Video calls are finally getting better for virtual machine users
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Virtual machine (VM) users rejoice as your video calling experience is about to get a whole lot better according to a post on the Google Workspace blog (opens in new tab).
The message reads: “If you use a Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) such as Citrix or VMWare to join Google Meet calls, you will notice an increase in video and audio quality.”
Google Meet on VMs
In the future, the platform will detect if a user is joining from a Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) such as Citrix or VMWare, and then automatically adjust for better performance.
It’s not just the video and audio quality that gets a handy boost, but the stress placed on your VM should notably decrease. The summary continues:
“This optimization also helps reduce demand on your VDIs such as CPU, GPU and memory usage, improving meeting quality and overall performance.”
To take advantage of the new optimization, admins will need to complete some setup steps, including enabling the Enterprise Hardware Platform API policy in Chrome, which allows Meet to detect that it’s running inside a VM. Once set up, end users don’t need to do anything extra.
The rollout began on November 30, but it’s taking the form of a gradual rollout with some users waiting up to 15 days to access it. Virtually all business users with a VM will notice a difference, as every Google Workspace customer (including legacy G Suite accounts) is included in this update.
This is just one update that adds a number of improvements to the Meet video conferencing platform to improve the experience for business users. The company recently announced a partnership with Zoom, allowing Meet users to join Zoom calls from the Meet interface, and vice versa.