Introduction

Google Hangouts is a communication platform developed by Google which

includes messaging, video chat, SMS and VOIP features. Google Hangouts allow
you to have one-to-one or group conversations using text chat, voice or video calls.
Video hangouts can have up to 10 participants (or up to 15 if you are using a Google
Apps account at your school or organisation). During a video Hangout, participants
can collaborate live using Hangout apps. Hangouts work from within Gmail and
Google+, and from mobile devices.
It replaces three messaging products that Google
had implemented concurrently within its services, including Google
Talk, Google+Messenger (formerly: Huddle), and Hangouts, a video chat system
present within Google+. Google has also stated that Hangouts is designed to be "the
future" of its telephony product, Google Voice, and integrated some of the
capabilities of Google Voice into Hangouts. Users can be messaged by
their Google+ accounts.
https://hangouts.google.com/

History
Prior to the launch of Hangouts, Google had maintained several similar, but
technologically separate messaging services and platforms across its suite of
products. These have included the enterprise-oriented Google Talk (based
on XMPP), Google+ Messenger, and the Hangouts feature of Google+, which
provided chat, voice, videoconferencing features. However, its increasingly
fragmented and non-unified suite of messaging offerings was also facing growing
competition from services such as Facebook Messenger, iMessage, and WhatsApp.
A decision was made to scrap the existing Google Talk system and code a new
messaging product through a collaboration with multiple development teams.
Following reports that the new service would be known as "Babel", the service
officially launched as Hangouts during the Google I/Oconference on May 15, 2013.
On February 16, 2015, Google announced it would be discontinuing Google Talk and
instructed users to migrate to the Hangouts app on the Chrome browser platform.
In January 2016, Google discouraged using Hangouts for SMS, recommending to
instead use Google's "Messenger" SMS app.
In May 2016, at Google I/O 2016, Google announced two new apps: Google Allo, a
messaging app with AI capabilities (AI-powered bots and selfie features) and Google
Duo, a video calling app. Google has since confirmed that the new apps will not
replace Hangouts; Hangouts will remain a separate product.
Google's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones will ship with Google Duo and Allo instead
of Hangouts.
On January 6, 2017, Google announced that the Google Hangouts API will shut
down on April 25, 2017.
On March 9, 2017, Google announced that it would be evolving Hangouts into two
products: Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat. Hangouts Meet would focus on video
conferences and Hangouts Chat would be focused on instant messaging with
additional features such as bot assistant and threaded messaging.

Features
Hangouts allows conversations between two or more users. The service can be
accessed online through the Gmail or Google+ websites, or through mobile
apps available for Android and iOS (which were distributed as a successor to their
existing Google Talk apps). However, because it uses a proprietary protocol instead
of the XMPP open standard protocol used by Google Talk, most third-party
applications which had access to Google Talk do not have access to Google+
Hangouts.
Chat histories are saved online, allowing them to be synced between devices. A
"watermark" of a user's avatar is used as a marker to indicate how far they have read
into the conversation. Photos can be shared during conversations, which are
automatically uploaded into a private Google+ album. Users can also now use
color emoji symbols in their messages.
As with the previous Google+ Hangouts, users can also perform a group video chat
with up to 10 users at a time. In 2016 Google upgraded Hangouts to 25 concurrent
users in HD video for Work/Education. The new Google Hangouts app
on iOS integrates a Google Voice number to some extent, but on Android the SMS
support in Hangouts doesn't fully integrate with Google Voice for calls or texts.
Integration was first expected by 2014, but was deprecated in January 2016. The
reason for the delay appears tied to Google switching away from the XMPP protocol
it used, as mentioned above.
For Google Chrome, users do not need to install a plugin. However, for Internet
Explorer 11, the user must install the "Google Talk Plugin" to be able to use the
video features.
In Android 4.4, Hangouts is integrated with text messages sending and receiving
functions, which is the default SMS app on the Nexus 5. For other Android phones,
users can choose to open the SMS function when they download the new version of
Hangouts via Google Play. SMS conversations are shown in a drawer on the left
side. The update also adds GIF support and a new location-sharing button, which
allows the user to send their GPS location to their contacts.
As of version 2.3 (September 12, 2014), Hangouts includes the ability to make free
voice calls to other Hangouts users, and charges users (via pre-registered credit) to
call landline and mobile phones internationally except for calls to the United
States and Canada which are free of charge. Currently, Android users must have
both the Google Hangouts and Hangouts Dialer apps installed if they wish to call
landline or mobile telephone numbers via the public switched telephone network. On
August 15, 2016, Google announced that Hangouts on Air will be discontinued on
September 12. Users will have to utilize YouTube Live for live-streaming events.
Getting Started with Hangouts

Before hanging out for the first time, there are a few things you'll want to do:

1. Check out the system requirements to make sure you're using a supported browser and
operating system, and that your processor and bandwidth are sufficient.
a. System requirements for Hangouts. The following are the system requirement
for hangouts:

i. Supported Browsers:

1. Google Chrome 10+

2. Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 8+
3. Mozilla Firefox 3+
4. Safari 4+

ii. Supported Operating systems:

1. Mac OS X 10.5+
2. Windows 7
3. Windows Vista with SP1 or later
4. Windows XP
5. Chrome
6. Ubuntu and other Debian based Linux distributions

iii. Processor Minimum Requirements:

1. Any 2 Ghz dual core processor or greater.

iv. Bandwidth

1. For 1:1 connections we suggest a 1 mbps/1 mbps (up/down)

2. For group video connectivity we suggest 1 mbps/2 mbps (up/down)

v. Google+ Profile: To use the full functionality of video Hangouts, you need to
have joined Google+.

vi. Video And Audio Equipment: You will need a webcam, microphone and
speaker.

vii. Browser: It is recommended that you use Hangouts in the Google Chrome
browser.

viii. Hangouts Plugin(non-Google chrome users only): If you are not using
the Google Chrome browser, you will need to install the Hangouts plugin.
How to install Google chrome

1. Open the chrome and click on app icon

2. go to web store
3. write hangout in search box

4. then add hangout

5. now get started

Start a hangout
Sign up for or sign in to a google+ account
Now account has created

Search people by their name, e-mail or phone

chatting with friend

Share the pictures

Invite people on hangout
Video calling
Start hangout from Google+

1. Open Google+
2. Click the Hangouts button on the far right

3. A list of your Hangout contacts will pop-out. Hover over start a video hangout
button at the bottom of the list.

4. Click start a video hangout

 5. Click in the send an invitation box and select who you want to hangout with.
You can type individual’s names or email addresses, or invite a whole circle.

6. Click invite.

Tip: Before hanging out with other people, it’s a good idea to do a test
Hangout by yourself. You can just click Close on the invitation screen to have
a Hangout on your own

Start hangout from Gmail

1. Open Gmail.
2. In your chat list, click the name of the person(or one of the people) you want
to Hangout with.
3. The Hangouts text chat window will open. Click the video camera button.
4. The Hangout will open and an invitation will be sent to the person.
5. Invite other people to the Hangout using the invite people button.