Google Talk Dialpad PC to Phone VOIP to Challenge SkypeOut?

May 23rd, 2007 by Loren Baker, Editor | 37 Comments

Google appears to be about to take on Skype and other VoIP services with the addition of a dialpad to Google Talk.

Members of the Google Blogoscoped forums found this image and some basic information on the new application from an internal Google apps resources overview [which has now been taken down].

Google Talk Dialpad

The new addition would ideally let users dial landlines and cell phones using Google Talk, which is now limited to dialing out only to other users who have Google Talk or compatible VoIP solutions.

eBay’s Skype of course has the ability to dial from PC to phone using VoIP technology, and Skype brings in a hefty amount of revenue via the SkypeOut program, where users purchase minutes via eBay’s PayPal.

If Google Talk does charge for external phone calls, expect Google to offer cheaper rates than Skype if Google Talk users pay with Google Checkout, Google’s online payment system program.

Comparitively, Google Checkout offers discounts for merchants and buyers who use the system for a purchase.

One other option would be free PC to phone outbound calls paid for by serving contextually targeted advertisements via Google Talk in the same manner as GMail based upon voice recognition, but of course doing so would set off all sorts of red flags.

Since the Google Talk Dialpad seems to have been tested in Google Apps, which are built for user personalized homepages, perhaps their is some way that Google could spin targeted advertising into the equation to supplement calling fees.

Comments

37 responses so far ↓

Bashar Abdullah on May 24, 2007 at 9:58 am

I’ve been waiting for such service from Google Talk, however my experience with Google checkout is bad I hope I can find a second option.
Raj Dash on May 24, 2007 at 11:10 am

This is definitely a long time in coming. They either played the waiting game on purpose, or didn’t have the resources to develop true VoIP ability, instead of just their VoIM features.

Not really surprising. I actually use Google Talk a lot, and it’s compatible with any XMPP/ Jabber client - so it’s based on open standards, unlike Skype - whom I’ve been not too impressed with quality wise. As an example, I spoke to someone in India on Google Talk last year, while I was on Google Talk in Canada. The other party was clear, with no delay. He sounded as if he were “in the other room”. So the quality is there. Let’s see if the dialout quality is as good.
Loren Baker, Editor on May 24, 2007 at 11:22 am

All good points Raj. I use Google Talk for a couple of major reasons; one being its slick and clean interface, the second being its integration with GMail, making it simple to file away business conversations.

Sound quality is another excellent point. I use Skype for one reason only, its SkypeOut service. Being that I make a lot of International calls, Skype is just simply convenient for me right now.

If Google Talk were to offer this similar service, I would switch in a heartbeat. Why? Simply because it’s one less application to open on my PC.

The ease of total integration would lead me to change my loyalties quickly in this VOIP dialout market. The only hesitance would be whether or not Google Talk would accept PayPal :)
Raj Dash on May 24, 2007 at 11:51 am

Yeah, that’ll be interesting. Well, there is Google Checkout :) Maybe they’ll expand Checkout’s features to truly rival Paypal. In which case, why not? This is one time I won’t pick on Google. I prefer the clean interface of Google Talk as well.
Richard V. Burckhardt on May 24, 2007 at 12:29 pm

Sounds promising, but I would still have to stick with Skype for a reason other than convenience - Skype offers phone numbers in remote cities for something like $38 per year (I’ve forgotten the exact price). I live in Palm Springs, CA but work for a company with offices in Houston and Austin, so I have a Skype-In telephone number for each city.

We’ll see if Google Talk comes up with something similar. And, yes, it would be nice to be able to pay with something other than Google Checkout.
joeshmoe on May 24, 2007 at 12:50 pm

I had a completely different experience voice quality wise. On the contrary I found skype quality to be excellent while GTalk gave me issues just too many times to try it again.

Like Bashar, however, my experience with Checkout has been truly pathetic! The only google service I am happy with off late is search and Gmail — not even maps. Y! Search is indeed catching up fast on search too, IMHO.
Bandolino on May 24, 2007 at 3:26 pm

I use Skype much more than GTalk Why? , I found the sound quality of Skype much more better than GTalk. But I will like to watch how this Google Talk Dialpad thing goes.
Kenneth on May 24, 2007 at 7:25 pm

I personally like Skype and use it for my business - both SkypeIn and SkypeOut. Tried Googletalk before but it’s more for play than anything at this point.

