Google Meet breakout rooms expanding to more users, new improvements added

Google has been adding new features to its video conferencing platform, Meet. It has now expanded breakout rooms in Google Meet, and added some improvements as well. Breakout rooms in Google Meet were launched first for G Suite Enterprise for Education customers.

As the name suggests, breakout rooms allow meeting hosts to divide the participants in smaller groups and have smaller sessions. After the breakout sessions are over, all participants can come back together for the meeting. In the new Google Meet update, breakout room participants will be able to ask for help from the host. The moderator will be alerted and jump into any group that’s asking for assistance.

Another feature in breakout rooms is setting a timer for the sessions. Hosts will be able to set a timer for the breakout sessions so the participants will know how much time is left for the session. Google Meet also supports breakout rooms for dial-in phone participants, and it will soon add anonymous users as well.

Google is also expanding breakout rooms in Meet to Google Workspace, Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus customers.

The new features come shortly after Google Meet rolled out the ‘Raise Hand’ button. This feature can be used by participants if they want to speak up during a meeting. Google Meet has also started rolling out custom backgrounds, something Zoom users have been enjoying so far. Google Meet users can now set any of the default images or add their own custom image as their meeting background.