Should You Be Using Google Plus Hangouts Instead of GoToWebinar and Skype?
My friend an avid Googler Chris Lang persuaded me to try out the new Google Plus Hangouts feature.
We scheduled a private hangout for the two of us, and his fab wife Margie. Well we didn’t actually schedule anything, Chris invited me to the hangout and when I finally managed to overcome the technical difficulties, I accepted the invitation and the hangout started. Later I learned you can pre schedule a Google Plus Hangout if you sync it to your Google Calendar.
Preparing For The Hangout
I love my Firefox browser. I have long ago left Internet Explorer and avoided Google Chrome like the plague.
Chris insisted I install Chrome. No disrespect to all Chrome users, but I don’t like the idea of Chrome and I got a strange big brother feeling as I installed.
Next I needed to install the GTalk Extension for Chrome. This is basically a chat widget that provides Google Chat, Google Voice Chat and hangout interface.
The positive thing about this extension is that it notifies you when you are being invited to a hangout. (For a moment I felt transported to an Eastern Airport, then I realized my Hangout was up…)
Install Plugin Nightmare
Installing Gtalk was simple, however, since I had never before used Google voice on my PC, every time I tried to open the Hangout window I was prompted to install a plugin.
Results – After 2 Chrome crashes and one computer crash I managed to install the plugin.
Recommendation – don’t do it. It’s not worth the aggravation.
The Hangout
We managed to get on the Hangout, Chris suggested I record some of it with my Camtasia Studio screen capture. Little did I know installing Gtalk completely screwed up my recording settings on my computer.
I found this out only after we concluded our hangout and I attempted to save the recording and edit it. All the sound was gone… or rather replaced with awful noise.
Lesson – Record a very short segment as a test before going in for the kill….
The Hangout itself was pretty cool, the basic features are there, you can share your screen , add people to the hangout, make it public by inviting +public to your hangout. You can see all parties that participate in the Hangout and each has the ability to turn on a black screen (in case they need to do something behind closed doors during the hangout. )
You Tube Within a Hangout
We even watched a YouTube video together, though while the video played we could only talk while pressing down a green Talk button (reminded me of my childhood walkie talkie).
Hangout Etiquette
Now this is where it gets tricky. How do you successfully manage a group of ten people in a discussion? During the hangout I had a few creative ideas for needed widgets –
- The bleep – for every time someone says something inappropriate
- Hand up – Hey I have something to say about this
- Two thumbs up – Awesome point, I totally agree
If your hangout is more limited, you might take the time before the hangout starts to lay out the ground etiquette rules.
Are Google Hangouts Better Than Skype?
I kept asking, how exactly is this better than Skype? I conduct most of my business on Skype, whether I am meeting a new consulting client via voice or video chat, or exchanging bits of data, Skype has earned a warm fuzzy place of respect in my heart.
Now here’s the thing, most people don’t have a Google Account, certainly not a GPlus account. Most people are afraid to install new software, extensions and plugins on their computer. Google provides no real support documentation for the installation process. There is no way I would ever ask a client to go through that just to talk, when Skype works great and is free. Perhaps this will change over time.
Now I know – Hangouts are not better than Skype. At least not right now. I don’t see a crowd of 10 people any kind of competition for my GoToWebinar yearly subscription.
For the select few that have streaming Hangouts this is a different story.
Google Plus Streaming Hangouts
Select users can now broadcast their Hangouts, which turns the intimate chat sessions into a live stream that can be watched by an unlimited number of participants.
The Hangout is broadcasted to their Google Plus profile as well as YouTube. Any one passing by can tune in, though the 10 participant rule still applies. Perhaps this is the real future of hangouts, though some legal issues regarding the streaming need to be sorted.
I also discovered this cool site that shows you popular hangout schedules so that you can hop on board…
Hangout is for personal use, it is for fun or social purpose. It is not an alternative to GTwebinar.
For serious business meetings, solutions such as GoToMeeting and GoMeetNow are still the best choices.
If you are concerned with security and privacy, deploy a web conferencing appliance behind the firewall will give you the best protection.
Thanks for the info, Janet.
You may discover hangouts are also being used for marketing and business in additional to personal use 🙂
Check out G Plus Knights and Google Plus Decoded for example.
