GMail = Unified Communications client

Few days ago the analytical company Frost & Sullivan stated that Google will soon storm the unified communications market, which is dominated by Cisco, Avaya and Microsoft. After all, Google has GMail, Google Voice, GTalk, Buzz, Gizmo5, Android, GISP and it remains just to combine all these technologies into single offering. And Google has decided to immediately confirm this forecast - from today GMail allows you to make and receive phone calls (thanks to the integration with Google Voice and Gizmo5). Meanwhile the VoIP service in GMail is available only in US.

To turn your GMail inbox into the web phone, you need to install the browser plugin - the same that is used for voice and video chat in GMail. To make a call you need to open the numpad and dial a number. The rates are not revolutionary - the same as in Gizmo5. The same applies to the call quality. Payment are taken from the Google Voice account.



Then you can redirect your Google Voice number to your email address in GMail. When somebody calls - the popup window appears in GMail and you can answer the call, ignore or screen it. Last year Google also enabled sending voicemail and SMS from Google Voice to GMail inbox.

With the appearance of the VoIP feature in GMail most experts again started predicting that Google will kill Skype. However, the same forecasts we heard when the videochat in GMail launched - but nothing had happened. So, history will tell, if the combination of email and telephony is so good. Earlier Skype's CEO, Jonathan Christensen told that "without chat, status and video Skype's VoIP wouldn't cost anything." May be, adding mail and global contacts to this mix will become the new killer-feature.

See also: Top 10 VoIP services