We all knew the end-date for the classic version of Hangouts was coming, and now we know when it is. Well, at least for G Suite customers. In a blog post, Google shared their timeline for the changes that will happen for the companies that are paying to use Google Apps when it comes to the transition from the classic version to the Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. This is their “Slackalike” or their version of the immensely popular team collaboration tool, Slack.
The slow transition will start this April 16 but this will only concern G Suite admins as they will have to do some technical stuff in order to prepare the backend for the introduction of the Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet to their employees and users. Between that month and September, we’ll be seeing some features of the classic Hangouts arrive in the Chat, which should be introduced to G Suite users by then.
The real end for the Hangouts as we know it starts in October when Google will start retiring it for the G Suite customers. All the users that have not yet been transitioned to Chat will then be transitioned. While one-on-one chats are still part of the experience, you’ll also then be able to see group chat rooms which should make it easier to communicate with different sets of people for different projects. You’ll also see deep integration with other Google apps like Docs, Sheets, Drive, etc.
As for “normal” Hangouts users, you’ll still get a reprieve as Google will not be transitioning you yet until all the G Suite customers will be familiar and comfortable using Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. The original timetable for that is 2020 so you still have more than a year to “enjoy’ the classic version.
If you’re an admin for a G Suite account, better check out the source link below for the steps you need to take to transition your organization. G Suite users, just sit back and wait to experience these new products and hope you won’t be as confused anymore.
SOURCE: Google
