Google took a bold stride onto Skype’s turf yesterday, announcing that Gmail users will now be able to call landline and cell phones directly from their email.
The service will appear in Gmail users’ chat windows with a “Call phone” button. When clicked, a telephone dialer will pop up on the screen, and users can place calls using an internal microphone or connected headset.
This move places the Internet search giant in direct competition with Web calling service Skype and more traditional operators such as Inc and Verizon Communications.
“Starting today, you can call any phone right from Gmail,” said Google in the post on the company’s Gmail blog. The new service allows U.S. Gmail users to place calls from any microphone-equipped computer to any telephone in the world.
Calls in the U.S. and Canada will be free through end of the year, undercutting rates of 1.2 to 2.1 cents-per-minute charged by Skype, the most popular PC-to-phone service.
Skype, Google and others have been offering free computer-to-computer calling for years. However, Google seeks to generate revenue on its new PC-to-phone service by charging 2 cents or more per minute for international calls.
