Overview
Google Meet is a video conferencing service offered by Google that provides similar functionality to Zoom. It's accessibility and ease of use has made Google Meet a popular choice for remote collaboration, but with its widespread use comes the need for robust control over who can access and participate in your meetings. This page offers several features of Google Meet to manage your meeting's security and flow.
Hosts don't need to follow all of these best practices but should use the minimal number of practices that fit their needs and secures the meeting.
Controlling Meeting Access
Keep Meeting Codes Private
Every Google Meet session generates a unique 10-character code. Sharing this code is the primary way participants join. Ensure this code is only distributed to authorized individuals.
Use Calendar Invitations
This is the most secure way to distribute your meeting link and manage attendees. This allows you to invite specific participants directly, and their email addresses will be pre-approved for entry if Quick access is on. Be mindful of the "Guest permissions" in Google Calendar. You can choose whether guests can invite others or see the guest list, further controlling the spread of your meeting link.
Disable Quick Access
This setting, found in the host controls, determines whether people outside your organization or those not invited to the calendar event need to request to join. For better control over who joins a meeting, ensure this feature is turned off, and review each request to join individually.
Use Meeting Nicknames
Google Workspace users can create "nicknamed" meetings. Once all participants have left, the nickname becomes invalid, preventing others from joining the same meeting again later with that nickname.
Managing Participation During the Meeting
Add a Co-Host
Adding a co-host can help distribute the burden of managing participants and technical issues.. This may be useful for meetings that have a large number of participants. In the meeting, select the tile of the participant you wish to make co-host. Then select the three vertical dots, and select Grant host controls. You may also follow these steps to select Remove host controls.
Avoid Bulk Admitting Participants
The meeting organizer can admit multiple participants at once using the Admit all feature. To better control who joins your meeting, review each request to join your meeting and approve or deny them individually.
Mute Audio
Hosts may mute audio for individual participants or for all participants in a meeting to prevent background noise or feedback from interfering.
- To mute individual participants, hover over the participant's tile, then select Mute. Additionally, you can select the People icon at the bottom right, locate the participant's name, and select Mute.
- To mute all participants, select the People icon at the bottom right, then select Mute All.
Block Screen Sharing
Hosts may block screen sharing for all participants by selecting the Host Controls button at the bottom right, then toggle off Share their screen in the side panel.
Block Chat Messages
Hosts can prevent participants from sending chat messages during a meeting by selecting the Host Controls button at the bottom right, then toggle off Send chat messages in the side panel. These changes will be saved for reoccurring meetings and meetings that use the same meeting code. However, they will not be saved for nicknamed meetings.
Remove Participants
Hosts can remove unwanted participants from a meeting by selecting the participant's tile, select the three vertical dots, and select Remove from the call. If the participant was abusive, select Fill out an abuse report.
Block Participants
To block a participant from rejoining a meeting select the participants tile, select the three vertical dots, and select Block. This will only block the user from the rejoining the current meeting.
End Meeting for All
In the event of an emergency, or if the meeting is concluded, hosts can end the meeting for all participants. Select the leave call button at the bottom, then select End meeting for all.
Best Practices
Educate your Participants
Inform attendees about meeting etiquette, including when to mute themselves and how to use the chat responsibly.
Regularly Review Host Controls
Familiarize yourself with the host controls panel before each meeting to quickly adjust settings as needed.
Report Abuse
It is crucial to report any abuse that violates Google's Acceptable Use Policy. For procedures on reporting abuse in Google Meet, please see Google's support page.
Additional Questions, Comments, or Concerns
If you have questions about how to configure your meetings in Google Meet, please submit a ticket to the ITS Help Desk, so that we may review and provide the proper guidance.
Please submit this form two weeks before your meeting is scheduled to begin. This way we have enough time to research, respond, and make adjustments to your plan for using Google Meet.