Are you ever concerned about what’s in the background of your environment during a Google Meet session? No worries. Meet’s new background blur can distort your video so that what’s in your background is less noticeable and the focus stays on you.
This fall, Google released a flurry of improvements for Meet’s video conferencing and chat tools. If you don’t pay close attention, you’ll miss some really cool features, like background blur and many others:
For All G Suite Users
You can now enable:
- Digital whiteboarding with Google Jamboard to brainstorm with collaborators.
- Background blur to limit distractions.
- A new tile view to see up to 49 participants, including yourself.
For Enterprise License Users
- To facilitate the move to remote work and school, Google announced that it would make some Meet features available for free through Sept. 30, 2020. Now that extended access has expired, these features are only available to users with enterprise licenses, which generally include NC State faculty and staff. These features include:
- Session recording
- Increased limit to 250 participants per session
The limit for a student license is 100. - In-domain live-streaming for up to 10,000 watchers
Note: The meeting creator determines the available features for each Meet session.
- To increase moderator control and group interaction in Meet, Google now offers to enterprise license users these features:
- Breakout rooms for small group discussions
- Q&A and Polling to encourage engagement
- Attendance reports to track participation
- Ability to limit participant screen sharing and in-meeting chat for safety control
Help
If you have any questions about these updates, contact the NC State Help Desk via the NC State IT Service Portal or at 919.515.4357 (HELP).