Google Meet Host will have more meeting control features

25/11/2021

Table of contents

What’s changing

Meeting organizers in Google Meet can now use Audio and Video Lock to turn off the microphones and/or cameras of other meeting participants and prevent them from turning it back on until you unlock it, in the main room and rest rooms. Earlier this year, Google announced the ability for meeting organizers to mute everyone at once in Google Meet on desktop/laptop devices. The new Audio and Video Lock makes this feature more useful by allowing hosts to prevent participants from unmuting themselves after they've been muted.

Who’s impacted

End users

Why it’s important

This feature gives meeting organizers more control over their meetings by allowing them to decide when they want to allow different levels of participation from attendees, such as to address resolve those involved in causing trouble.

Additional details

Participants using Android and iOS app versions that do not support audio and video locking will be removed from the meeting if the host or co-host enables either lock. If they try to join a meeting that has either of these dongles enabled, they will be prompted to update their app or use another device to join the meeting. Turning off the audio or video key will allow these participants to rejoin the meeting.

The minimum supported versions are:

Android:
Android operating system version M or later
iOS
iOS version 12 or higher
Meet or Gmail app:
Most updated version

Audio or video locks, as well as chat and presentation locks, set by the main meeting host will also apply to breakout rooms launched later. Once a breakout room is launched, any changes made to the lock settings in an individual room will not affect the settings of other breakout rooms or the main meeting.

Getting started

Admin: There are no admin settings for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Meet security and privacy for admins
End users: This feature will be OFF by default. The host can enable this feature during the meeting. Host management needs to be enabled to use these features.

Rollout pace

Rapid release domains: / Progressive release (up to 15 days for feature visibility) / October 21, 2021
Scheduled release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting November 1, 2021