SAN FRANCISCO: Google released an update to its internet chat tool Hangouts on Wednesday, aiming to make it suitable in workplaces so the Alphabet Inc unit can compete with business software makers including Microsoft Corp and Slack Technologies Inc.Hangouts Chat supports instant messaging across devices between workers, including group conversations. But Google began tuning it for businesses when the company expanded enterprise sales efforts and sought to bring customers many of the same features it has internally. "I see this as the second incantation of Hangouts," Scott Johnston, director of product management at Google, said in an interview. Chat app Slack has signed up 50,000 paying teams as workers adopt more robust alternatives to email for long-distance communications. Messages save indefinitely by default, though granular controls are available.Companies can link their databases with Hangouts Chat.

Source: Economic Times February 28, 2018 17:03 UTC