It has somehow been nearly five years since work from home became such a norm (for obvious reasons) and companies are still competing to be glared at on your screen come 9AM Monday. Often, this involves copying each other's ideas because really how much can you innovate when it comes to work communication?

Google Chat is rolling out instant voice meetings — similar to Slack's Huddles — that let you quickly switch to a voice or video call from within a chat.

Google first previewed "huddles," a quick way to start instant audio conversations in Google Chat, in 2023. Huddles are now coming to Google Chat users in select Google Workspace tiers. They are instant-on audio calls that Google says will help "reduce meeting fatigue" for workers.

Google Chat is launching huddles, a Google Meet-powered addition that lets you start a quick call with your coworkers. Google said it would add huddles to Google Chat in customer preview over a year ago,

Google Chat has launched a new feature called Huddles, which provides users with quick voice and video meeting capabilities.

As previewed in August 2023, Google Chat is adding an audio-first meeting feature called “Huddles" that are described as being "instant-on."

Google Chat introduces Slack-like instant-on audio meetings called Huddles. Easily start a Huddle by clicking the telephone icon in any Google Chat conversation. The new Huddles feature is an attempt to catch up to Slack's similar audio meeting option.

Google Chat is rolling out a new "Huddles" feature designed to enhance team collaboration by allowing audio-first meetings directly within the platform.