A new service launched by Google allows Gmail users to make phone calls from their web browser to other computers, landlines and mobiles.
The search engine’s free email service already acts as a portal to many other services, including Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Chat and more. Google’s new phone call service will also make Gmail a one-stop communications hub by uniting phone calls, email, text messaging and video chat.
The news service puts Google in direct competition with VoIP provider Skype. While the the latter has 124 million monthly users globally, analysts claim Gmail has over 200 million users.
The ability to make phone calls through Gmail works in concert with Google Voice, a service that allows users to link a single number to more than one phone and turn voicemail messages into email attachments.
According to an official blog post on Wednesday, the new service will help users manage their communications by allowing them to make calls from more locations, including areas of poor mobile reception and overseas where expensive roaming charges apply.
Additionally, Gmail users can now receive calls through their browser, turning Google Chat, the chat client that is already a part of Gmail, into another phone where they can be reached.
Last year, a row erupted over Apple’s rejection of a Google Voice iPhone app from the App Store. The question was raised once more during Wednesday’s press conference but Craig Walker, group product manager for Google Voice confirmed that the situation had not changed. iPhone users are still able to access the service through their browser, however, as an HTML5-based web app.
Phone calls from Gmail will be free in the US and Canada and will cost just 2 cents a minute for the majority of international calls, however this will vary.
If the service is successful, it will drive more online marketing in Google’s direction. The question that is left to be asked is, are we going to see a completely ad-funded phone service in the near future?
