It's Back - The Free Internet Phone

I remember the early "dot-com" days in 1999 and 2000.  It was an exciting time, and as a college student I had front row seats: a new computer, high speed internet access, plenty of free time, and surrounded by fellow students with a loose set of morals, especially when it came to things like pirating mp3's.  No one really knew what the internet would turn into.  One very popular technology was Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP.  Back then, it meant a website with a telephone keypad that let us make free long distance calls.  (Back when that was also a big deal.)
Free long distance telephone call websites went the way of so many other dot-coms that didn't have a business model.  Even AOL briefly flirted with the idea, back when they were a big deal.
Fast forward 10 years.  The internet is a much more mature place, but exciting things are still happening, especially if your company's name starts with "Google."  One of the best features of Google--and the least talked about--is their ability to integrate disparate technologies.  Free email is cool, and a free online calendar is cool, but how about creating appointments inside a new email?  This cross-departmental collaboration is one of the things that sets Google above the competition.  Other tech companies--even very successful ones--are broken up into small fiefdoms that are happy to see their brothers fail.  Witness Microsoft, where the Office division refused to work with the Mobile division, until the Mobile division almost died from irrelevancy.  Or Apple, which hasn't made a new operating system since 1984 (they had to buy OS X from NeXT).  Apple tried to build a new OS in the late 90's, but neighboring fiefdoms (like Quicktime) invaded and overwhelmed the project to the point where it sank.
Meanwhile, Google's got this awesome program called Google Voice, where you can use your smartphone to make VOIP phone calls for free anywhere in the US or Canada.  Well, if you can do it on your smartphone, why not through a website on your computer?  And if they're going to offer it online, why not through Gmail?  So they did.
Mix in Google reputation for taking complicated technology and offering it in a simple, easy-to-use interface.  A single button on your Gmail page that logically says "Call phone."  Put it inside the Chat box, which already handled voice and video chat.  It's integrated with your Gmail address book, which already stored phone numbers, and naturally there's a search function.  All I have to do is type R-O-B, and up pops Rob Lawton's phone number.
Ah yes, but I'm using a rare operating system (Linux) with a rare web browser (Chrome).  No worries.  One click takes me straight to a page which somehow knows what I need.  A couple clicks later and I have downloaded and installed a plugin, and the Gmail phone feature just works.  Couldn't have been easier.  If it's this much of a cakewalk on my exotic system, I imagine more typical users will have no trouble.
So far so good, but how well does it actually work?  I decided to try calling Rob.  The sound came through crystal clear, and unlike VOIP from 10 years ago, there was no awkward delay.  My laptop's internal microphone picked up my voice just fine.
The potential for this technology is obvious.  Besides saving cell phone minutes and land line costs (I haven't paid for long distance coverage in years), I can talk without having anything in my hand or hanging from my ear.  Scheduling visits with Grandma will be a breeze, as will networking with contacts at law firms.  ("Thursday at 2pm?  Let me check my calendar.")
As with all the other awesome technologies coming out of Google, I'm left wondering what their business model is.  But since Gmail is ad supported, it doesn't take much to figure out how they justify the bottom line.  Gmail has slowly turned into a full-fledged office suite, with integrated task list, calendar, text/audio/video chat, documents, contacts, and now telephone, all without feeling bloated or confusing.
Bottom line: One more happy user who will suck eagerly from Google's teat, and one more technological coup from the company that can do no wrong.  (Well, that's not entirely true, but the coolaid is so delicious.)
J<
Want it?  Here it is.