Using Box with Google Hangouts Chat

Important

Box support for the Box with Google Hangouts Chat integration is ending in May, 2021. This will not affect any of our other integrations with Google, such as Box for Google Workspace or Box for Google Workspace Add-on. 

For any questions or concerns, please contact support@box.com.

With Box for Hangouts Chat, you can get work done more efficiently by quickly searching and locating your Box files without ever leaving Hangouts. You spend more time collaborating and doing impactful work and less time searching for the right versions of files. IT can ensure content being collaborated on in Google Hangouts is backed by Box's enterprise-grade security and compliance.

From directly within Hangouts you can:

• quickly view the 5 files you most recently worked on in Box.
• easily pull up a list of the 5 Box files and folders you most recently starred as favorites.

Note

Admins must enable the integration in both the Google Workspace enterprise and the Box Admin Console.

To initiate and use the Box/Hangouts Chat integration:

1. Navigate to https://chat.google.com.
2. Towards the top left of the page, click in the Find People, Rooms, Bots box.
3. In the list that displays, click Message a Bot
4. When the Find a Bot screen displays, either:
   • Type Box in the Find a Bot search line, or
   • Navigate to the Box bot entry in the list of suggested bots, and click Box bot.
5. In the message area, type login to log in to your Box account. A Box login screen displays.
6. Enter your Box login information and click Authorize. An access screen displays.
7. Click Grant Access to Box, and when prompted close the window.

The Box Google Hangouts Chat bot is now active. You can start a separate Hangouts Chat with anyone else in your organization and simply toggle back and forth between these two Hangouts Chat sessions.

Here's an example: You are chatting with your manager via a Hangouts Chat, and your manager asks to see a document you'd just been working on. Toggle to your Box bot chat, type in Recents, and from the list that displays you can open up that document in Box. Share the document with your manager. Toggle back to the chat session with your manager and indicate you'd just shared a link to the document.

4 commands are available with the Box bot:

1. Directly log into Box (if you aren't already logged in). To do this, in the Box bot chat type login.
2. Quickly view the 5 files you most recently worked on in Box. To do this, in the Box bot chat type recents.
3. Easily pull up a list of the 5 Box files and folders you most recently starred as favorites. To do this, in the Box bot chat type favorites.
4. Review your available list of Box/Hangouts Chat commands. To do this, in the Box bot chat type help.

The Box/Google Hangouts Chat integration is also available on your mobile device.