Google Meet’s new ‘green room’ lets you pre-check audio / video

It can be difficult to find out how you are doing on a video conference, especially if you want to make sure everything is working before you start the meeting. How’s your lighting? Are you sitting too close or too far from the camera? Is the audio okay, have you been accidentally silenced or does it sound like you’re in an echo chamber?

Google has now made it easier to verify its appearance and technology before a Meet conference with its new “green room” feature (via 9to5Google) When you start or prepare to join a meeting, in the usual “Ready to join?” window that appears for the first time, now you’ll also see a small button below your video that says “Check your audio and video”. Just click this button and a pop-up window will not only show the video image, but will allow you to see (and change) which microphone, speaker and camera are currently active.

A “Next” button in this pop-up window allows you to record a small 6-second video sample, allowing you to see what it will look and sound like for others in your meeting. According to Google, the clip is private to you and will not be saved. Your microphone, speaker, camera and connection are also checked by the system and are given green check marks if they appear to be working.

Although previously you could see how you appeared in the initial “Ready to join?” window, Meet’s new “green room” can be even more useful. For example, you can test various forms of lighting, test whether your laptop’s audio is better or worse than that of your headset, and make sure you look good before the meeting starts – with colleagues, friends, or family.

Google Meet’s new “green room” feature is now available.