Google Meet currently requires you to generate a link to start a meeting. While this is convenient for group meetings, it’s an extra step for one-on-one conversations. To address this issue and reduce the friction to initiate a meeting, Google Meet will soon add a direct calling feature for 1:1 calls within the Gmail app (in case you haven’t disabled it yet).
Google Meet Direct Calling Without Invite Link
As the name suggests, the feature will help you instantly initiate calls by tapping the call icon without having to send an invite link. Pressing the call button will ring the recipient’s Gmail app and send a call chip to Gmail on the web. The recipient can choose to attend the call from the device of their choice.
Google will further expand Meet direct calling to other relevant spots in the future. “Our intention is to bring Meet calling to all the natural endpoints in Workspace where you’d initiate an ad-hoc call including chats, people cards, and Spaces, but this will come first to one-to-one chats within the Gmail mobile app,” says Sanaz Ahari, Senior Director of Product Management at Google.
Another feature coming to Google Meet is Companion mode. Rolling out in November, the feature lets you use your device as a second screen for a video call. You can use the second screen for screen sharing, chatting with others, participating in activities, and hand-raising.
Apart from these, Google is also working to translate meetings from English to French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. The company hopes to support more languages in the future.
