Google has launched a phone service in America that seems tailor-made for the recession. Anyone signing up for Google Voice gets free calls within the US (to landline and mobiles), free texts to anywhere in the world, free voicemail and free conference calls.

Google can make such a tempting offer because the company doesn’t have to maintain a network of expensive phone masts, satellite dishes and fibre-optic cables. Google Voice simply piggy-backs on the home, mobile and work phones that Americans already have.

It works like this. Users of Google Voice receive a new phone number that can be used on multiple phones. When they’re being called, the user simply picks up whichever handset is the most convenient. If they want to change phones in the middle of a conversation, say to swap from a landline to a mobile, hitting the star button transfers the call seamlessly between the two.

Although the middle part of a Google Voice call is routed over the internet, the calls can begin and end over regular phone networks, so a broadband connection isn’t necessary. We tested it and found audio quality was as good as on normal telephone lines. In the unlikely event of someone missing a call, speech recognition software transcribes voicemails and relays them via e-mail or text message.

As free lunches go, Google Voice seems to be an all-you-can-eat buffet with dessert thrown in. There is a catch, though. Google’s free e-mail service, Gmail, is supported by advertising based on the content of messages, and a similar model could eventually be used for Google Voice. So, a phone chat about football could result in you receiving ads for tickets to the Super Bowl, or you might talk to the doctor and then get e-mail from an online pharmacy. The land of the free may yet decide that when privacy is at stake, some things are a step too far.

Explore Tech & Web

• Personal Tech

• The Web

• Gadgets & Gaming