India Broadband Forum

Rameshjeee

Gmail gets video and voice chat

Google ratchets up the communication factor by adding voice and video chat to its Gmail messaging and collaboration tool. Users with Webcams can download a free plug-in to access the application. It won't be confused with the Skype VOIP application or with more enterprise-tested apps from IBM, Microsoft and Cisco Systems, but Gmail is increasingly looking like an enterprise application thanks to such features.

The feature, which could put to rest speculation that Google will buy Skype—why buy in this suspect economy when you can build?—lets users converse with and see their contacts on their desktop computers in real time. Users can initiate these sessions right from Gmail without moving to another application.

With a Webcam and a Web browser plug-in, users can start video chats with other Gmail users. If you don't have a Webcam, you can still use the conversation chat feature unless for some reason your computer is mute (no microphone).

To see images of Gmail's new voice and video chat features, click here.

Gmail Voice and Video Chat was designed using Internet standards such as XMPP, RTP and H.264, making the Google program able to interact with separate, third-party applications, assuming those separate voice and video applications decide to allow Gmail's offering to interact with them.

New Gmail features such as Docs and Calendar gadgets, the Gmail chat via SMS (Short Message Service) feature, and now this video and voice chat tool indicate that Gmail is becoming a UCC platform that could help Google Apps prove more viable for businesses down the road.

How to use Gmail Video & Voice Chat

To start using the Gmail voice and video chat tool, users must open a Gmail chat window, click on the "Options" menu and choose "Add voice/video chat." Users will be instructed to install a 2MB plug-in.

When users reopen Gmail they'll see that the "Options" link in the chat window has changed to "Video & more." Users may open this menu and click "Start video chat" to see and hear their partner. It has features similar to those in the popular Skype VOIP application: Users can switch to full-screen mode, or pop out the video and change its size and position.

Once the video and voice session is initiated, users can pop the window out of the Gmail interface, just like an Gchat instant message window. Users are then given the option to go full screen with the chat, for an up close and personal experience with your chat partner. In order for Gmail Voice and Video to function on your machine a Web cam is required.

Google and the Gmail team are in the initial stages of rolling this feature out to PC and Mac machines, which means the functionality may not appear right away. But don't worry, the Gmail team guarantees that the functionality will be available to everyone in the next couple of days.

The feature works in browsers that support the latest version of Gmail, including Google Chrome, Firefox 2.0 and higher, Internet Explorer 7.0, and Safari 3.0.