Do You Hangout ? How To Use Google's Hangouts.

I like Google Plus.  There, I said it.  I like Google Plus better than Facebook, better than Twitter and better than all the also ran's.  I use it everyday, it has become the connectivity for all the different interactions I have on social media networks.  One of the best things Google has endowed Google+ with is the Hangout (Hangout is the evolution of Google Talk).  Google Hangouts allows you to video conference up to 10 people in a single call with each party able to see and hear the others.  How cool is that.  Family get together can include folks not able to attend, businesses can have joint meetings without the travel and time costs and worker/colleagues can collaborate on projects.

When you are in a Hangout, one person acts as a moderator and drives the event.  This person can do a variety of different functions while the event takes place.  There is a large main video of the person speaking and what looks like a filmstrip across the bottom of the others participating in the event.  The moderator can let the main video change automatically with whomever is speaking, or select the person to be in the main screen.  Additionally, there are some great tools that can add to the experience.  The moderator can share his/her computer screen; great for new program roll-outs and presentations, and there is an ability to do remote control of a persons computer.  This feature might be used in a new software installation or tech support call (the receiving remote control user must permit this action for security reasons).

All in all, I love this product from Google.  The future is now, and people will be video calling instead of just audio calling.  There is a newer version of this product called Hangouts On Air that allows for 10 video callers and over 200 chat connects, were each person can see the chats sent by others and the event is a Live broadcast over YouTube.  Then afterwards, YouTube saves the event so you or others can view it later or send the video to others.  Great for question and answer sessions for businesses or schools.  Oh, did I say this product was FREE!  All you need is a Google Account (get a Gmail account, even if you have another email service).  Here are some links to get you started.  The first is for you computer or laptop, the second is for your Android phone.  Let me know what you think.

For your computer or laptop:

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Google%2B-Hangouts


For your Android phone:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-use-google-hangouts-on-your-android/