Google Adds Voice, Video Chat to Gmail

Want to pay zero dollars for long-distance phone calls? Google just rolled out a voice-chat plug-in for Gmail, meaning you can talk to clients, co-workers, and other contacts almost as easily as you chat with them online. And if you've got a webcam, you can engage in video chats as well. Here's how to make this communications magic happen, according to the Official Gmail Blog:

Once you install the plugin, to start a video chat, just click on the "Video & more" menu at the bottom of your Gmail chat window, and choose "Start video chat." You'll have a few seconds to make sure you look presentable while it's ringing, and then you'll see and hear your friend live, right from within Gmail.

Obviously you and your contact will need a webcam (or at least a microphone), but many notebooks these days have them built in. Anyway, watch the above video to see the new chat features in action.

In the meantime, I've got a question: Have you ever used video chat to communicate with someone for business purposes? Hit the Comments and let me know. I'm genuinely curious.

Rick Broida

Rick Broida, a technology writer for more than 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he contributes to CNET's iPhone Atlas.

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