In April this year, when most of the countries are on lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic, search giant Google announced that unlimited Meet calls will only be until 30 September 2020. Supposedly, after today, free Google Meet calls will be limited to just 60 minutes.
Being true to their commitment to providing a space for people to collaborate, and for friends and family members to connect anytime, anywhere, the company has just announced that they are continuing unlimited Meet calls (up to 24 hours) in the free version through 31 March 2021 for Gmail accounts.
“When we re-engineered the service we built for secure business meetings and made it available to all, we also made calls unlimited (well, the limit is really 24 hours, but I’ve yet to hit the limit) through September 30, so that people could enjoy the same benefits as our business users with their existing Google Account. From book clubs, band practices and dance parties — millions of you have turned to Meet to connect safely over video,” according to Samir Pradhan, Group Product Manager, Google Meet in a blog post.
“As we look ahead to a holiday season with less travel and important milestones like family reunions, PTA meetings and weddings hosted over video, we want to continue helping those who rely on Meet to stay in touch over the coming months. As a sign of our commitment, today we’re continuing unlimited Meet calls (up to 24 hours) in the free version through March 31, 2021 for Gmail accounts,” Pradhan adds.
Google Meet is one of the most used conferencing apps by schools in the country since it does not require any software installation – a modern web browser and Internet connection will do. As of June 2020, the Department of Education (DepEd) has trained more than 300,000 teachers for ICT-based learning to include the use of G Suite for Education. Classes in public schools are set to commence on Monday, 05 October 2020.