Earlier this year, Google confirmed that it would phase out the classic Hangouts for G Suite customers sometime in October. The move was part of Google"s intentions to transition G Suite users to its new chat services, namely Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet.
Today, the search giant made changes to that timeline and announced that it will retain support for Hangouts for G Suite until June of next year. This is after many customers of Google"s collaboration and productivity suite asked for more time switching to Chat.
During the extension period, the classic Hangouts will continue to receive support in terms of improved transition experience for group conversations and additional features such as Read receipts. Hangouts Chat and Meet were unveiled in early 2017, intended for business customers.
Nonetheless, G Suite admins can still opt to migrate to Chat right now by joining the Accelerated Transition Program through an invitation. However, organizational units can"t be transitioned at the moment.
Once you"re onboard, the classic Hangouts will be disabled and all users will be transitioned to Chat with early access to its features. Admins can also receive new domains in phases if they have already signed up for the program.