Use Connect room feature in Google Meet

Important: This feature isn’t available to all users yet. However, you can access it through Google Meet external preview rooms program.

With the “Connect room” feature, you can easily and quickly start meetings inside Google Meet rooms from your laptop. This feature saves time and simplifies the process to join and start meetings.

Start a meeting with “Connect room”

Important: To access the “Connect room” feature, your Workspace admin must first turn on the Proximity Detection device setting in the Admin Console. Learn how to turn proximity on or off for Meet hardware devices.

To use the “Connect room” feature:

1. Enter a Google Meet Hardware enabled conference room.
2. On your laptop, go to Google Meet.
3. On the Meet page, you can either:
   • Enter a code or nickname click Join.
   • Select a scheduled meeting.
4. It re-directs you to the pre-meeting screen, also known as the green room. Once in the green room, on the right side of your screen, the “Use Companion mode” button changes to “Room detected” and then transitions to “Connect Room.”
5. Click Connect room.
   • You directly join the meeting via the Google Meet Hardware device and your laptop automatically checks into the room through Companion Mode.
   • When you’re in Companion Mode, you can:
     • Use Meet features that aren’t available through the Meet Hardware device. This includes features like Q&A and Polling.
     • Make your presence easily recognizable when multiple people join a meeting from the same room. Learn how to use Companion mode for better collaboration.

Tips:

• Make sure your laptop isn’t connected to an external microphone or a bluetooth device. Otherwise, your laptop can’t detect the ultrasound needed to connect with a room.
• The “Connect room” feature relies on ultrasound signals. Individuals or animals with sensitive hearing may hear these tones. In these cases, you can:
  • Temporarily turn off this feature at a device level through the Google Meet touch controller. After the meeting ends, this feature automatically turns on. To turn off this feature:
    1. On the Meet Hardware device, tap More Detection.
    2. Turn off Proximity.
  • Turn off this feature for your entire organization. This also turns off Proximity Detection. Learn how to turn proximity on or off for Meet hardware devices.

• If you use “Connect room” to join a meeting that’s recorded, transcribed, and/or where Gemini is taking notes, you automatically consent to use these features.

Meeting scenarios for “Connect room” feature

You can start hassle-free meetings in different situations with “Connect room.” These situations include but aren’t limited to:

• Take over a booked, but empty conference room: If a conference room is reserved but unoccupied, open your meeting on your laptop, click ‘Connect room’, and you can immediately start your meeting on the Google Meet hardware.
• Join and book an available conference room in one click: If you find an available and bookable conference room and wish to use it, simply open your meeting on your laptop, click ‘Connect room’, and the Google Meet hardware will instantly join the meeting, simultaneously booking the room for your use.
• Join private meetings more easily: Simply open a meeting invite on your device, click ‘Connect room’, and instantly join the meeting directly on Google Meet hardware.
• Join a meeting not listed on the conference room calendar: If you were sent a Google Meet invitation in chat or email, open your meeting on your laptop, click ‘Connect room’, and you can immediately start your meeting on the Google Meet hardware.

FAQ’s

Why can’t I find the “Connect room” button?

There are a few reasons why this could happen:

• It’s available for laptop or desktop users only. It’s not available on mobile and tablet devices.
• It’s currently only available for users on a Google Chrome browser.
• It’s for a Meet green room only and you must be on the page. This feature doesn’t work on g.co/present or g.co/companion.
• The laptop’s microphone isn’t selected. If you have multiple microphones, Proximity Detection only uses the currently selected microphone.
  • If you use a USB headset or dongle as your mic, it may cause Proximity Detection to fail. This can happen if:
    • The microphone’s range is limited.
    • The microphone’s audio processing filters out ultrasonic sound.
    • The headset is off.
• Proximity Detection doesn’t work if:
  • You try to join a meeting through g.co/present or g.co/companion.
  • Your laptop is configured to filter out the ultrasound frequency. To check if you filter anything out:
    • For Chrome OS users: Turn off studio-style mic or noise cancellation.
    • For Windows users: On your laptop audio device, disable audio enhancements.
    • For Mac OS users: Turn off voice isolation.

I hear a high-pitched noise. How can I disable this feature in my conference room?

You can temporarily disable this feature through the touch controller, before or during a meeting. After the meeting ends, this feature automatically turns on again.

To disable this feature:

1. On the Meet Hardware device, tap More Detection.
2. Turn off Proximity.

Why can’t I use “Connect room” for my meeting?

“Connect room” doesn’t start the following meeting types on conference room hardware:

• Meet Live
• Meet Client-side encryption

The tooltip of the “Connect room” button shows “Multiple rooms found. Close nearby doors and check for other nearby Meet devices.” I have closed the door of the room I am in, but it is still showing that, what should I do?

• Wait a few seconds. The tooltip changes to show the room name you’re connecting to once it stops receiving signals from other rooms.

• Check if there are multiple Google Meet Hardware devices in your room. If yes, you can turn off Proximity Detection on the rest of the devices except for the main device. This will allow you to connect your laptop with the main hardware device. To turn off Proximity Detection on the incorrect devices:
  1. On the Meet Hardware device, tap More Detection.
  2. Turn off Proximity.

I see the “Connect room” button when I join meetings from my desk. What is happening and why?

Your laptop picks up an ultrasonic signal from a nearby conference room device. You can disregard the button. To join the call from your laptop, click Join now.

Will “Connect room” book a room for me so I don’t get kicked out?

Yes, it will if you use “Connect room” in an available conference room with in-room bookings. This booking lasts up to:

• 30 minutes
• The duration of your scheduled meeting, if the room is available the entire time.
• Whatever time is available until its next booking.

Tip: You can join a meeting with "Connect room" that’s already booked for another meeting. However, the room isn’t automatically released or booked for your meeting.

Resolve known issues

A future update will address the following known issues.

The Google Meet Series One Audiobar speaker might not play sound in a meeting.

To resolve this:

• Reboot the device.
• Contact Google Workspace support.

If the issue persists, on your device, turn off Proximity Detection.

Tip: If multiple rooms are detected, Google Meet may start the meeting on the wrong conference room device.

Related resources

• Join a meeting
• Turn proximity detection on or off
• Manage Google Meet hardware
• Use Proximity Detection with Google Meet