Back in February, we spotted Voice appearing in Gmail’s side panel. Google Voice integration in Gmail on the web is now official for G Suite customers, along with call transfer capabilities.
Google Voice is taking advantage of Gmail’s side panel for G Suite add-ons. The green icon appears below Calendar, Keep, and Tasks, but just above third-party tools. Clicking opens a compact Voice experience that’s solely for calling. This includes answering incoming, making, and transferring calls.
There’s a shortcut to “Make a call” up top and accessing a standard dial pad with a list of suggestions. Back on the main feed, your call history across devices is synced and listed.
Gmail’s side panel is a great location for this capability as it does not interfere with Meet video conferencing on the left. Google Voice in Gmail is only available for paying G Suite customers. It will start rolling out next week on the web.
Another enterprise feature is the ability to transfer calls with a new button on the call screen. Available in Gmail, as well as the Voice web and mobile clients, you can “send a call to the appropriate person.” Voice will offer an “intelligently-suggested contact,” but you can also search your company’s directory or manually enter a number. Voice call transfer started going live last week.
