August 26th, 2010
Gotta Love Google!
Gmail is rolling out free phone calls for all US based gmail accounts!
When logged into Gmail just click on “Call Phone” from the Gmail chat menu. After downloading a voice plugin you’ll be able to make phone calls right from your inbox! Calls to US and Canadian phone numbers are currently free, and international rates are extremely cheap as well!
You will need to have a microphone and speakers on your computer for it to work.
If you go to google.com/voice you’ll also be able to get a free phone number that will ring in your inbox when someone calls you.
If your account has been configured to make phone calls, you’ll be able to call phones in the US and Canada for free even if you’re in another country.
A Dansdeals forum user confirmed that someone in Israel for example, was able to use the service to make a call from Israel to the US for free. If 2 people in Israel, or anywhere else in the world, both have free phone calls from their inboxes they’ll be able to call each other for free!
1
August 26th, 2010 at 4:25 am
how to setup google voice on Itouch
2
August 26th, 2010 at 5:14 am
If your iDevice is jailbroken, you can install a google voice app but it does not allow you to make calls, just to send sms or check your gvoice voicemail.
There are ways with gizmo5 and sipgate to create a system when it uses your google voice account to make calls and you can use a sip phone on your iPhone such as Bria. I did this the whole time I was on my round-the-world trip using a sip account that I have. (Not the gizmo solution, but it is possible)
3
August 26th, 2010 at 7:14 am
Did all Gmail account automatically receive this functionality? My account does not seem to have the phone icon in the chat box area??
4
August 26th, 2010 at 7:51 am
I have a google voice number but this green telephone does not show up in my account in the chat box. Any ideas how I can get this phone to be part of my email???
5
August 26th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Ok- this is just silly. Of course 2 people in Israel can call each other for free from their computer. They could have done it for the last 10 years on Skype. It’s called VOIP!
The only real deal here is free calls to the USA and Canada.
6
August 26th, 2010 at 9:19 am
why is this better than skype?
7
August 26th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
@Miguel:
Fair enough, but this eliminates the need for Skype. I’m logged into my Gmail account all day long after all.
@mes:
You can’t call phones for free with Skype.
8
August 26th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
@Miguel:
Also, does Skype give you a phone number?
Because I can receive phone calls from any phone, while I am anywhere in the world, from my inbox. I think that’s another advantage of this service.
9
August 26th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
That is very interesting that somebody in Israel got the gmail talk option. At this point Google says it is for United States users. Can somebody else confirm they got it working in Israel?
10
August 26th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
@dd:
When you sign up for Gmail it asks you to select a country. That may be what it goes by.
Also after a gmail account has the call phone feature, it can definitely work anywhere in the world.
11
August 26th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Dan, it would usually go by your IP address. This is how google voice works as well. You can not get a google voice number unless you are physically in the U.S. People have reported though that they did get it to work in certain countries other than the U.S (U.K I think).
12
August 26th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
how can you receive calls. i tried calling back the number that i was called from but i didnt get through.
13
August 26th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
@dd:
Even if you are correct, someone stateside can sign up for a gmail account and then give the login info to someone abroad and they’ll be able to use it.
They can even have their old gmail address forward all emails to their new email address if there’s really no way to get the call phones feature from their old account and they only want 1 inbox open.
14
August 26th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
@leib:
Read the post please.
15
August 26th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Dan, I was referring to google voice, not gmail. But you are correct. Somebody in the states can give you a google voice number and account. The question now is, will google allow gmail talk to be accessed out side the states.
16
August 26th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
@dd:
That’s always been answered, yes.
17
August 26th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
anyone know where to get a good microphone?
18
August 27th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Dan, again, has anybody confirmed that it they got it to work in Israel? I did not get it here. I even had somebody log onto my account in the States, were it showed up on my account, but when I log on in Israel, it does not work.
19
August 28th, 2010 at 6:48 am
Can confirm that it works from Australia!!! how sweet is that!
20
August 29th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
I was able to get it working in Israel using a proxy.