Google introduces a new central location for Hangouts on the web

Today Google has introduced a new way to launch Hangouts on the web. Previously, if you wanted to launch Hangouts from your desktop, you’d need to access the service through Gmail, Inbox, Google+, or through a Chrome extension or Chrome application. Now Google has created a webpage for Hangouts, which can be found at hangouts.google.com. The new site gives you quick access to your contacts and communication options.

Once you navigate to the webpage, simply click on one of the big circles in the center to start a video call, phone call or Hangouts message. You’ll see a list of your Google contacts on the left side of the screen, which makes it easy to quickly jump to a particular person. The slide-out menu on the left side also houses links to the Hangouts applications for both Android and iOS, as well as the Hangouts Dialer app for Android and Chrome app.

This is a pretty simple webpage, and doesn’t really provide much more than that. The background changes every few minutes or so, which is definitely a nice touch if you plan on leaving this tab open all day.

If you’re interested in checking it out, head on over to hangouts.google.com for more information.