Voice Calls from Gmail

Reviews say Google's new free VoIP service, Voice Calls from Gmail, beats Skype at one very important thing: You can call any landline or mobile phone in the U.S. or Canada for free. (To receive incoming calls, you'll need a Google Voice number, also free.) The person on the other end doesn't have to have any special equipment or tech savvy -- just a normal phone -- while Skype calls are only free if the person on the other end has equipped their computer or mobile phone with Skype software. However, reviews say Skype is still better for overseas calling: Gmail calls only work if you're in the U.S., and Gmail charges extra for all international calls, whereas Skype allows you to talk for free anywhere in the world.

Gmail does do a couple of other things Skype can't do. It allows you to easily click-and-call your Gmail contacts from within Gmail, and you can get a free Google Voice phone number that will ring on all of your phones (including your Gmail) and consolidate all of your voice mail, too. Google will also transcribe your voice mails for free, and then email or text them to you, but testers say the voice mail transcription often garbles the messages. Like Skype, you cannot call 911, plus you cannot place a VoIP call from Gmail on a mobile phone (only on your computer, for now), and Google has not promised that the service will remain free after 2010.

CNET compares Voice Calls from Gmail directly with Skype, and testers declare that Gmail calling is better in most ways. PC World also compares the two and finds Gmail calling's features more valuable than Skype's. The New York Times, PCMag.com and Laptop Magazine also test Voice Calls from Gmail, with varying results.