I’m betting yes.
After having an extended meeting with a colleague on Google Hangout last week, I’m convinced.
- Launching a Google Hangout is integrated right inside my Inbox. No additional software to install. One click and I’m video conferencing.
- Screensharing is built in. Off course, this is a standard feature on any conferencing system, but it just seems convenient and intuitive in Google Hangouts.
- Document sharing. My life is basically, creating, sharing and collaborating on Google Docs with colleagues and partners. Being able to pull 1 (or many) docs right into the conference and have everybody see/edit them right from the conferencing tool is a major time-saver.
- Chat. Again, a standard feature, but right inside the interface and intuitive to use.
- Streaming video. My colleague recently ran a seminar where he simply needed to give out a YouTube URL to participants who wanted to watch. Highly scalable and accessible.
- Recording. Dead simple. Click a button, your session is recorded and is instantly on YouTube.
I was able to use all these features, for the first time, with no training, no software install and no platform issues.
I’m thinking that Google has hit on something here and that I’m going to be spending a lot more time hanging out in the near future. Look out Skype.
doublederivativeca 
Don’t forget the cool hats that you can wear to meetings!
What I’m curious to find out is whether Google Hangouts is going to help the growth of Google+ (they force you to create a Google+ profile before being able to use Hangouts)
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I’m sure it will help with the growth of G+.
I think in the next 24 months we will see growth in the enterprise adoption of Hangouts and G+. I think Google is uniquely positioned to begin to dominate this space. The value a company gets for a $50/year/user Google Apps license is powerful.
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