Enterprise support and controls for the new Hangouts

Summary of Changes

  • Finding the people you need to communicate with is easier. Users can now search within the GAL right from the friend list in Hangouts and see contacts that are more relevant to them.
  • Hangouts is now supported by the Google Apps support team, just like Talk or any other core service.
  • Administrators have new controls over how chats are used within their domain:
  • Sharing: Allow users to chat outside the domain
  • Invitation Auto-Accept: Set invitations to automatically accept between users in your domain
  • Voice and Video: Allow users to make voice and video calls from Hangouts, including voice calls to phone numbers
  • History: Set conversation history to default on or off

Things to Note

  • Regardless of the setting in the admin console, users can turn history on or off for any hangout.
  • If external sharing is allowed, users will not see a warning when they begin a Hangout with users outside of their domain.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Q: Does this change how Hangouts works with Vault?
    A:
    No, this release does not affect how Hangouts works with Vault. Hangouts and Vault is subject to the Google Apps Enterprise Amendment: Hangouts & Vault.Q: Is Google Voice required for making voice calls to phone numbers?
    A:
    Yes, Google Voice is required to place voice calls.Q: Can I change these at an Organization Unit level?
    A:
    Yes, these settings are in ‘enabled group settings’ for each OU in your domain.Q: Does this change anything my users see within hangouts?
    A: No, Hangouts will look and feel the same, but users might notice that finding relevant contacts is easier.

Reference by : http://www.google.com/