How to Receive International Calls With Google Voice Calling

by
Nadeem Unuth
Freelance Contributor
Nadeem Unuth is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire who specializes in information and communication technology with a focus on VoIP.
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Nadeem Unuth
Updated on November 13, 2019
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Google now offers the possibility of making and receiving international calls for cheap and free. Standing as a competitor for Skype by offering similar services, Google Calling allows people to make free PC-to-PC calls and cheap calls (as low as 2 cents per minute for some destinations) to and from mobile and landline phones. Two cents per minute is not the cheapest on the market, but it's among the cheapest, and it definitely cheaper than Skype.

What We Like

  • Free PC-to-PC calls between Gmail users.

  • Free PC-phone and phone-PC calls within the US and Canada.

  • Cheap international calls.

  • Good voice quality.

  • Integration with Gmail and other services, including those of Google Voice.

What We Don't Like

  • While calls are allowed for everyone, full capabilities are only for people in the U.S.

  • Gmail and Google Voice are requisites.

How Google Voice Stacks up to Skype

Gmail calling is considered a threat to Skype. Although it has a smaller subscriber base than Skype and isn’t as popular, it has the potential of challenging the number one VoIP provider. First, it offers calls for cheaper than Skype, then it brings along Google Voice’s arsenal features, like call recording, voicemail transcription, etc. Also, it is incorporated with email, which makes it better as a unified communications tool.

Using Google Voice

In addition to being able to make free calls between Gmail users and from computers worldwide, Google users can also make calls to landline and mobile phone, but not for free. Calls to phones within the US and Canada remain free, though.

Google’s calls are quite cheap, among the cheapest on the market, with 2 cents for some destinations like France and Argentina. These rates are much cheaper than those of Skype, which charge additional connection fees. However, Google’s calling minutes are more expensive than some players like Nymgo (as a matter of example), which offers calls for cheaper than a cent per minute.

To receive calls within the service, you need a Google Voice number. Not so for making outgoing calls. Without a Google Voice number, your correspondent will see 760-705-8888 on their caller ID, which is Google default number for this service. If you have a Google Voice number, it will appear instead.

There is no need to install a separate application for the service. You just need to download a plugin for Gmail that will be installed and used within your browser. To make a call, just log into your Gmail account; you will be presented with a button to open the softphone and make calls.

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