In this blog post, we are going to see how to disable companion mode in Google Meet of Google Workspace For Education.
Google Meet is widely used in remote learning. One of its features is that students can join with “Companion Mode”, which doesn’t require them to turn on their cameras or microphones. Teachers cannot easily turn this feature off.
This article explains how Safe Doc disables the join with Companion Mode feature in Google Meet. If you have yet to install Safe Doc, apply for a 30 days trial.
What’s changing
Let's see why it is important to turn off companion mode in Google Meet. In the waiting room of Google Meet, there is a “Use Companion Mode” button under the “Join now” button. This feature is meant for students to have a second screen while being in the meeting but not have the infinite echo loop by not allowing the microphone and video to be turned on. However, students can just join the meeting only with companion mode, therefore not be required to turn their cameras and microphones on. This can annoy the teacher who might want all of their student’s video and audio to be turned on. Safe Doc removes the Companion Mode button permanently for all meetings.
Who’s impacted?
Students in the organizational unit where Safe Doc is enabled are restricted to present on the screen. Teachers are not restricted.
How to get started?
If you have deployed Safe Doc and read Safe Doc Configuration article, add the following policy BlockMeetCompanionMode and set the value to true to disable the Companion Mode feature on students' Chrome browsers.
Conclusion
So, we have seen that with Safe Doc how easy it is to Disable Companion mode in Google Meet. Teachers with this feature have more control over their online classroom.
"BlockMeetCompanionMode": {
"Value": true
}
On / off by default?
Restricting Companion Mode is OFF by default.
You may also like
Safe Doc
