Director Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) In terms of simplicity and ease of use, Google Hangouts is wonderful compared to some of the competitive products listed above. I do think that each have their own benefits: some companies do not allow for Google's suite of products (like Hangouts) to be utilized some … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) For its time, Google Hangouts (Classic) was a fantastic product and matched up well with all of its successors. Now however, with it having been phased on within Workspace for Education, I would not advise any new users use the product. Google Chat, combined with Google Meet, … Incentivized Helpful? Chris Carpenter Danaher Business System Leader (DBSL), Awesomizer, Fixer, Maker, Collaboration Enabler Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google is the white cotton socks of the conferencing world. It’s a great ad-hoc tool, but not too much more. If you are not looking to spend money or operate completely on WiFi (without data charges), it’s a great free option as well. The benefit of being free and open is also … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Analyst Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google Hangouts (Classic) is better than those two competitors if you want [the] ease of use within Gmail. One does not need to go to a separate site to set up a meeting. You just select the link to add the Google meeting link within the scheduler. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Manager Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google hangouts (Classic), is a instant message solution with not much more to add, it lacks the screen sharing features, the broad app integration, and the video and audio conferencing of this software. As a basic instant messaging communication tool it does what it promises … Incentivized Helpful? Tony Phan Tactical Procurement Specialist (Vietnam & APAC Support) - Source To Procure Team Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) An obvious advatange of Google Hangouts is that it does not require any installation which allows me to use it in any laptop, any device. Unlike other software that requires installation and forcing an IT guy to physically install it on my device. The software is also VPN … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Project Manager Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Again, Google Hangouts would primarily be used if you're already in the Google system. Corporate chat systems are far superior in functionality and usability and are also more reliable for larger organizations. For any company that is working with clients, I'd recommend a more … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Administrator Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google Hangouts app is already integrated with many apps users already are familiar with. The program is accessible on many platforms which makes it easy for users to conduct business without having specific devices on hand. It really helped that many people were already … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Professional Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) I prefer Google Hangouts (Classic) to Microsoft Teams and Zoom, in terms of ease of use. It is quicker to use than setting up a Zoom room, for example. I always have the tab open in my browser and get pinged when colleagues chat me. Same with the phone app - I have it on during … Incentivized Helpful? Andre Yeu Founder / Head Trainer Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) We reserve Zoom for client-facing meetings as it is the "market standard" and many are familiar with it, however for most internal meetings, we use Google Hangouts due to how light and simple it is, plus the integration with Google Calendar. Incentivized Helpful? Atilla Vekony Agency Owner Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google Hangouts is more readily available based on the fact that it is part of the Google family, however, ease of use and convenience would make me want to prefer WhatsApp Business or Teams. Incentivized Helpful? Marcus Manderson Supervisor of Audiovisual Operations Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google Hangouts is more for informal, care-free meetings. Zoom is more for professional, webinar, and live event-type meetings. Also, Google integrates with our full G Suite/Workspace products. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Engineer Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google Hangouts [(Classic)] is better than jabber, but way behind all other business chat clients. I would much rather use any of the alternatives I have listed in place of Hangouts. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Administrator Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Since our staff and students already used Google products it was easy to add on this feature. We deployed it district wide at the start of the pandemic. Students and staff were easily able to learn the interface and we could mass deploy it on our Chromebooks. We really liked … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Project Manager Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Since we use Google Suite, Google Hangouts (Classic) was the obvious choice. The ease of use and access to employees makes Google Hangouts (Classic) simple to use and access. Additionally, adding users to an existing Hangout is easy. Google Hangouts (Classic) also doesn't … Incentivized Helpful? BS Brett Schenker Email Deliverability Specialist Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Zoom is solid but it's a whole other thing to log in to and limited in what its focus is. Slack has the chat functionality but Google Hangouts is integrated into my every day use and I don't feel like it's yet another thing to manage and keep track of. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Engineer Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Google Hangouts (Classic) is just as good as any of its competitors. Google Hangouts (Classic) has everything that is needed for an internal communication tool, besides the software makes work really fun with the cool and funny stickers. I have personally liked using Google … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User C-Level Executive Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) It was integrated into our Google Business Suite and free to use. We selected it because it was easy to create hangouts wth the Google Calendar. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Analyst Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Zoom allows us to connect to a large number of people but personally I face problems while using Zoom on the mobile phone, it needs a high-speed network and lags too much. While on the other hand Google Hangouts is lite and easy to use on mobile phones, it's easy to connect and … Incentivized Helpful? Ignacio Cruz Sales Development Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Slack is much better than Google Hangouts since it lets you have group conversations, having threads within a same conversation and integrating with lots of apps for making the work more fluent. Actually I would recommend trying Google chat that has some features that are … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Employee Chose Google Hangouts (Classic) Apart from Google Hangouts, we were using Skype and GoToMeeting for the same business process. Over time we experienced that the quality of the call was reduced day by day with those products, so we moved to Google Hangouts. Helpful?
Top Pros	Pro Easy to use Pro Screen sharing Pro Video calls
Top Cons	Minus Internet connection Minus File sharing Minus Voice call

