GMail lets US soldiers abroad call home free

Search giant Google gave homesick United States Military personnel based abroad a major boon with free calls to home using its Gmail service. Google said overseas calls to friends and family at home will be free for all uniformed military personnel with valid US Military (.mil) email addresses to call the US, right from Gmail. “We recognize and appreciate the sacrifices U.S. troops make when they serve abroad, and we’re proud to help make it a little bit easier for them to stay connected and hear a familiar voice," senior software engineer Ilya Frank said in a blog post. Frank said there are two steps to enable free calling from Gmail:

• Add your valid .mil email address to your Google Account
• Click on the Call phone link at the top of the Gmail chat roster and install the voice and video Gmail plugin.

But Google said friends and family at home in the U.S. calling troops abroad will not be entirely free, although rates will be “as little as $.02/minute." “Similar to free calling within the U.S., free calling to the U.S. for service members will be available for at least the rest of 2011," Frank said. — TJD, GMA News