It appears the Gmail video chat and its peer-to-peer technology has run its course. It served many of us well, but with the introduction of the more modern and featured packed Google+ Hangouts, it’s time to move forward. Google today announced they would be upgrading Gmail video chat to utilize the power of Google’s network and deliver higher reliability and enhanced quality with the new Hangouts system.

All Gmail users will benefit from the new upgrade, and anyone with a Google+ account will receive the added benefits of being able to video chat with up to nine people at once, as well as:

• Watch YouTube videos together
• Collaborate on Google documents and share your screen
• Use fun effects
• And much, much more!

You’ll always be a click away from “hanging out” with friends, family and colleagues, thanks to the new Google+ Hangouts for Gmail. And don’t forget, you can always “hang out” by using Google+ in the browser or on an Android or iOS device.

I find Google+’s hangouts to be a major advantage to the platform, and one that gives Google+ a major advantage over its competitors. If you have yet to give it a whirl, go ahead and fire up Gmail to see if it has gone live for you.

• SourceGmail Blog