The Best Alternatives to Google Hangouts
[contentsdisabled] Google Hangouts is a versatile addition to Google’s productivity tools. It is available on many different platforms, it offers multiple ways to communicate with your Google contacts and others (including text messages, phone calls and video chat), and only charges the price when you use it to make calls phones outside the US or Canada. It is a widely used instant messaging, audio calling and video calling platform. It has been around for many years and is popular for personal or occasional use, video meetings at colleges and schools, and small businesses or startups. You’ll love the convenient user interface, social media-like design, and easy accessibility. However, functionality can vary significantly depending on the platform (mobile device, desktop or browser extension) on which you are using it. Also, the integration with some other Google services (like Gmail, Google Chrome and Google Voice) can make it a little tricky to use unless you are using a lot of Google products anyway. Hangouts is no longer your only options – remote work boom spawned a handful of chat tools that let you connect with your friends and colleagues, with features such as video chat and audio messaging. Also, Hangouts is not enough for your business, especially if you need file sharing.
Here is the list of the best alternatives to Google Hangouts
Skype
You’re probably familiar with Skype – for a long time, it’s been used to stay connected with your friends and family. Skype is also popular for small business owners, freelancers, bloggers and marketing executives – connecting with their co-workers, clients and advisors – making it an ideal alternative to Google Hangouts. What features Skype gives? You can give engaging and personalized reactions to messages and video chats with Smart Messaging feature. While not suitable for large organizations, screen sharing is possible with Skype; it can be used to share presentations and data slides in startup-sized companies. You can get a location phone Skype number – use this number as your work number. You can also get an international number by subscribing to the international calling program – call over 25 countries at a low subscription price.
Discord
If you are a gamer who used to use Google Hangouts to chat online with your friends, then one of the best Google Hangouts alternatives for you is Discord. Discord is an app through which you can chat, text, call and video call for free. This software also allows screen sharing, live streaming and listening to music simultaneously with your friends via Spotify if they have Spotify premium. Also, starting in June, Discord is trying to diversify into a platform that is suitable for everyone, i.e. businesses, the general public, friends and family, rather than restricting itself as a service to gamers.
Telegram
Telegram calls itself “the fastest messaging app in the world” and allows for quick sharing of videos, gifs, images, geolocation and documents. Their “secret chats”, similar to Snapchat, are end-to-end encrypted with a self-destruct mechanism that deletes messages after a certain period of time, from a second to a week. However, Telegram chats are typically not encrypted – so if you’re looking for a secure communication tool for your business, Telegram might not be your best bet. Video calling on Telegram is new as of 2020 and is only available for 1:1 videos. The jury still doesn’t know if it’s an effective video conferencing tool, but its new profile video feature is a highlight that this writer hopes to see become the standard across all messaging platforms. Telegram is best for small workgroups or non-professional teams. Use it as a regular messaging app for more than two individuals. Telegram runs on a “free forever” model.
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The first Google Hangouts alternative on our list is Zoom. Since the lockdown in April 2020 due to the pandemic, Zoom has become a household name. It is used by millions of individuals and corporations to carry out their daily business-related activities. Zoom offers a video conferencing service including a share share option, a whiteboard and a chat box. Starting a Zoom call is as simple as creating a meeting room and sending the link to the people you want to meet. The zoom works effortlessly, allowing up to 100 participants per meeting. However, a free Zoom meeting has a time limit of 40 minutes, and to access unlimited minutes, you need a paid subscription. That said, as of today, zoom can be called as one of the most sought after alternatives to google hangouts.
Who doesn’t know WhatsApp, right? We all use it to keep in touch and regularly contact our friends, family and colleagues. WhatsApp is not just an informal messaging app – despite popular belief. When it comes to casual use – WhatsApp is loaded with group messaging features such as online voice calling, interactive messaging, image and video file sharing, and group video calling. Those features can also help small businesses – especially the video calling, audio calling and document sharing options. WhatsApp for Business or Business App is an app specially designed for small business owners. As a small business owner, you can share the portfolio of your products, services and offerings. Create an interactive business profile so your customers get to know you better.
Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is used by 1.3 billion people worldwide, making it one of the top messaging apps – second only to WhatsApp. Due to its ubiquity, it is easy for companies and workgroups to choose up, as most people already use the app. Messenger lets you share uncompressed files and images and allows for 1:1 and group video calling. With Facebook Workplace, Messenger can act as a complete corporate social networking and communication tool for your business. Facebook Messenger as you know it is free for all Facebook users. for additional features such as unlimited groups, org chart, unlimited file storage, and custom integrations, Facebook Workplace is available for $4 to $8 per user, per month.
GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting is one of the best replacements for Google Hangouts – it is ideal for small and medium businesses, educational use in colleges and schools, personal use and government agencies or organizations. Some perks that highlight the performance of this software – you can integrate 25 HD webcams for high-quality video conferences, drawing tools that draw attention to data shared in conference calls, and an enterprise-grade login option for a comfortable experience. Online meetings or video conferences are essential – you will find valuable feedback from customers, your superiors and seasoned veterans who share their expertise in webinars. Record those vital moments with this Movavi software – a premium screen recording and video sharing software. You can capture the entire screen or a specific part during screen recording – plus instantly share your projects with your associates.
Line
The Line is one of the apps like hangouts, in the sense that it offers all the services that Google Hangouts does along with some additional ones features. The line allows free text messages, voice calls, video calls and a feature allowing you to follow celebrity accounts and get special coupons from various brands. The Line also has stories feature that you can share with all your friends. The app also offers news updates on current affairs, sports and access to live streams. Finally, Line also offers an online payment option for all types of transactions. It’s the ideal app if you’re looking for all your social tools in one place.
Whereby
Where is another great platform on our list of alternatives to Google Hangouts? Is this a brilliant platform to get in touch with your associates, family or friends as it doesn’t require any installations or apps to work? Whereby works through an internet browser in mobile and a desktop and comes with a free and paid option. It’s easy to use and requires you to create a single meeting room that can be accessed multiple times with the same link. Adding Whereby as a Chrome extension makes joining meetings easier as you can enter the meeting room with a single click of a button.
Final note
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