Environment
U-M Google
Issue
What are the differences between Google Chat, Meet, and Hangouts? How can I get more information?
Resolution
Google Chat: Google Chat (formerly known as "Google Hangouts Chat") is an evolution of the classic Google Hangouts chat service, adding additional features that let U-M faculty, staff, and students chat with individuals, send group messages, and engage in team-based collaboration with spaces across the entire university community and externally. (Comparable to Slack and Microsoft Teams.) Refer to Getting Started with Google Chat for more information.
Google Meet: Google Meet (formerly known as "Google Hangouts Meet") is a videoconferencing service allowing U-M faculty, staff, and students to connect and collaborate with live video, audio, and screen sharing. With Meet, you can work from home or abroad and join meetings, conference calls, and group discussions from any computer or mobile device. (Comparable to Zoom.) Refer to Getting Started with Google Meet for more information
Classic Hangouts: Google's original option for instant messaging and video calls, the service has since been split into Chat and Meet instead of a central service. This service was replaced by Chat and Meet on July 15, 2020. As of November 1, 2022, Google has officially retired the Hangouts service, and Chat has replaced Hangouts in Gmail, Hangouts on the web redirects to Chat on the web, and it is no longer accessible from anywhere. On January 1, 2023, Hangouts data was purged from Google's systems and is unrecoverable.
For more information, refer to the Google Chat and Google Meet features documentation which goes into a deeper comparison of the two services.
Additional Information
Support Articles
U-M Documentation
Google Documentation
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