Well, thank you Google. The misery that is Google+ was only tolerable because of the greatness of Hangouts but we felt the resentment of having to be on Google+ just to use your service.
But, now, you have done right by your Hangouts fans, which includes us, and made Hangouts a part of Google Apps.
Until this day, you would have needed a Google+ account to use Hangouts, an excellent application for video meetings and general online collaboration. Unfortunately, the requirement is still there for mobile but Google is going to get rid of that soon, too.
Google has finally realized that Hangouts is a very cool app, and it has probably gotten feedback from business customers who like using it but are often hindered by the Google+ requirement. This is definitely going to hurt WebEx and Citrix’s GoToMeeting but online meetings are pretty much becoming commoditized applications.
Hangouts is going to be a part of Google Apps for Business which means that its covered under the same user agreements as Gmail and Google Drive for business users. And, in addition, business customers will be able to manage access to the apps in their accounts as well as get 24/7 phone support.
