How to link a virtual switch to Google Meet?

Does anyone know if there's a way to link a virtual switch to Google meet; so that it turns on if google meet is running and off when google meet is not running?

I work from home and use google meet for all my work calls - so I'd like to setup this vitual switch to in turn drive a number of automations; light outside office to indicate I'm on a call, set the light levels in the office that are ideal for a call, close the window blind to stop glare etc..

I have a elgato stream deck to google meet integration and somehow the stream deck knows when a google meet is open/closed as the buttons to control the meeting become active/inactive accordingly. So there does seem like there's a way for google meet to tell an external application if it's running on the computer or not.. Beyond my technical knowledge unfortunately.

(I was thinkling about doing this via the google calendar integration, but it's too complicated and there are too many other variables to control; eg. a lot of my calendar entries are placeholders and also if I leave a call early I'd like everything to 'reset' immediately and not at the end of the calendar entry time etc)

Try zapier, they have a free account
https://zapier.com/pricing

Thanks, I signed up for a free account and had a look but it doesn't look like I can set Google Meet opening/closing as a trigger :frowning_face:

Any other suggestions please?

If your Google Meet session is on your calendar you might do Zappier or one of the other Zappier like offerings to trigger with a calendar event.

Thanks but iā€™m trying to avoid using a calendar integration because itā€™s too complicated, as mentioned in my original post. I just want something simple which triggers when a meet starts and ends.

I like automation as much as anyone who owns a Hubitat hub but... Seems like a button connected to a virtual switch sitting at your workspace is a simple way to start the process. Then with dashboard links to the virtual switch you have easy access to begin the zoom meeting quiet time from wherever you may be working from if not at your workspace. You also can connect that virtual switch to gAssistant or Echo for quick voice activation.

Yep, that's plan b. But it would be nice to not have to rememeber to keep toggling the button every time I join or leave a call - I have many calls every day so I'll almost definately lose track or forget regularly.

Maybe you can find something on the elgato stream deck side that can trigger the switch for you. I see you mentioned that the deck 'knows' when you're in a meet session.

Thereā€™s a really good elgato-google meet integration Iā€™ve been using. You can see in the image below that the ā€˜mute micā€™ and ā€˜toggle camera on/offā€™ buttons have a red exclamation on them. This is because thereā€™s no google meet open. As soon as I fire up a google meet these red exclamation graphics disappear indicating the buttons are now active/live.

Thatā€™s what lead me to think this integration somehow knows when thereā€™s a google meet open or not. I just donā€™t have the technical aptitude to know how.. Was hoping someone on here would :slight_smile:

@wmmah could not help but think about you when I stumbled on this a short while ago. I see they have webhooks connections and many others that might help with the automation you're after.

It's nice to be "thought of" but I don't think that I am the one you are thinking of!

I don't use Google Meet and barely understand webhooks though the latter are on my "learn someday" list.

Thanks anyway.

Mike M

Whoops, wrong W handle @wmmah was meant for @wmhashmi

Thank you so much for taking the time to share this!

Iā€™ve had a look but I canā€™t see a way to set a trigger based on google meet starting/ending. Has anyone else used this software and know of a way to do this? If not then I think my hunt for a solution continues..

I did a quick search and Google Meet doesnā€™t have an API like other Google products.

I am the author of this solution and there are several folks doing what you want using this app. It is really not that complicated to setup assuming you have console access to your calendar or some are using utilities so sync their work calendar to a Google Calendar. Happy to help get you setup.

Thank you very much for the offer. I was planning to try the google calendar integration soon as so keep forgetting to put my bins out so I could do with a gentle nudge from alexa or via notification :slight_smile:

So iā€™ll try at the same time to see if I can get my diary setup to also show me as being in a meeting or not.

Curious though; If thereā€™s no API then how do think the Elgato integration knows when a gmeet is open or not?

I am no expert on Google Meet so unsure. My statement above was after I did a very quick search looking for API docs. I couldnā€™t find anything in the libraries I use for the Google Search solution.