The days of annoyingly echoing video calls could finally be at their end thanks to the new Google Meet update.

The video conferencing service has launched a new tool aimed at preventing echoes on calls more effectively, bringing an end to poor audio quality for users everywhere. Going forward, users with echoing audio feeds will see a pop-up at the bottom of their screens highlighting the issue. The pop-up, which will appear as part of the options button on the bottom toolbar, will prompt users to “get help here” – hopefully solving the issue quickly.

Goodbye echoes

Clicking on the help notification will direct users to the Google Meet Help Center, where they will be offered recommended steps that can help prevent echo, such as using headphones or muting themselves when they aren’t speaking. Google says that Meet currently works to intelligently control the audio to remove the echo “most of the time”, but this new feature will work to specifically target echoes.

The feature, which is rolling out to users everywhere now, will be on by default, meaning there’s no need for individual users or work admins to toggle it on. It will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers.

The launch comes shortly after Google Meet announced an update designed to make hosting video calls a lot less stressful. This includes the option to add up to 25 co-hosts for a meeting, meaning all the admin responsibility isn’t lumped on a single person, with all extra co-hosts getting access to admin controls whilst on a call, meaning action can be taken a lot quicker than if it were down to a single user.

The new controls also include the ability to set limits on which attendees can share their screens and send chat messages, and co-hosts will also be able to end the meeting, mute all attendees at once, and control who can enter a meeting.