Google brings back voice calling to Hangouts

Search engine giant Google finally brought back the feature of voice calling, which was removed earlier. Gmail has brought the feature back on its Hangouts banner. Instead of placing calls from within Gmail, users can just dial up friends and family while poking around on Google Plus, or even by using the Hangouts Chrome extension.

Google introduced the ability to receive VoIP calls to hangouts by way of Google Voice integration in May 2013, so it is expected that the company will eventually complete the circle and allow users the make calls as well. Google has assured that the feature will be rolled out in the next few days.

Initially, the feature will be welcomed among users, but it is difficult not to look at calling within Google + as a shot across  Facebook. The social network launched the VoIP calling service to users in the US, Canada and the UK, but the Facebook’s intention was to take the feature into its Messenger mobile apps.

This actually makes sense, as the nature of the device the apps were running on is taken into consideration. The latest move stands in contrast, as there was plenty of attention paid to improving the desktop calling experience.