Google Calendar events now allow starting group chats with attendees

Google is adding a new button to Google Calendar events on mobile devices and the web that will immediately open a chat with meeting attendees. Google released its renamed version of Hangouts Chat to customers earlier this year and has gradually added more features to Gmail's main landing page, including its Zoom-like Google Meet video chat.

The new Chat button appears next to the list of attendees in a Calendar event. Previously, Google only offered the ability to email attendees about a meeting, but since the company has closely integrated Chats and Gmail, apparently to popularize Chats, this new addition makes sense. You can start a chat before, during, or after meeting with attendees, and the feature will be turned on by default.

However, it's worth noting that automated group chats "only [apply] to participants within your organization, external attendees are not included in the group chat," Google writes in a post. Therefore, some participants might not receive (or miss, whichever you prefer) the additional messages.

Google clearly wants you to use its messaging apps, despite what its confusing and shifting strategy might suggest. It can be annoying to be funneled into Chat in yet another section of the Google software suite, but for anyone who has made a commitment to Google Workspace, or has been forced to do so by their employer, this is an added bonus.