Features

Google Hangouts (Classic)

Cloud PBX

Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
	Google Hangouts (Classic) 6.4 57 Ratings 25% below category average
Hosted PBX	6.915 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)	7.725 Ratings
User templates	5.422 Ratings
Call reports	9.034 Ratings
Directory of employee names	3.245 Ratings

Call Management

Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
	Google Hangouts (Classic) 7.9 66 Ratings 7% below category average
Answering rules	8.033 Ratings
Call recording	7.537 Ratings
Call park	7.018 Ratings
Call screening	9.036 Ratings
Message alerts	8.058 Ratings

VoIP system collaboration

Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
	Google Hangouts (Classic) 8.9 84 Ratings 7% above category average
Video conferencing	9.379 Ratings
Audio conferencing	9.379 Ratings
Video screen sharing	7.948 Ratings
Instant messaging	9.352 Ratings

Mobile apps

Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
	Google Hangouts (Classic) 8.3 85 Ratings 0% below category average
Mobile app for iOS	8.673 Ratings
Mobile app for Android	8.171 Ratings

Best Alternatives
	Google Hangouts (Classic)
Small Businesses	CloudTalk Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies	CloudTalk Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises	Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued) Score 9.0 out of 10
All Alternatives	View all alternatives

User Ratings
	Google Hangouts (Classic)
Likelihood to Recommend	7.9 (91 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew	10.0 (1 ratings)
Usability	8.0 (7 ratings)
Support Rating	8.0 (36 ratings)

User Testimonials
	Google Hangouts (Classic)
Likelihood to Recommend	Google Had I completed this review a couple years ago, I would have given a rating of 9 or 10 as Hangouts (Classic) is an excellent product. However, now that Google Chat has succeeded Hangouts, I would not recommend that any new users begin using it where other more modern options are available. Android users who want an internet based instant messaging that also supports calling and video calling could benefit from using Hangouts (Classic) as Google Chat requires the user to also have Google Meet installed to make video calls and there is no voice only calling option. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Pros	Google Google Hangouts (Classic) is embedded within Gmail's scheduler, so setting up the link is as quick as a click of the button. It's a one-step process. Google Hangouts (Classic) is user-friendly and [has] features to share screens easily. Google Hangouts (Classic) is much easier to use than its competitors. Google Hangouts (Classic) have [a] good connection time and there are few glitches. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Cons	Google I would like to see improved video support, so that saved videos can be sent back and forth via Hangouts more easily, without having to start a separate meet chat More pronounced notifications of messages would be helpful; pop up notifications are good, but once there is one, additional messages do not pop up Custom muting times would be great, so that if I am in a 90 minute Zoom meeting, I can set it for that time; right now, it is 1 hour or 2 hours. Easy to forget. Incentivized MD Mark DiNallo Service Director Read full review
Usability	Google The tool is almost self-implemented. It is likely to be available in every pc or mobile device a user or potential user might have, and all you need to do is adding the company's account and you are done. Once you are setted up, you have almost all actual communication methods available in one tool Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
Support Rating	Google Google Hangouts works great and does not require a lot of work to troubleshoot. Everything is simple and easy to use. Google provides all of the tools that one requires to utilize Google Hangouts and any information can be found in the built-in help tools. There is also a forum for users to report issues and typically, Google responds well and will try to work out any issues. Incentivized Kaleb-John Loo Senior Firmware Engineer Read full review
Alternatives Considered	Google Google is the white cotton socks of the conferencing world. It’s a great ad-hoc tool, but not too much more. If you are not looking to spend money or operate completely on WiFi (without data charges), it’s a great free option as well. The benefit of being free and open is also the liability. It doesn’t have a great integration story with other corporate tools, but [it doesn’t have to] if you aren’t looking for that. All in all, it’s as helpful and ubiquitous as a public payphone…without the pay…and with a video capability. Incentivized Chris Carpenter Danaher Business System Leader (DBSL), Awesomizer, Fixer, Maker, Collaboration Enabler Read full review
Return on Investment	Google I believe it was part of the google suite that was purchased. It was worth the cost as it was cheaper. I believe it is now free, but also becoming deprecated. It is much better to use Teams, Discord, Telegram, etc. Google does not provide enough support or features to make using hangouts worth it these days. Incentivized Verified User Anonymous Read full review
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