Likelihood to Recommend 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.
Read full review Zoho Cliq has allowed our office to be remote-worker friendly since onboarding. Teams are able to meet throughout the day with ease. Completing "@" messages allow for inter-office communication in a semi-public space (i.e. on our #Sales channel, a sales team member can "@" me to ask a question, and if I don't answer, a teammate can reply first). And having the audio/screen share capability allows "parking lot" conversations to not derail the chat. The only caveat really is your available screen real estate to manage multiple conversations at once. Honestly, as a product, it feels as potent as Slack or Discord (minus silly bots). I don't have a single complaint about the platform.
Read full review Pros 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. Read full review Its interface is really simple to use so you don't need to spend a lot of time training your people to manage incoming contacts. The visitor tracking is excellent. It will provide a lot of very useful data for your team to see what works on your site and what doesn't. It integrates really well with other Zoho apps. Their support is excellent. We got useful, informative responses from them when we had to contact them. Read full review Cons 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. Read full review Not missing functionality as such but would be useful to record audio chats Zoho not as widely adopted than other Chat clients like Hangouts/Skype Read full review Likelihood to Renew Zoho Cliq has become an integral part of our daily business. Every single member of our team who has a job involving a computer has an active Zoho Cliq license and uses the tool continuously throughout the day. It cuts down on meetings and allows the team to feel very connected to one-another even though we are distributed geographically.
Read full review Usability 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
Read full review Ease of use! It's easy enough to open chat, start audio sessions, screen shares, or even sending files. The fact that individual "emojis" can be applied to normal chats is wonderful. Allows to "acknowledge" without lengthy back-and-forths. Automation via CRM turns Cliq into a productivity tool beyond communication. Simply put, I don't how you could improve the system (save for a few UI boosts). As it stands, it's a powerful tool that is easy to pick up and play with.
Read full review Support Rating 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.
Read full review Any time that I have had an issue, and there haven't been many user support jumps right on and helps me right away.
Read full review Alternatives Considered 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.
Chris Carpenter Danaher Business System Leader (DBSL), Awesomizer, Fixer, Maker, Collaboration Enabler
Read full review We selected Zoho because it was already a part of the Zoho toolset we were using. They offered a free trial which was a big help in our purchasing decision. Our team looked at one other alternative but we weren't satisfied with the pricing quote we got from them and the fact that we were already using other Zoho apps made our decision easier.
Read full review Return on Investment 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. Read full review Positive - Easier Comms with specific Clients. Encouraging more to use it to engage with me Negative - Yet another comms channel to manage would like to have less. But see previous positive Positive - Came as part of my Zoho One subscription so low cost Has a wealth of options still to investigate as part of Cliq Read full review ScreenShots