hangoutbrief

1. Hangout allows video conferencing up to 10 people and live streaming to others.
   • (You can use hangout even if your computer does not have a camera, but you won't be visible to others. Indeed, you can turn off your camera during a hangout, which reduces the bandwidth needed.)
2. Participants must all be signed up for google +, have the necessary audio & video plugins on a computer with mic and video, a reliable internet connection (preferably ethernet not wifi), and a headset or earbuds.
   • (Google+ requires a gmail account, but you do not have to use that account for email. You can skip through most of the pages in the sign up for google+. Installing the plugins requires a series of steps similar to installing software.)
3. The simplest way to get into a hangout is for the person who initiates the hangout to copy its URL to some place that everyone can see and then for participants to click on that URL.
4. Chats (i.e., text messages) can happen during the hangout as well as screensharing a window from any participant's computer to show, e.g., a photo or a powerpoint.
   • (These options are accessed by moving your cursor to the vertical dots at the upper right. Or, in the old format, to the icons that appear when the cursor is moved to the top left.)
5. Fullscreen view of hangout is possible if your browser allows it (check the menus), but not full screen or slide show of any file shared by screenshare.
   • (Simple clear way to share visuals is to save as a pdf, open it in acrobat reader, and specify "Read Mode" under View menu.)