Yes, I just made phone calls to USA using Google Voice and it worked very well (so well, that I was floored by the quality). Probably, I am one of the random lucky user for whom the Google Voice got enabled. Let me tell who how I did it.
Out of the blue after logging on to my Google apps email account, I was given a pop-up saying “Make Free Calls through 2011”
I was actually not too surprised as just couple of days back there was a talk on Twitter that Google Voice activated messages are coming up for users in India. However, none of these users were actually able to use Google Voice.
But to my utter surprise, I was able to make phone calls in US and talk without any hassles.
Once you click on “try it now”, a small window opens up like the one shown below. However, before make a phone call you will be required to download a Voice plugin.
Once voice plugin was installed, I just dialled the number (Did not want to bother any of my friends at night, so I called up my hosting service based in USA
The screenshot below is a proof that call went through ( 37 seconds into the call) and their is a time stamp, so no question of ambiguity in the date as well as to when I made the call !
Now, the big question!
Is Google Voice officially getting activated in India?
I think not – this may be just testing going on at Google’s end, but what about legalities of making VOIP phone calls in India ? Has google taken formal authorization to start these services in India ? There are no answers to these questions right.
We will keep you posted on this as soon as we get some confirmation.
Till then if you are one of the lucky ones who have got Google Voice enabled, enjoy full year of making free calls to USA…that’s huge, ain’t it !