Google is releasing a new update in Meet for their Workspace customers that will help reduce interruptions during video calls. Participants can now virtually raise their hands to notify the moderators that they would like to speak or have a query.
A similar feature already exists in Zoom where users can raise their hands virtually to get attention. In Meet, participants will now see a “Raise hand” button in the bottom navigation bar, which when clicked will notify the moderator of the video call on the sidebar and also show a hand icon in the video preview of that participant.
Participants can choose to lower their virtual hand if they want to, and moderators will also have options to lower a specific person’s hand or lower all hands. In the sidebar, moderators will also see all the raised hands in the order they were raised so that they can be address accordingly.
The feature will be rolling out starting today and will be available for all Workspace customers except Workspace Business Starter, G Suite Basic customers and personal Google Accounts.