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4.3. Google Hangouts How-To

When you can't meet in person, having a teleconference is the next best thing. Skype, Google Hangouts, and other options are free. Because Google Hangouts has screen sharing and supports multiple people being in a call, it's preferred. Currently, GH supports 25 simultaneous participants.

What You'll Need

• Supported web browser or app (Google Chrome plus Hangouts extension is optimal)
• Headset and microphone
• Webcam (optional)
• Reliable Internet connection (wired is preferable)
• Google account
• You'll also need the Google account of the person (or people) you want to contact

Hosting

1. Go to the Google Hangouts page or load the Google Hangouts extension (on mobile, use the app).
2. Sign in to your Google account if needed.
3. In the top left, select New Conversation  (or select a previous contact to reuse an existing one).
1. If you're working with more than one person, you may want to use the New Group option, or select a group you've used previously.
4. If this is a new conversation, enter the e-mail of the person you want to connect to:
5. This will open a chat window. You can use the Video Call button in the top left of the window to start a video call. 
6. If you want to add people to the call, use the Invite People button:  You can then either enter their Google account email or get the link that is provided, then send that to the new person.

One method that works well to coordinate multiple people is to have everyone who is going to be in the call send a message to the host. The host can then add these people to a group by using the Invite to Group button, adding everyone who will be on the call, and use the Video Call button to begin. 

Sharing Your Screen (desktop/laptop only)

1. Start a video call.
2. Select the triple dot icon in the top right:
3. Select Share Screen:
4. Choose to either share your entire desktop, or just one application (recommended), then select Share:

Screen sharing is an excellent way to conduct tutorials on how to use your club websites, or to look at DCP progress together. You may want to install a separate web browser such as Opera, set up the tabs you want to share, then set Hangouts to screen share just Opera (or whatever other browser you like).

Troubleshooting

If you have trouble with bandwidth or sound, use the gear icon to open options: 

On the options, you can toggle your video source, microphone, and speakers. You can also change bandwidth settings on the Bandwidth tab.

If your microphone or headphone volume is still low or too high, adjust them on your device. For most versions of Windows, you can right click the volume control in the system tray, then choose Playback or Recording Devices as appropriate.

Newer versions of Windows 10 have a new interface. Select Open Sound settings once you right click the speaker icon:

In either case, the most common issue is that microphone volume is too low. Start by setting it to 90% and adjust from there. Too high, and you'll get echo or sound too loud. Too low and you won't be heard. You may also need to adjust special features as well. Try pre-recording something or doing a test call as needed.