One of the Internet’s most popular, free e-mail services is about to add a new way for users to connect.
USA Today reports that the G-mail is adding the ability to place phone calls to land lines and cell phones.
The new service will be part of the Google Voice application, which has previously allowed users to chat via a computer’s microphone and speakers.
To make a call, click “Call Phone” in the Chat tab of Gmail. A telephone keypad will appear. Dial the number on the screen and make calls to your friends using your computer’s microphone.
Calls to the U.S. and Canada are free for at least the rest of the year, Google says. Calls to other countries are billed at rates starting at 2 cents a minute. The rates will be similar to rival calling service Skype, which is partially owned by eBay.
As with all new Google products, if this doesn’t show up in your Gmail right away, don’t be surprised. Google is rolling out the feature to users “over the next few days.”
To make it work, you need to download Google’s voice and video plug-in. The app is only available in the U.S.
The new service works in conjunction with Google Voice, the company’s phone-forwarding and voice-mail service. Google Voice members can choose “computer” as another option as a place to receive calls. Your computer will ring, as well as the phones. (To get your computer to ring, you’ll need a Google Voice phone number — pick one up at voice.google.com.)
The laptop option “has been a lifesaver at my house,” says Craig Walker, a Google Voice product manager, who has been testing the app. “I have terrible cell coverage at home, so when an inbound call comes in, I answer on my computer and get great reception.”
Google Voice also allows users to forward calls to multiple numbers and provides an online voice-mail service.
Google won’t say how many people are using Google Voice, but Walker says it’s “very, very popular.”
So, when the FCC swoops in and considers this part of its territory, no one should be surprised.
Google’s already jumping on board with the Obama Administrations plan to regulate Internet traffic. Coincidence?
If Google is joining the Obama Administrations plans for the Internet, you know they’ll either be an exception to the FCC or will run the FCC.
Or Google will just take over the United States by buying our debt and appointing a new CEO for the White House.
I’m currently deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan and installed the Google Voice plug in and tested it out. I’m making free calls to my wife and friends via the computer to their phones – all free of charge. I’m guessing that it thinks I’m in the US with my number. I works extremely well