Item: Google Hangouts (Classic)
Rating: 2
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Google Hangouts (Classic) has now been superseded by the more modern Google Chat and is therefore not compatible with Google Workspace for Education. Prior to Google Chat being widely used, Hangouts was used at our school for inter-staff communications and well as a way for students to communicate with their teachers. This was particularly heavily used during the first lock down in March 2020. It offers a quick instant messaging service with the ability to make calls or video calls within the app.

Pros and Cons

Has built in calling and video calling from within the app or web page
Can be used by anyone with a Google account
On Android phones, can be used to receive SMS messages as well

Has now been superseded by Google Chat
Does not work with Google for Education accounts
No longer integrated with Gmail after the phase out completes

Most Important Features

Audio calling
Video calling in app
Access to global directory to be able to contact students easily

Return on Investment

Allowed quick communication between staff where a formal email is not required saving money on internal phones
Has now been disabled on Google Workspace for Education so training required to enable staff to use Google Chat and Meet
Prior to Chat, it had a positive impact by allowing students to contact their teachers for free during remote learning.

Alternatives Considered

Google Hangouts Chat, Google Hangouts Meet, WhatsApp Business, Skype and Microsoft Teams

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Google Chat, combined with Google Meet, have superseded Hangouts (Classic) and should be used by default due to their close knit integration with Gmail.

Key Insights

Do you think Google Hangouts (Classic) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Google Hangouts (Classic)'s feature set?

Yes

Did Google Hangouts (Classic) live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Google Hangouts (Classic) go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Google Hangouts (Classic) again?

Other Software Used

Google Hangouts Meet, Google Hangouts Chat, Google Classroom, Google Drive

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.

A great product for its time!

Overall Satisfaction with Google Hangouts (Classic)