If you are a new Google Meet user or perhaps your company has recently introduced Google Workspace to their team, you may find it difficult to get connected through Meet. This article has a few ways to schedule and start a video call conference through Google Meet quite easily.
If you are using Meet for the first time, you might need to permit your browser to use your microphone and camera. It will allow others to hear and see you through your selected microphone and camera, respectively. To enable this, visit this link.
Moving on, here are some ways to start or schedule a video meeting on Google Meet. Meet also allows users to access it through iOS and Android devices (cross-platform). Here is how you do it.
1. Through a Web Browser or Meet App
To start an instant meeting, you can use your browser to visit the Google Meet website and sign in to your account. It can be easily done by following the given steps:
With a Web Browser
- Enter meet.google.com in the search tab
- Sign in to your account, if needed
- Then select ‘Join or Start a Meeting.’
With a Mobile App
- Install the Meet app on your mobile phone
- Sign in to the app on mobile phones
- Click on the ‘New Meeting’ option to start or schedule the Google Meet video call
Once this is done, you will get a unique meet link to share it with others. The user will have the choice to start or schedule in three different ways
a) Create a meeting for later: First of all, copy the Meet link and share it with all the participants if the meeting is to be held soon, if not immediately. Another option is to start the meeting with this link itself directly. One can do it by copying and pasting the link to the web browser and finally entering the code in the ‘Enter a code or link’ field. After that, click on the ‘Join’ button to start the call.
b) Start an instant meeting: This option will allow the user to immediately create, start, and join a Google Meet video call.
c) Schedule in Google Calendar: This option leads the user to the Google Calendar, where the user can schedule their meeting for later. Keep reading for more details.
2. Through Gmail
What can be easier than reading your emails and planning a video call simultaneously? For this reason, you can always access Google Meet video calls through your Gmail. These two tools are smartly integrated to be used in accordance with each other. Here is how you can start or schedule a Meet on Gmail.
- Open Gmail on your web browser
- Hower over the ‘Meet’ option at the bottom left corner of your screen
- Click on the ‘New Meeting‘ option as shown below
- The meeting invite can be shared through a link or email. Click on Send Invite.
- Copy meeting invites – Use this option to copy the meeting invite details.
- Share via email – Use this option to share the meeting through an email.
- Make sure that all the permissions have been granted before joining the meeting, especially the Microphone and Camera permissions.
- The user should click on the ‘Join now’ option to join the meeting immediately.
- Click on ‘Leave Call’ to quit the video meeting.
3. Through Google Calendar
Google Calendar is the most precise way to schedule a Google Meet call for a specific date and time. When an event is scheduled through the Google Calendar, a Google Meet video meeting link can also be attached to the event. This method offers some special options to certain users. The Google Workspace users can also add a dial-in number to their Google Calendar event.
Here is how you do it:
- Open the Google Calendar app or on the web browser
- Click on the “Create” button from the top left corner
- Select a desired date and time for the video call event
- Add a title and guests to your video call and finally hit “Add Google Meet video conferencing.”
- Enter the names and email addresses of the participants of the Google Meet video call
- Click on the ‘Save’ option to finalize the scheduled meeting.
There you go. Now you can see the same event on your Google Calendar timeline. Click on the event to access all the details. Send details to all the participants by clicking on the email icon, as shown above. All the participants will get an automatic reminder before the event starts.
4. Through Google Classroom
This option is specifically designed for educational institutions to create and join classes for students. It is relatively easy to schedule a Google Meet video call by using Google Classroom for a more general purpose.
Note: “Your school must sign up for a free Google Workspace for Education account before you can use Classroom”
- Go to classroom.google.com through the web browser
- Sign in to the respective account of the user
- After that, select the “Create class” link and enter details like class name, section, subject, and room.
- A unique Meet link will become visible for the specific class
- Click on the ‘Save‘ option to save the final meeting.
- Click on the down arrow next to the Meet to copy the Meet link.
- Click on the ‘Copy’ option.
- Share the Meet link through emails, messages, etc.
5. Through Google Chat
Lastly, you can use the good old Google Chat to start a video meeting. Just head on to chat.google.com select the participant you want to create a video call with, and hit the “Camera” icon from the chat options.
Finally, send out the chat, and whenever the participant clicks on the link, they will be automatically redirected to the Meet video call page.
Final Thoughts
Google Meet offers incredibly easy accessibility, the simplest user interface and scheduling methods, and call privacy. Also, Meet allows recording the whole conversation if you have a Google Workspace subscription.