1,000,000 calls placed through Gmail in first 24 hours

Chris Ledenican - Friday, August 27, 2010 2:00pm (PST) 3 Favourite (1)

Easy to use and free for now

Just 24 hours after the Gmail call service was introduced, 1,000,000 calls have been made. This is an impressive feat for such a new feature, but considering there are more than 175 million Gmail accounts, it is still just a fraction of the available users.

The service rolled out on Wednesday and it allows most Gmail users (where supported) to make free calls to phones directly through their Gmail account. To enable the service a quick plug-in is required. Once the program is setup Gmail users will have a new "call phone" option, which works via a drop down menu.

When a call is placed the receiving phone will see the number as 760-705-8888. This is the same number for all Gmail accounts, so a return call will only yield a voice recording stating the number is not in service.

For now the service is free when placing calls within the U.S. or Canada. There is, however, a 2 cent per minute fee to call other countries such as United Kingdom, France, Germany, Argentina, China, and Japan. There is talk of changing the fees in the near future, but it will remain at its current rate through the remainder of the year.

The high call rate could merely be a result of the service being new and a novelty; it remains to be seen if it will become a true success.

Sections: OS & Software, Internet Related

0 thumbs!

Northern49 Aug 27, 10

I love the "and Canada" part. I hate with a deep seeded passion when for some odd and perverted reason Canada is somehow out of the loop when our cultures and copyright law systems are almost identical. Almost feels like racism.
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Nagare Aug 27, 10

quote Northern49
I love the "and Canada" part. I hate with a deep seeded passion when for some odd and perverted reason Canada is somehow out of the loop when our cultures and copyright law systems are almost identical. Almost feels like racism.
No offense but the US is bigger and more important. You're also making it seem like Candadians would want to just be lumped in the US instead of being distinctly mentioned, which I doubt.
Staff

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The Smith Aug 27, 10

Ok this got me convinced now. I'm trying it ATM. BTW the plugin is available for Windows XP+ / Mac OS X 10.4+ / Linux.
Staff

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Vagabond Aug 27, 10

quote The Smith
Ok this got me convinced now. I'm trying it ATM. BTW the plugin is available for Windows XP+ / Mac OS X 10.4+ / Linux.
Let us know how it works out for you Carl.
Staff

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The Smith Aug 27, 10

It works wonderfully well! I just installed the .deb package and it popped in my Gmail under the "Chat" section. The sound quality is decent too, although not as good as phone to phone. That might just be my headset though. I should try another one.
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Northern49 Aug 27, 10

Technically Canada is bigger geographically, but w/e.
Staff

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tekmosis Aug 27, 10

quote Nagare
quote Northern49
I love the "and Canada" part. I hate with a deep seeded passion when for some odd and perverted reason Canada is somehow out of the loop when our cultures and copyright law systems are almost identical. Almost feels like racism.
No offense but the US is bigger and more important. You're also making it seem like Candadians would want to just be lumped in the US instead of being distinctly mentioned, which I doubt.
No offense but I'm more important than you are. Your "US is more important than Canada" logic is flawed! Also, like Northern mentioned, we have more surface area nyaaah nyaaah.
1 thumbs!

Nagare Aug 27, 10

Too bad, our nukes are better
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walnuts Aug 27, 10

So, do you have to open your web browser to use this, or is it a standalone program, like Skype?
Staff

2 thumbs!

The Smith Aug 27, 10

quote Nagare
Too bad, our nukes are better
So what? Make love, not war.
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Northern49 Aug 27, 10

quote walnuts
So, do you have to open your web browser to use this, or is it a standalone program, like Skype?
You have to download a plugin, but once you do its an in-browser thing, like the facebook chat.
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steve Aug 27, 10

it works awesome! i'm hooked. no more skype for me!
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MetallicaDragon Aug 28, 10

Huh, I must try this out! But I just want to make sure it's really free.. Not having to pay some service fee or what ever..
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yoyoyo232 Aug 29, 10

"When a call is placed the receiving phone will see the number as 760-705-8888" Actually thats not entirely true. If you have a Google Voice account, the number placed in gmail will show up on phones as your google voice number.