To simplify joining meetings from a conference room and prevent disruptive audio feedback, Google Meet now intelligently guides users to the optimal joining option.
Meet intelligently knows when you are in a room using an ultrasonic signal, and highlights the Use Companion modebutton before you even join the call. This feature helps ensure a seamless, echo-free start to meetings. When users join using the highlighted Companion mode button, they will also be automatically checked into the correct room.
As a Workspace administrator, you can determine if proximity detection is on or off for specific rooms. It is on by default for newly enrolled devices.
Turn proximity on or off for Meet hardware devices
- Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.
- Go to Menu Devices > Google Meet hardware > Settings .
Some features may require having the Manage Google Meet hardware privilege.
- (Optional) Filter the devices by organizational unit or other criteria.
- Click the device you want to manage.
- Click the Device settings section to expand it.
- Click Edit next to Proximity detection.
- Check or uncheck the box next to Allow this hardware to be detected by nearby devices.
- Click Save.
Supported Devices
For information on hardware devices that support Proximity Detection, refer to the Meet certified peripherals and devices listed here and here . Devices not included in these lists may still support Proximity Detection, but your Workspace admin must test them for compatibility.
Availability and Known Limitations
- Proximity detection is only supported on Meet web ( meet.google.com ) for Chrome.
- Proximity detection is limited to a call's greenroom and a brief period after joining companion mode. Proximity detection will not function on g.co/present or g.co/companion. However, it will detect once the user joins companion mode for a brief period after joining.
- If proximity detection fails or is unavailable, manual room check-in is available after joining companion mode.
- Meet hardware devices will stop sending the ultrasound signal after 50 participants have joined the call.
Troubleshooting
If proximity check-in does not work, you can still check in manually after joining the call. Troubleshoot using these suggestions.
- Check the selected microphone.
- Proximity detection will only use the selected microphone. Using a USB headset or dongle as your microphone may cause proximity detection to fail.
- This can happen if the microphone's range is too limited, its audio processing filters out ultrasonic sound, or the headset is powered off.
- Check to see if any audio processing is enabled. Audio processing might filter out the ultrasonic sound.
- For Windows users, try disabling audio enhancements .
- For Mac OS users, try turning off voice isolation .
- For ChromeOS users, try turning off noise cancellation or studio-style mic.
Update multiple devices at once
To update this setting for multiple devices at once, use bulk action changes or upload a CSV file.
For details, see Bulk update Meet hardware settings .
Add proximity detection as a sortable column
To easily find and manage devices with proximity detection enabled or disabled, add proximity detection as a sortable column in the devices table.
Turning off proximity detection in a meeting
Users can disable proximity detection during a meeting from the in-call room controls. This setting will reset to ON when the device joins a new call. Using the Meet hardware touch controller:
- In a meeting, tap More Detection.
- Turn off Ultrasound.
