Google Meet adds ‘gentle’ notifications & custom recommendations for improving call quality

Abner Li | Jun 1 2021 - 8:09 am PT

In addition to rolling out a redesigned web UI, Meet is introducing what Google calls “gentle quality notifications” aimed at giving users recommendations on how they can improve performance and call quality.

It starts with “gentle notifications” that appear as a bubble and red dot over the “More options” button next to “End call” in the revamped bottom bar. It directs users to the existing “Troubleshooting & help” menu.

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From there, Meet will offer “personalized suggestions on how to improve the quality of their call,” like “Plug in your charger.” The dynamic list of recommendations — replacing generals ones — is based on battery level, bandwidth and network connection, and presentation status.

This can be useful in situations where decreases in available processing resources are impacting call quality, such as your device automatically lowering CPU speed to extend battery life.

Lastly, Google will directly offer one-click quick actions to reduce Meet resource consumption:

These can include switching settings to use less CPU or network bandwidth, or adding closed captions to assist with understanding audio.

These Google Meet quality recommendations are rolling out now and available for all Workspace customers.

Meanwhile, Workspace admins can now view and troubleshoot instances where users were not able to join calls. This tool covers cases where:

Join a call already at its maximum participant limit,
Re-join a call after previously being removed or their account was automatically denied due to prior abuse,
Join a call but was denied entry by a participant already in the call,
Join a call, but the request timed out because nobody in the call responded