Google has announced that its "Connect Room" feature, launched last December for some users on its Rapid Release track, is now available to all Workspace customers with Google Meet hardware.
Connect Room, if you don't know, allows you to join meetings in a physical conference room equipped with Google Meet hardware without having to manually type a meeting code on the room's console.
The feature relies on ultrasound proximity detection, which uses your laptop's microphone to detect the high-frequency sound emitted by the nearby Google Meet hardware. When you open the pre-join screen (the "green room") for a Google Meet call on your laptop, the standard "Use Companion mode" button will automatically change to a "Connect room" button. Clicking it starts the meeting on the room's hardware and puts your laptop into Companion mode.
Alongside the expanded access, Google has made several improvements to the feature. A "Room disambiguation" prompt now appears if you are in an area with multiple nearby conference rooms, letting you pick the right one. The company also added instructions on the hardware's touch screen to nudge people who still try to type in codes manually.
Connect Room can come in handy in situations where you find an available unbooked room and want to instantly claim the space for a call. You simply start the meeting on your laptop, and the Google Meet hardware automatically joins the call while simultaneously booking the room. Or if another employee reserved the room but left it empty, you can easily take over the hardware for your own session.
Google warns that since the feature relies on continuous ultrasound signals, people or animals with sensitive hearing might pick up the high-pitched tones. You can turn it off temporarily by tapping More and then Detection directly on the Google Meet touch controller before disabling Proximity.
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