Google Chat is included with your G Suite account and can be used to instant message people within your organization. Within this application you can have individual chats, group chats, or chat rooms. Read below to find out how to create the different chats and what the differences are.
How to access and use the application:
1. Log into your Google Account
2. Navigate to chat.google.com or download the Google Chat application
3. Search for people within your organization to start a Group Message or a Room (see below for the differences)
What are the differences?
You can use a room or a group message in Hangouts Chat to chat with two or more people. To help you decide which to use, the table below describes the differences between group messages and rooms.
| Group messages | Rooms | |
| Who can chat | After starting the chat, can't add or remove anyone | Can add and remove anyone at any time |
| Conversations | Single unthreaded conversation | Multiple, threaded conversations |
| Message history | History can be turned off (messages removed in 24 hours) or turned on (messages follow your organization's retention policy), subject to the admin's settings. | Message history is on, and messages are retained according to your organization's policy |
| Name | List of other members' names, e.g. "Brendan, Nicole, Larry" | Room creator chooses name, e.g. "Marketing chat" |
| Notifications | Members are notified for every message | Users are notified for conversations they're in, or when @mentioned |
| Leaving | Members can't leave, but can hide the chat in the sidebar | Members can leave and rejoin |
| Multiple with same users | Can't have two group messages with same set of people | Can have two or more rooms with same set of people |
| Bots | Bots can't be included | Anyone can add a bot |
What do the buttons mean?
