Hangouts

To start using Google Hangouts:

1. Go to your Saint Mary's e-mail account on Google Apps for Education (mail.google.com)

2. In the left column, in the Google Chat section, click on the arrow next to your profile picture. (If you have not set a picture, it will be a generic person icon.)

a. If you do not see a Google Chat section in the left column, click on the small quote bubble icon at the bottom of that column.

b. If you have not used Hangouts before, select Try the new Hangouts. Please wait a moment as your Google Mail page refreshes.

c. If you do not see the Try the new Hangouts option, you already have the new Hangouts enabled.

d. All parties in a Hangout should have the new Hangouts enabled before invitations for Hangouts are issued, otherwise they may not receive Hangouts invitations. You can verify that all parties have Hangouts enabled by sending an e-mail to attendees prior to a scheduled Hangout.

To invite an individual person to a Hangout, click on the magnifying glass icon to the right of your name. A list of people from your Contacts will appear, or you can use the Search for people at the top of that window. If you have invited an individual person to a Hangout before, you can also click on their name in the list below your name to start a new Hangout with the person.

a. You may need to install a Google plug-in or extension to enable Hangouts ("Google Voice and Video Installer") for the first time. If the software doesn't install on its own, you can try installing it manually from www.google.com/hangouts

In the small pop-up chat window that appears, click on the video camera icon to start a video chat. Hangouts will invite the other person to participate.

When you are ready to end the video chat, simply close the video chat window or click on the red telephone symbol at the top of the video chat window.

To invite multiple people to a Hangout, click on the magnifying glass icon to the right of your name. A list of people from your Contacts will appear. Check the boxes next to the people you wish to invite. You can also use the Search for people at the top of that window to add people to that list. Select Message if you want a text chat or Video call if you want a video chat. If you have invited a specific group of people to a Hangout before, you can also click on the group in the list below your name to start a new Hangout with them.

a. You may need to install a Google plug-in or extension to enable Hangouts ("Google Voice and Video Installer") for the first time. If the software doesn't install on its own, you can try installing it manually from www.google.com/hangouts

Hangouts will invite the other people to participate.

To invite others to a video Hangout after it has started, move your mouse over the active Hangouts window to bring up options for the chat. At the top of the window, click on the icon of a person with a + sign. Select or type their name or e-mail address and click Invite.

To add others to a text Hangout after you've started a text conversation with someone, click on the icon of a person with a + sign at the top of the chat window. Select or type their name or e-mail address and click Add people.

To accept a Hangout request, click on the Accept option in the pop-up that will appear in Google Mail. (The pop-up will not appear in other applications in Google Apps.) You can also click on Join Hangout if you receive a Hangout invitation via e-mail message.

Important notes:

Google Hangouts should notify people who are not currently logged into their Google Apps accounts that they have a Hangout request. The notification may occur on their computer as a doorbell-like chime, the notification may appear on their iOS device (if they have the Google Hangouts app installed and set up for their account), or a notification may be sent via e-mail to them.

You can tell if an individual is available for a Hangout by looking at their profile picture in the left column of the Google Mail page. If there is a green dot next to their picture, they are logged into Hangouts with a computer, a Google Chat or Google Hangouts app, or third-party chat application. If there is not a green dot next to their avatar, they may not be available for a chat . . . but looks can be deceiving and you may wish to try anyway.

Google Hangouts are integrated with Google Calendar. When creating a Calendar event, next to Video Call you can click on Add video call to make it a Hangout. the Hangout can be joined from the calendar event (shown on your Google Calendar) or the event reminder. Click on Join video call to join the Hangout.

You can have a Hangout with up to 100 people for text-only, and up to 10 people with video calls.

Google Hangouts with video include the options of screen sharing (to let others see what is on your computer screen) and Remote Desktop (to let another participant control your computer). For more details on these features, visit https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1660627?hl=en