Google Voice is now integrated into Gmail. It's a marriage of free U.S. calls to the U.S. and Canada, plus the convenience of your Google contacts! (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/adria.richards/Flickr)
The prospect of making free telephone calls from within the United States to other U.S. and Canadian numbers – regardless of whether those numbers are land line, cell phone or desktop virtual phone numbers – is enticing to all. It’s enticing to everyone except traditional phone and cellular service providers, that is. Now that Google Voice will soon be completely integrated into Gmail, it will be that much easier for Google users to make and receive high-quality calls for free. Wherever Gmail is accessible, so is free calling.
Google Voice turns your Gmail contacts into an active phone service
You may not have a phone on you, or you may be in a place with poor cellular reception or exorbitant roaming fees, but if you have an Internet connection and can access your Gmail account, you can make a free call with Google Voice. Calls outside the U.S. or Canada run at a very low rate, typically two cents per minute. TechCrunch reports that all it takes is the Google Talk plug-in for your browser. Make and receive calls from within the Gmail interface, and if you miss a call, the voicemail goes straight to your Gmail inbox. And here’s a neat feature: you can transfer a call in progress from Google Voice on your desktop to your cell phone iithout dropping the call f you’re on the go but need to keep talking.
Google Voice in Gmail is coming soon
Google is rolling out the new Google Voice features over the next few days to U.S.-based Gmail accounts, according to the official Google Voice Blog. Watch for “Call Phone” to show up in your Google Chat list. Google users who are using Google Apps for academic or business purposes will also be able to enjoy the new Google Voice features and free calling, but integration will take slightly longer in that case.
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Google Voice humor: testing transcript capabilities
I don’t see it yet but can’t wait to try it out
Mine just popped up today in my Gmail chat list. You should have it soon, I’d guess…