Ben Overby
Staff Writer
[email protected]

Murray State transitioned from using Google Hangouts to Google Chat on Monday, Feb. 8.

According to a FAQ put out by Murray State, Google has been gradually migrating users from Hangouts to Chat. New features in Chat include creating rooms and editing text in a conversation after it’s been sent according to a user support page from Google. Chat will also feature an improved search function for past conversations according to the FAQ.

To access chats from a computer, users may need to update their browser. A Chat area will appear on the left-side menu when using Racermail according to the FAQ.

To access chat on a phone, users have two options. There will be new Chat, Rooms and Meet icons at the bottom of the Gmail app to access Chat according to the FAQ. There is also a separate Google Chat app. Users will no longer be able to use the Hangouts app for their Murray State accounts according to the FAQ.

There are three main functions of Chat. The Chat function is intended for conversations between individual users and small groups while Rooms are intended for sharing tasks, files and threaded conversations amongst larger groups according to the FAQ. The third function, Meet, is Google’s video conferencing tool.

Google will gradually transition past Hangouts conversations to Google Chats according to the FAQ

A full list of tips for switching from Hangouts to Chat is available at support.google.com/a/users/answer/9310166.