If your company has a Google Apps account, you need your administrator to turn on Google+ for all accounts before you can use the service otherwise you’ll just receive an error when you try and visit the social networking site. If you already have a Google account for Gmail or another Google service, those credentials will work once you visit and set up a few things. To start a Hangout, you will need a Google+ account. Your Google Apps administrator will need to turn on Google+ if you want to use Hangouts with that account. It keeps routines simpler for participants, and your computer can avoid receiving yet another piece of extra software. Most online chatters may be familiar with using Skype or iChat, but Google+ Hangouts eschews the software requirement in favor of browser-based video conferencing.
The video service also integrates with Google’s other free tools, so that you can talk while working together on a Google Doc or share your screen to troubleshoot a problem. Hangouts, the company’s online video chat technology, offers a simple way for people to get together and meet, no external software required.
Google+ may not have taken the social networking world by storm the way Google hoped, but it does offer useful tools for the workplace and project-oriented groups.
