Google: Your New Phone Company?

This editor predicts that a new verb is about to enter the lexicon but the question is what form it will take. G-chat? G-call? Goog-Ring? Shall we take bets?

The point is, Google Inc. now has voice. And video too. On Wednesday the ever-expanding Internet services behemoth (can’t just say “search” anymore, can you?) launched a new plug-in for Gmail that enables VoIP chat and video conferencing. Though it’s not quite time to call it a Skype competitor, the move certainly can be read as Google beginning to take on traditional telecom providers.

Said service providers have eyed Google nervously ever since it began to deploy its wireless strategy — but now that we know that Android is the extent of its competitive squaring off with wireless operators (for now?), the industry has taken a collective sigh of relief. But maybe it’s time to start eyeing it again? If Android is a Trojan Horse for its Web services (and we’re not saying it is), consider the message of adding a VoIP client to the mix.

Meanwhile, Skype and other over-the-top providers of Web calling might be wise to monitor the move too. But Gmail voice is bare bones, and can’t connect to POTS lines or other IP clients, only to other Gmailers. That’s according to reports — we at xchange have not tried it ourselves.

The immediate competitive threat might be to other mail providers. The functionality was launched, Google said, as a way to woo more users to Gmail with free value-adds. Right now Gmail is in third place in Web mail market share behind Microsoft and Yahoo!, both of which also offer voice and video. But Google has integrated the functionalities right into the mail client, rather than making it a separate application. So, video, mail, voice, IM — all are accessible through the same portal. And isn’t it the ease of use that traditionally has allowed any player to get ahead?