It was reported earlier that Google was testing a feature which could let you make and receive calls from Gmail. But now it’s a reality, Google has now formally declared that this certainly is a new element of Gmail.

“Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer’s microphone and speakers,” says Google software engineer Robin Schriebman. “But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?’”

“We’ve been testing this feature internally and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant, to placing a call when you’re in an area with bad reception,” says Schriebman.

When people will make a call using their Google voice numbers, the same number will be displayed as caller ID to the person they called up. Calls to United States and Canada will be free of cost for this year at least. For other calls you would be charged as per Google voice rates.

Just look out for “call phones” option in your chat section of your Gmail and you will be all set to make and receive phone calls. Now that’s really great!!

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