Google To Allow Phone Calls from Gmail

Gmail account holders are now showered by yet another
Google advantage. Gmail users will now be able to make phone calls directly from their email, putting it in direct competition with Web calling service Skype and more traditional operators such as AT&T Inc and
Verizon Communications.

While Google had already offered computer-to-computer voice and video chat services, it said that it will now allow calls to home phones and mobile phones directly from Gmail for the first time for their customers.

Google promised free calls to U.S. and Canadian phones from Gmail for the rest of this year and said it would charge low rates for calls made to other countries.For example it said calls to Britain, France, Germany, China and Japan would be as low as 2 cents per minute.

Google clarified that making a call through its service works like a normal phone in that a user could click on the "call phone" option in their chat buddy list in Gmail and type in the number or enter a contact's name. Calls that cost money will be charged from an online account that users can top up with a credit card. The service will not be available for making outgoing calls on cell phones because other Google apps already cater to that market, the company added.

VoIP sector has grown slowly and steadily around the world in the past decade. The VOIP market will see slow but steady growth in coming years, with increases in the low single digits through 2014, according to Dell’Oro analyst Greg Collins.
The analysis finds that the VoIP market earned over Rs 2,445.99 crore in 2008, and it is estimated that it will reach Rs 3,077.63 crore by 2012.

With Google entering this domain is seen as the biggest threat to other existing players of this sector who has build up sufficient customer base for VoIP till now.Analysts also agree that this service by google would likely be a bigger competitive threat to services like Skype's than to traditional phone companies, which have already been cutting their call prices in recent years in response to stiff competition.

VoIP in India is yet to gain dominance but possesses great future prospects. Low call-rates as compared to conventional telephony and increasing Internet penetration are set to drive growth of the VoIP-based services in India. The market is expected to change the dynamics of the Indian telecom industry once the necessary regulatory changes are in place. With google entering this domain;this sector will surely flourish to its capacity in coming months.
Google’s recent entrance into the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) arena has many wondering what will become of not only Skype but large phone companies that are now up against what business school professors call disruptive technology. Before this sector bombards with many such giant players; we need to understand the pros and cons of this fast evolving technology.

akanksahs@cybermedia.co.in