Duru
marvelous Post.. I really enjoyed going through it all, and many thanks for the tips and information !!
Thank-you so much for sharing your Google+ hangout experience! I was toying with the idea of utilizing it for a webinar but won’t bother. Thanks again!
~Meg
Glad you got some actionable value Meg!
Unless you have hangouts on air you can’t record the hangout so it’s a bit of a disadvantage.
I am testing creating a private circle for a training group and providing training Q & A via hangouts, will let you know how that goes.
Thanks for your excellent historical perspective. I’m new to Hangouts — I only found out about this incredible service this week when invited to join a panel discussion on the topic of memoir. The panel was hosted by Jason Matthews, for his weekly Indie Publishers show. Six of us were on the call, and it rocked. Streaming has progressed swimmingly well, and perhaps also the app installation that enables it.
I plan to use Hangouts for classes I teach. I don’t want more than 9 students anyway, so that’s perfect. Still working on logistics of making YouTube stream private. It is doable.
That’s great Sharon!
People and companies are using hangouts in very creative ways! I also know of cooking classes, language classes, masterminds and many more!
If you want to record your hangout you will need to use Hangouts on Air. While this will not be private, once the hangout is over you can make your video private within your YouTube Channel.
You bring up an interesting point – the need for streaming hangouts to a limited circle. I hope to see this evolve as Google Plus and YouTube Evolve…
If you want to teach a private group – you can certainly use hangouts, simply not hangouts on air – they will be visible only to the shared circle – people and circles you specifically invite to the hangout.
Take action and have a great day!
~Duru
P.S. Interested in marketing with video? Check out my Video Marketing Book on Amazon Kindle!
“If you want to record your hangout you will need to use Hangouts on Air. While this will not be private, once the hangout is over you can make your video private within your YouTube Channel.”
Once the hangout On Air is over, and the video is automatically uploaded to your YouTube Channel, how do you make it private? I am concerned about not having a video on YouTube of our HoA event.
Hi Chris,
You can use Hangouts on Air to record your video, which will not be private DURING the hangout. Though afterwards you can log into your YouTube account, locate the Hangout video recording in your Video manager, then edit it to be either Private or Unlisted.
You can read more on YouTube in my Kindle book Marketing With Video.
Let me know if you need any more assistance 🙂
Take action and have a great day!
~Duru
Hi Duru,
I’ve been using hangouts for a while now and comparing them with skype I get a lot less technical issues. I find that groups of video on skype often has one or two people who are choppy or who have other problems, whereas the same people on google plus hangouts work perfectly.
It is a major pain in the **** to get everyone up and running with it and so it makes using it for business a difficult affair, but in my line of work, once we begin, it’s really damaging to have to reconnect or to lose people, so hangouts wins on that front.
The cost of GTW is prohibitive, although I hear really great things about it.
I’d love google to set up a test hangout that you can join to make sure everything is working for you, rather than find that your new clients don’t show up for 30 minutes because the plugin refuses to install!
Setting up a test hangout is an excellent idea Dan!
You might schedule in a time each week when you are available on a hangout for people to try to join and test.
Thanks for the info on Skype conference video. I usually only use Skype voice, so I guess the comparison is not 1 on 1.
It seems though that for hangouts there are many people with hardware compatibility issues that are slowly being ironed out by the Google Plus Hangouts team. So advances are being made every day!
I wrote this post when hangouts just came out. You might be interested in reading about Google Plus Hangout Redemption 🙂
Take action and have a great day!
~Duru
Hi Duru! Love the article!
You should do a review of Webinars OnAir. It’s awesome! It extends your hangout to be a webinar platform and has tons of features to allow you to interaction with all the people viewing your onair hangout. Like raise hands, Q&A, chat. You are even able to display an offer to all of your attendees and redirect them at the end of the broadcast to a sales funnel or whatever link you want.
The platform is so helpful for business to really monetize their webinars and get the most ROI for all their hard work.
Hi Ronnie,
Yes, I will certainly write up how to use the amazing hangouts on air (HOA). They are even more powerful die to the YouTube connection than you may think 😉
Rock on,
Duru
I would still prefer using Skype over Google + hangouts b/c of its superior voice quality. But now I have switched over to RHUB web conferencing servers for all my online meetings and remote access needs. It simply works flawlessly.