Hangouts, the free multi conference call service by Google plus

October 3, 2011 Social Networks

Google launched their new social networking platform, Google Plus, aiming to compete against social networking giant Facebook. Many have been skeptical about the new platform, mainly due to Google’s failed attempts at a social networking platform in recent years. Google plus video .

However Google have added an additional feature to their new platform, a video conference call service and chat facility called ‘Hangouts’. ‘Hangouts’ allow users to take part in a video conference with a maximum of 10 participants, while the other Social Networks does not offer video chat with more than 2 people. This video conferencing feature has driven a lot of interest to Google Plus, particularly the multi conference call service capability.

As interesting and exciting as the new platform is there are concerns over the video feature and the bandwidth demands for the multi call functionality. The system requirements for hangouts states the suggested bandwidth connection is 900kbps / 1800 kbps (up/down). Supporting multiple, multi conference calls at this connection speed could prove to be difficult for the new Google plus. The user could also experience difficulty trying to achieve the bandwidth requirements.

If businesses are looking to take advantage of Google’s video conferencing service they are likely to face difficulty with the bandwidth requirements.

For some time now video conferencing specialists have been able to provide high definition solutions at 900kbps or less (up/down), and this is unlikely to change in the near future.

The experience of group video conferencing service is smooth and very convenient to use. Google Plus is the first social network site with this one-to-many video chat for its users. This is the best way to interact and have fun with Google+ Hangouts and it certainly adds a very element to social media.

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