We just announced some new G Suite products and features to help your organization collaborate more effectively and efficiently. As part of that announcement, we introduced Hangouts Chat as a core service. Below are some admin-specific details about Hangouts Chat to help you get started.

The Hangouts Chat service will launch default on, unless you’ve chosen to manually opt in to new services. To start using Hangouts Chat on the web, go to https://chat.google.com. To download the app on your desktop or mobile device, go to https://get.google.com/chat.

Please note:

• If you currently have forced chat history off, you will need to actively enable Hangouts Chat in your Admin console regardless of your setting for opting in to new services. This is because “room” conversations in Chat always retain Chat history, regardless of your settings, so it's important that you understand this before enabling the service.
• If both classic Hangouts and the new Hangouts Chat are enabled for an organizational unit (OU), the classic Hangouts history on or off settings are used in chats in which participants use a mix of classic and new Chat. If the history settings are different for chat participants of different OUs, the chat conversation can’t be created. Please review your chat history settings for both products (more info).
• If your domain participated in the Hangouts Chat Early Adopter Program, your settings will be retained. These settings will be accessible at Apps > G Suite > Hangouts Chat in the Admin console.

Hangouts Chat is compatible with the classic version of Hangouts, and you’ll still be able to use classic Hangouts—making sure you don’t miss a message from anyone in your organization. All one-to-one direct messages will forward both ways between Hangouts Chat and classic Hangouts by default.

Additionally, if you require Vault support for use of Hangouts Chat, please see our post for details on that launch.

If you have any further questions, check out the get started guide or visit the Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions except Government

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Turn Hangouts Chat on or off
Help Center: Sign in to Hangouts Chat
Help Center: About bots
The Keyword: New ways to help teams work faster and smarter with G Suite
The Keyword: Move projects forward from one place—Hangouts Chat now available
The Keyword: Meet the new Hangouts
G Suite Updates: Google Vault support for Hangouts Chat


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