Recently retired Hangouts with extras introduced this hangout via telephone feature and later this became one of a key feature in Google+ hangouts.

While hangouts allowed up to a maximum of 10 users (including the host) via desktop or google+ app in smartphones, up until now you can only invite up to a maximum of 2 participants via telephone (audio conferencing).

Hangout invite via telephone update (Source:Google+)

Hangout via telephone is a great feature especially when people are not near a desktop or in places where there is no internet at all (phone line is required).

Therefore just inviting 2 people via telephone was kind of limiting. Don’t worry, not anymore. Today onwards you can invite up to 5 participants via telephone and absolutely free (US and Canada only).

List of Hangout via telephone changes…

• You can invite up to 5 participants via telephone
• If you are the host (caller), you’ll see details about the call duration and cost per minute
• A full dialer keypad (instead of a simple textbox) to dial and hangup
• All calls to US and Canada are free
• International calls charged at a very low rate/minute (rate list here)

Enjoy the new feature and share your thoughts!