Google's Craig Walker said the product promotes "cheap easy communication"
Google is taking on internet telephone companies like Skype by allowing users to call from its free web-based email service.
The service allows users to make calls to landlines and mobiles from inside their Gmail account.
Phoning anywhere in the US and Canada will be free until the end of the year, while calls to the UK, France, China and Germany will cost 2 cents a minute.
Until now Google offered computer-to-computer voice and video chat services.
"This is a real big deal because now hundreds of millions of Gmail users can make phone calls right from their Gmail page," Craig Walker, product manager for real-time communications told BBC News.
"They don't need to download an additional application or anything to start making really high-quality low-cost calls. For the user it means much more efficient and low-cost communications."
The product will initially be rolled out in the US, the firm said, although some users in other countries have already reported that they can use the feature.
The product link will appear on the left hand of the Gmail page within the "chat" window. A "call phone" option will pop up along with a number pad to let you dial the number of the person you want to talk to.
Google said money raised from international calls will pay for the free US and Canadian calls.
"What surprised me was that they actually said they hope to make money off the calls," said Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of technology blog SearchEngineLand.
"Normally Google is like 'We don't know how we are going to make the money' or 'We will make money down the way, don't worry about it' and this stands out as a big benefit that they get actual revenue early on."
coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11092212
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