Another good thing about Skype is the amount of 3rd party device that supports it including PC-less phones which are fantastic. It will take for GoogleTalk to catch up if it truly plans to offer Internet to Landline calls.
Holycrapperbatman on May 24, 2007 at 7:47 pm

Whose backbone are they running on? Sonus’?
dinesh on May 25, 2007 at 8:10 am

sari vat hoi to janavjo.
janusi on May 25, 2007 at 11:45 am

I have used both skype and gtalk to make international calls numerous times. Gtalk beats skype hands down in call quality. I love the simple interface of gtalk. Paying with google checkout will be a blessing, since I have never had a problem with checkout. If this is true, I will switch 100% to gtalk for my international calls. I just cannot wait for this service to come alive. Thanks google guys, you are the men and women of today and tomorrows tech.
Da Man on May 26, 2007 at 5:13 am

Actually you can use a firm called Talqer, they have a cool plugin that I’ve been using with googletalk got over a year. There url is http://talqer.com/index.html and their rates are quite good.
Raj Dash on May 26, 2007 at 9:38 am

I’ve tried Talqer, and if I remember corectly, the quality was great. Even spoke to, one of the founders - Charlie, I think. It’s unfortunate but I don’t think Google Talk ever acknowledged, though to be honest, I haven’t done a search on that. But what happens to them with the GTalk’s call out features?
ffjk on May 28, 2007 at 4:51 am

lllll
Dingo Mate on Jun 5, 2007 at 10:13 pm

I like some of the new services that push the envelope with respect to VoIP. I came across DingoTel PC Phone VoIP software that has cheap international PC to Phone calls but it also includes a walkie talkie service called DingoTel 2Way. http://www.dingotel.com Their software goes through firewalls and penetrates VoIP blocked by ISPs. Their internet phone is pretty slick and quick to get working. The 2Way radio over IP is cool… you can walk miles from your PC and talk with your friends over VoIP.
programlar on Dec 14, 2007 at 6:24 pm

thanks nice yazi.
Türkiye Forumu on Dec 25, 2007 at 3:55 pm

thanks very nice
programlar on Dec 25, 2007 at 3:56 pm

Yeah, that’ll be interesting. Well, there is Google Checkout :) Maybe they’ll expand Checkout’s features to truly rival Paypal. In which case, why not? This is one time I won’t pick on Google. I prefer the clean interface of Google Talk as well.. thanks
rüya tabirleri on Mar 30, 2008 at 5:33 pm

thanks nice text.
ankara evden eve nakliyat on Mar 30, 2008 at 9:00 pm

I have been waiting for someone to try to step up and put Google in their place! *crosses her fingers for Yahoo*
Emre Yalcin on Apr 19, 2008 at 6:23 am

thanks! quite good mate
Healthy Life on Apr 19, 2008 at 6:24 am

thanks for this post
ankara nakliyat on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:55 am

thank you
ek5.org on May 3, 2008 at 8:00 pm

thanks nice text
pixles on May 7, 2008 at 8:36 pm

I am on satelite internet and Skypes and Yahoo ! both let me make calls but no one can hear me at the other end.
My mike is ok as I can use Messenger.
I Tried different settings no luck ! Where and how can I get a good service that functions ?I am using Vista.
evden eve nakliyat firmalar1 on May 16, 2008 at 5:15 am

thank you
istanbul on May 31, 2008 at 3:13 am

thanks for this text
haber on Jun 14, 2008 at 6:02 am

thanks
Samuel Eto on Jun 19, 2008 at 5:33 am

I have dialup and have use http://www.iconnecthere.com for my voip services. Have tried many programs, this is the only on that works for me using dialup.
abdul adam on Jul 31, 2008 at 5:13 pm

cool
kabin on Sep 25, 2008 at 7:09 am

itss woaw amazing.
TerrifiedCitizen on Oct 18, 2008 at 3:19 pm

It’s interesting to me that I’m able to talk with a penpal in Siberia on Goog Talk in real time with excellent audio, but when I try the communications tools in Windows XP or tried to use MagicJack, there were impossible delays which rendered them useless. I blamed my satellite ISP initially thinking that they caused the delay because of the infamous real-time issue that makes it difficult to play online gaming, or that they were using traffic-shaping to discourage the band-use… but it works just fine on Google… Why? Why was Goog able to get it right, or make it work right when no one else could? I don’t get this one.
Sam Lu on Oct 23, 2008 at 3:07 am

where can i donwload the new google talk were i can call PC to phone
ankara nakliyat on Nov 29, 2008 at 4:32 pm

plase open your heart because I love you
Amin on May 26, 2009 at 4:02 am

it is just an advertisement, it is not free, only 3 minutes free, its capabilities are much less than skype and more expensive also, and harder to use, over all, it is not FREE, 10$ for 1 month with skype is 3$ for 1 month, and its quality is much better
have fun my friends
@pixles on May 26, 2009 at 4:06 am

Your sending speed is low, it is something for your settings, you have to take a high speed sender way like send and receive satellite connection or using ADSL connection for your sending data
Have a good day friend
aju on Jun 29, 2009 at 3:38 am

how can i get this dial pad in my gtalk window.i tried it in lot of web site but i couldnt find.please sent me the procedure
by
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