14 DAY TRIAL // Not content with letting mobile users have all the fun, Gmail is now enabling anyone to make calls from the site whenever they stumble upon a phone number. With the click-to-call functionality, any phone number in emails or from your contacts can be dialed with a simple click.
"With the ability to call phones built right into Gmail, you no longer have to get out your phone and retype a number anytime someone sends you one in an email or chat message. Starting today, you’ll see that phone numbers appear as links," Robin Schriebman, Software Engineer at Google, announced.
Using the feature is simple enough, it's enabled by default and available to all Gmail users that have access the phone call features.
"Just click the number, and Gmail’s dialpad will pop up, already populated with the number you’re trying to call," Schriebman explained.
"Click 'Call' and voilà! Of course, if you don’t already have the voice and video plugin installed, you’ll be prompted to do that first," he added.
The click-to-call functionality only works inside Gmail, meaning in email messages and in the chat window. Still, even so, it can prove rather useful, copying a phone number and pasting it in the dial pad isn't exactly a chore, but why should the user have work harder for something that can be implemented fairly easily.
"You’ll also see a little green phone icon next to numbers in your contacts which you can use to do the same thing," Google also said. This too makes plenty of sense. The whole feature looks like something that should have been done from the get go, but better late than never.
Google introduced the phone call feature in Gmail last summer. It enables users to call any phone number as well as receive calls if they have a Google Voice account. For those in the US, Gmail is also providing free calls to landlines in the country.