Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Google VoIP? Voice calling in Gmail?



At the end of last August, Google added voice calling to Gmail.  Basically, when enabled, you can dial any regular telephone number for free in the United States and Canada.  Your Google Voice number will appear as the caller ID.

I've used this service multiple times, and I've found call quality to be excellent.  Google is trying to encroach on Skype's VoIP territory.

The only flaw I've experienced so far with this is that you cannot utilize the number pad while connected on a call.  For example, if you are going to call your credit card company, and you need to punch in the numbers, they won't be recognized.  Also, if you are dialing into a conference call, and you need to enter in the meeting room number, you're not able to do so.

Have any of you had experience with voice calling in Gmail? Please share your thoughts...

86 comments:

Sugar said...

i agree

Anonymous said...

well about time right?

Donkote said...

whoa it really is like Skype, i kinda want to try it now

blog.imperium said...

What about europeans?

Suciô Sanchez said...

Set it up but haven't used. Skype is more useful for me.

miecak said...

Too bad I don't live in the US. Hope they roll out a service for Europe soon.

kennett4 said...

cool are they charging for the service?

Unknown said...

VoIP was known for its low cost, however, google has made it free. Only the smart internet phone service vendors will be able to offer some sort of competitive solution.

killah said...

i didn't had experience woth that but i like it and can't wait to call someone on gmail

nick said...

wow cant wait for that.soon no one will have to pay to make a voice call

Christie Klein said...

I use one of those old fangled cellular phones.

Seion said...

I've used it to call a few times, but mostly for fun.

Gurney said...

I saw this added and never used it. I'll have to try it out today

LoneIslander said...

Never used it, but if they fix that dial pad glitch then I'm sure it will be a worthy competitor to Skype.

Izi said...

Google VoIP will never replace skype btw :)

Innovations said...

yeah google voip is actually really useful, ive messed with it a couple times and i haven't found any huge flaws other than the ones you mentioned

Mr. Bloggity said...

Thats freaking cool!!!

Mamin odabir said...

Wow, great! :D

Czikita said...

I definitly want to have this in my country running

Anonymous said...

You cant use the number pad while on a call? That's messed up

Hitchcock said...

interesting, never hat the experience, no

The Angry Vegetarian said...

my friend swears by it

icequeen100 said...

Don't use it, so I can't say. If Google would fix the number pad issue though they'd probably come out on top.

Copyboy said...

I've seen it too. But have been a bit worried to try. But then again I'm old and neurotic.

PlanetBen said...

and you cann access this from your internet enabled cell phone or an Ipod touch. Sweet!

Bart said...

ive not tried this on gmail. but works fine with skype.

HondaX said...

interesting...i agree

Mr Bouchard said...

This looks great but when I heart about it, I couldn't even give it a try because the service was unavailable in Canada. Too bad!

Brandon said...

Didn't know google offered this service, pretty cool

McGizzle said...

I'll need to get a better mic to use this. >_>

Kimokik said...

about time, thanks for the update.

The Drug Connoisseur said...

I've seen it on my iGoogle. but never used it

Come At Me Bro said...

Free phone calls!

iMonei said...

havnt used it uet..

Monster Madness said...

Thanks for the info, Skype is pretty neat though

Callum Webster said...

Very interesting, I would like to see that in action!

Mellisa said...

I dont think id like random people just calling me up out of the blue.

Sykefu said...

looks cool, hope to see it soon.

KRUNOSLAV DUNDOVIC said...

¨I never use voice calling in Gmail!

textileengineer said...

It's not perfect but it's free.

rominoutozor said...

Thanks, it's nice to know !

David Davidson said...

Never tried it. Looks a lot like Skype though.

Jessie MIAMI said...

Hmm, too bad you can't use it everywhere in the world! That makes me really sad :-(

Nico said...

Yeah... Google's a little late with this. Skype's been great and I don't think people will switch.

WereAndWillBe.blogspot.com

Matte said...

Not bad.

Aaron said...

I plan for this to be my main phone service soon.

Tsipise said...

Too bad it doesn't work here.

hindenburg said...

Skype is way ahead of google. Like others may have said here already. Still its good if skype has a serious competitor.

Jeff said...

is google voice out for all now?

Unknown said...

When are you going to launch your site?

Nice post BTW.

Rezden said...

No experience with it. I actually turned it off in my gmail.

MoneyNaoPlz said...

WOAH, can't wait for this thing to come to the uk!

Unlogic said...

I've accidentally found out about this while I was surfing over USA vpn server :D :D

and I'm using it from then... calling cell phones in my country (croatia) from google voice is 0.18$.. same price as some cell carriers in my country ... :S

caretaker said...

very good

caretaker said...

good

Anonymous said...

i've tried it, the sound quality is pretty good. i wonder how long it will be free

Longkid said...

Seems like more and more things are doing what other things already do. Like we have skype for this.

dous said...

Thanks for the info, bro.

ArchiePattersons said...

This is news to me. I'll definitely have a look. You're right 8mm, they are late to the game but you never know. Just look at how Google took over the email game from Hotmail and Yahoo just in a few years.

123 said...

I've always just used skype for voice/video calls :x

Shimizu said...

never tried, gonna try... soon...

SpringyB said...

that sounds awesome

Unknown said...

That's cool, I knew that, but bad thing I don't have nobody to call, lol

Anonymous said...

So I'm guessing your call is using your internet connection, and so you must use headphones and mic to talk, kind of like Ventrilo? And this is all for free?
This may well prove highly useful. Thanks for the informative post!

CAE.II said...

Interesting, did not even notice that was on my g-mail account before I saw this post. Cool! Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

T.dot said...

google is taking over

Drackar said...

....didn't you post this journal a month ago?

JRam said...

Google seems to want in for every industry... even the automobile industry.

KTOTHES said...

I can't believe Google is allowing us freee CALLSS :D

JohnnyShams said...

I've got google voice on my phone and on my comp, nothing but good things from me.

Thrasher said...

Can't wait to try this.

The Blind Prophet said...

Yeah I heard about this.

Dan said...

Dang it, I still have yet to check this out. Sorry >.<

Willow said...

I've tried it once so far, and liked it more then Skype in that 1 time...

Fred said...

I for one embrace our new googlian overlords.

Kartoffeln said...

I never use Skype, so I don't think I'll use this

BLUERAD said...

I think it will catch on in the long run

SC2 Strats said...

it's pretty cool actually.

Vai said...

sucks you can't use the number pa mid call....

Lexington said...

I dont know, I still trying to pick which online chat tool to use.

Michael V said...

Google is always doing awsome stuff. I can only support them :) !
Thanks for info about the numpad ;)!

kokojesta said...

cool man, that would be awsome

Lemmiwinks said...

Good post! Looking forward to reading you next one

One.Pissed.Off.Guy said...

These things are always hard to configure but if you know how to get it to work then its useful

Unknown said...

VoIP was known for its low cost, however, google has made it free. Only the smart VoIP phone service vendors will be able to offer some sort of competitive solution.

Peanutzzz said...

damn nice! Too bad I cant use it in Europe =/

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