Gmail Now Offer Free Call To US and Canada

A “call phones” option in Gmail chat will enable people to make, screen or field Voice calls at their computers using Gmail, according to Mr Foster.

The engineer said that Google “took great care to make sure that our rates are as low as possible” for outbound calls from Voice numbers.

A Gmail phone service ... was presented as a the next phase of Google turning its gmail into a complete communication platform. ... The service uses your computer's mic and speakers. While signed into gmail you can bring up a number pad and dial anyone, anywhere on their phone.

A favorable response is good news for Google, whose last opt-out Gmail feature, Google Buzz, only incited ire and demands to make it easier to disable Google Buzz. In addition to staying in consumers' good graces, Google's VoIP service in Google Talk is a potential moneymaker for the company. It's currently free to make calls inside the US and Canada; however, to make inexpensive international calls you must buy credit through Google Checkout.