Google Talk 1.0.0.105

Overview

Google is a company better known for its search engine but Google Talk is an equally powerful tool. In a nutshell, Google Talk is an instant messaging tool that boasts voice capabilities. It is integrated with the Gmail e-mail system as well as Google Chat. The VoIP is of high quality and we certainly expect that from Google. Let’s analyze the features of Google Talk and take a closer look at Google’s instant messaging client.

Installation

The installation of Google Talk is pretty fast and every personal computer out there, no matter how old, should be able to handle it. The 900 KB size of the setup kit shows that Google has kept things simple for its users. An interesting fact is that Google Talk works as long as a 5k dial-up connection is available. As a result, you don’t need broadband internet connection. The program works on Windows and it doesn’t come bundled with anything else.

Interface

The interface is definitely very user friendly and no VoIP knowledge is needed. Google aimed for simplicity and it shows. Any major hassle is not required here. The interface looks clean and straight to the point. Buttons such as “add friend”, “search all contacts” and many more are present as you would expect from an instant messaging client. You also get a drop down box under your name through which you can update your status with a shoutout and a button that takes you to your Gmail account. If you hover your mouse over a contact, you get the options to chat with them, send a voicemail, call, e-mail them and many others.

Pros

The complete integration with your account on Gmail works great here. PC-to-PC phone calls are supported by Google Talk as well as the possibility of file transfers from one computer to another (only if that particular contact is using Google Talk as well). You are also provided with Gmail notifications. It’s basically the full package! A feature that many users seem to enjoy is Voicemail and Google Talk fringe benefits from it. You can receive or send voicemails to your friends and with the Google Chat feature; you can chat with multiple contacts at the same time. However, a pretty innovative feature of Google Talk will certainly please webmasters. Google Talk can be embedded – take a snippet of code found in the account of each user and paste it into a website or blog. Personally, I have used Google Talk for a long time and I have yet to encounter any technical glitches with it – to me, it’s technical brilliance to sum up its pros.

Cons

Google Talk was designed as an easy way to chat with an internet connection. As a result, it has basic functions and features, so there aren’t any cons to talk about if we think about basic functionality.

Alternatives

There are quite a few alternatives for Google Talk. We’re talking about Pidgin, Adium, Digsby and of course, the most popular and loved tool out of them all, Skype. What Skype is better at is actually the low cost external phone calls to landlines and mobiles which can be made by users as well as conference calls with up to 25 people at a time. On the other hand, Google Talk is mostly recommended for internal communications.

Conclusion

Google Talk is a solid and reliable instant messaging client with many useful features that work great such as instant messaging, group chat, VoIP, file transfer, voicemail and many more. Though it has strong competition from Skype, this product in itself has achieved everything it has set out to do so Google Talk certainly deserves two thumbs up from us.