Item: Google Meet
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It is used across the whole organization. With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, our district turned to Google Apps for education to provide remote learning services to our students. We purchased Google Apps, and I became of the administrators for the service. We ran an experiment to find out whether this purchase would be worth it by having some teachers operate the free version while having some teachers use Hangouts Meet (purchased). We gleaned that Meet provided much higher quality video calls and is much better suited for the business or school platforms.

Pros and Cons

High quality video on video calls
High quality audio on video calls
The ability to present ones screen, optimal for presentations and such

The tiled view has a glitch in which it occasionally does not work.
Options to “raise a hand” virtually to get the attention of a teacher if used in an education setting
The ability to mute particular members of the call

Return on Investment

Purchasing Google Meet has been a positive investment for our school district. Since Meet is similar to and integrated with other Google Apps for Education, our teachers were already familiar with how to log on and start and end calls. This, in conjunction with the fact that Meet has an easy to learn interface, allowed us to save money for our district that would have been spent on training faculty in using Meet. In addition, since the connection quality on Meet is so reliable, we did not have to invest in technology support resources, saving a lot of money for our school district. This is how the purchase of Google Meet and Google Apps returned on our investment.

Alternatives Considered

Zoom and Skype

It is better integrated for business and education. It is much more professional than both Skype and zoom and it is the best option for professional discussions. It is minimalistic and easy to understand and it works on computer and mobile devices. Joining calls is very easy and convenient, unlike Skype, which requires the creation of a Microsoft account.

Support Rating

When I communicated with the Google representatives, they were very helpful, friendly, and willing to go the extra mile and gave good suggestions.

Key Insights

Do you think Google Meet delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Google Meet's feature set?

Yes

Did Google Meet live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Google Meet go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Google Meet again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Zoom Phone, Skype, Google Hangouts (Classic)

Likelihood to Recommend

Google Hangouts Meet is well suited for business meetings, educational lectures, and presentations, particularly of the Slideshow format. It is phenomenal for meetings in which groups of more than two people are present, and it is very good for having meetings in which one person (like a teacher or supervisor) is leading the discussion. It is less appropriate for informal video calls for recreation, because it has a pretty professional look and there is no funny business (you cannot change your background or use stickers like Zoom)

Google Meet - Is it worth it?

Overall Satisfaction with Google Hangouts Meet