Today, Gmail improves the desktop calling experience in a number of ways.

Gmail continues to consolidate and expand its features with the final goal to help users to forget Skype.

Henceforth, for those are using desktop Hangouts in Gmail, Google+, and the Chrome extension, and have missed the ability to make
calls from Gmail, as from now, calls to the US and Canada are now free from all countries where Hangouts calling is available.

 Now you can add multiple phone numbers and video participants to the same call; and you can play sound effects (like applause or laughter) with the Google Effects app.

Alex Wiesen, Senior Software Engineer announced that making calls from Hangouts is rolling out over the next couple of days.

Note: ‘’to make a call from Hangouts, just look for the new phone icon in Gmail, or for the new "Call a phone" menu item in Google+ and the Chrome extension. And of course: if you haven't yet tried Hangouts in Gmail, you can always click your profile photo in the chat list and select ".