- Check the system requirements for Hangouts.
- Connect a camera, microphone, and speakers, and make sure they have the latest software.
- To improve audio and video quality, Hangouts calls use a direct peer-to-peer connection when possible, instead of routing through a server.
- Allow Hangouts to use your computer’s camera and microphone.
- Internet Explorer, Firefox & Safari browsers: Download and install the latest version of the Hangouts plugin.
- Open Hangouts at hangouts.google.com or in Gmail.
- Select a person from the Hangouts list or search for their name or email address. When you find the person you want, click their name.
- To start a group video call, for each person in your group, type their name and check the box in front of their name.
- Click the video icon
.
When you’re done with your video call, you can leave by pointing to the bottom of the window and clicking the end call icon .
If you’re having problems with video calling, try these troubleshooting steps.
Other settings for video calls
Anyone in the Hangout can add more people after the video call starts, and anyone with a Google Account can join a video call.
- At the top of the video call window, click the invite people icon
.
- Type someone’s name or email address.
- Click Invite.
You can participate in a video Hangout with up to 9 other people.
You can change your video call options during the Hangout.
- Mute camera or microphone: Point to the bottom of the video call window, and icons will appear for muting your microphone or camera.
- Settings: At the top right of the video call window, click the settings icon
. You can change your video call settings, like choosing your camera, microphone and speaker devices or sending diagnostics.
- Share screen: At the top right of the video call window, click Options
> Share screen. You can share what’s on your screen with the other people in the video call.
- Fullscreen: At the top right of the video call window, click Options
Google recently changed the interface of the Hangouts extension for Chrome that makes it look a little more like its Android and iOS equivalents. It’s a nice update for some people, but others preferred the older style of floating windows. Here’s how to get the old interface back.
Patricia Mayo Tejedor and Sandoche Adittane decided to take Hangouts into their own hands by hosting the old extension on GitHub. It requires a little more work to install but it’s pretty simple. First you need to download their repository and unzip it in a folder. Then in Chrome:
- Go to chrome://extensions
- Enable “Developer Mode”
- Click the “Load unpacked extension…” button and navigate to the folder where you saved the repository.
That’s it. You need to disable the official Hangouts extension, and the old extension will always live in that folder so don’t delete or move it for as long as you want it. Head over to GitHub for an even more thorough walkthrough so you can get your floating Hangout windows back.
source – Lifehacker