Google Meet Adds Feature to Allow Users to Virtually Raise Hands in Meetings

Google Meet has introduced a feature will let participants virtually raise their hand in meetings to ask questions or indicate that they want to speak. The feature comes in the form of a Raise Hand button located on the bottom of the screen during a meeting. If more than one participant uses the feature, the meeting moderator will be able to see the raised hands in the order that they were raised in, so that the questions can be addressed accordingly.

On pressing the Raise Hand button during a conference on Google Meet, it will turn into a Lower Hand button that the participant can later use to ‘lower' their hands, explained Google in a blog post. Meeting moderators will also have the option of lowering a specific person's hand or lowering all hands. If the moderator lowers your hand, you will receive a notification.

All participants are notified when someone raises their hand and the icon appears on the participant's self-view as well. The feature is available to eligible users on Android, iOS, and the Web. The feature has started rolling out and could take up to two weeks to reach all users. Google Meet rival Zoom already has a feature that lets users raise hands in a meeting.

When a participant raises their hand on Google Meet, the meeting moderator will see a hand icon in the video preview. If the moderator is on another tab and doesn't have the Google Meet tab open, they will get a sound notification when a participant clicks on the Raise Hand button.

The Raise hand feature is not available to users with personal Google accounts, Workspace Business Starter plans, or G Suite Basic customers. It is rolling out for users with Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits plans.

Google has introduced several new features to its video-conferencing service over the past few months. Recently, Google Meet rolled out a feature that lets desktop users change their backgrounds on a video call.

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