Skip to main content

Phone Calls come to Gmail

Earlier this week, Google rolled out telephone calls within Gmail.

Basically what they did was to allow phone calls to be made from within Google Chat.  If you already have a Google Voice (GV) account, then the call is made with your Google Voice number as the Caller ID.

When I first tried it, it required I download and install the voice and video chat plug-in.  No problem.

Unlike Google Voice, it dos not make a call to one of your phones before connecting you to the caller, but rather connects you directly to the microphone and speakers (or headset) on your PC.

To make a call, just click "Call Phone" that appears on the left hand column, underneath Chat.



A dialpad appears.  You can either type the number using the keypad, type in a number in the search box, or search your contacts by typing into the search box.



Without Google Voice, you cannot receive calls from the phone system.  If you do have GV, you can click Settings,  Voice Settings, phones and you'll see an option for turning on Google Chat.



The calls are free in the US and Canada.  Overseas calling is pretty cheap too.  It's ony two cents a minute to the UK.  Our beloved AT&T nicked me $2.48 a minute a few years ago.  

Phone calls in Gmail are nice, but not yet the be all end all.

It doesn't replace the need to go to the GV homepage.  GV still offers text messaging.  I suspect that will be added here soon.

And while it works on PC's and Macs, don't look for it soon on your iPad.  “We do not offer this feature on mobile browsers, and right now we have no plans to do so,”  according to Googler Randall Sarafa, quoted in BusinessWeek.

Those of us who had Gizmo5 accounts before Google bought Google could have Google Voice calls come to our Gizmo5 client.  Once nice ability there was to record calls.  GV lets you record incoming calls, but not out going calls.

There are some issues.  VoipWatch says there is some problems keeping the Gmail and Google Voice windows all in sync.

There are some nice things though.  

Gadling reports you can even use Gmail to make phone calls from planes.

Since you can create as many Google Accounts as you need, Lifehacker.com talks about using a GV account as a special Emergency Contact mechanism.  I have to think about that one some more.

Back in July there was a rumor Google had an updated Gizmo5 client ready to work with GV, but higher ups wanted a web based only solution, not a PC client.  Apparently this Gmail ability is that web based client.  I do hope though Google comes up with a smaller web window to act as a floating client.  I have placed calls, and then clicked away from my Gmail window to look up something whle on the call, and have to go back to the Gmail window to end  the call.  Having a little floating web app would be nice.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Notes Folder : My new note taking system

I'm in the process of moving to a new way to keep my notes. It would be best to make a separate post on my long time notetaking app, Evernote, and how it now disappoints me.  Bottom line, I no longer trust the company behind Evernote since it was acquired. My first inclination was to finally look at alternatives. like Notion, Joplin, Obsidian, etc. of I was not enamored with any of them, so I gritted my teeth and stayed with Evernote. TThe situation made me think about how I use Evernote. To keep up additional posts on this topic, search on the tag Notes Folder Updates : January 24, 2024 and in updates noted here. Most of the things I store are quick notes, lists, online receipts for online bills, that sort of thing.  Kind of an online file cabinet if you will. If I were a doctoral student though I could see storing PDFs of papers and research materials.  If were working on a large project, then plans, communications etc. would all be there. Back when I began using Evernote way b

Recording your own notes with Google Voice

Note :   April 2016:  Frankly I don't know if this works anymore.  It is 7 years old. I stopped using this when Google Now became useful on my phone, and I could dictate reminders using it. I found a way a while ago to use Google Voice to record a personal note, transcribe it, and email it to me. A recent Lifehacker post "Five Things We'd Like to See in Google Voice" lists that need as their #5 request, so I realized what I'd figured out is not common knowledge. In GV's Contacts, create a Group "Special Transcription" To avoid listening to my standard voice mail when I call, I recorded a short voice mail greeting for this group simply saying "Record note now" I added a contact with my own cell phone number as the only number, and made it the sole member of this group. In GV's phone settings, I edited the settings for my cell phone. In the section "Direct access to voicemail when calling your Google number from th

Ten Years of Evernote

This blog post was set to publish exactly as the day begins on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. That is ten years to the day after my first Evernote  post. With my second note, I was already getting down to business; recording the agreement I'd come to on the phone on a minor business matter. My affection for Evernote has not dimmed since that day ten years ago. Since then, I've accumulated about 7.8 new notes a day. Ironically, I have needed to pull up only a few notes a year. Yet, when I need them, I need them badly and am glad to have Evernote all over again. My philosophy of what to capture is simple : If you encounter something you might remotely want to see again, it goes into Evernote. from a blog post June 1, 2015 I've written here about Evernote than any other topic.  Even wrote a now horribly out-of-date book. Don't get me wrong. If something better comes along that imports my Evernote notes well, I can be enticed to move.  But in t