Google offers free phone calls to families - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Google offers free phone calls to families

Military families must sign up by Dec. 22 at goo.gl/voicemilitary if they want free $10 call credits being offered by Google through a partnership with Sesame Street and Blue Star Families.

The $10 credits will provide about 30 minutes of call time to Afghanistan, 60 minutes to Iraq, or hundreds of minutes to countries in Europe and around the world. There are no time constraints in when the credit can be used, and all calls must be made from the U.S.

Families must be registered with the nonprofit network Blue Star Families or with Sesame Street Family Connections, a social network website for military families. Registration is free on both sites.

The call credit can be used to make international calls with Google Voice or from Gmail, where phone calls to U.S. numbers are free. Officials note that at this time, Google Voice and calling in Gmail are available in the U.S. only.

“We recognize the sacrifices military families make while their loved ones are far away, and we can’t think of a better way to use Google’s communication tools — Google Voice and Gmail calling — to help them stay connected,” said Michael Bolognino, product marketing manager at Google, in a statement announcing the offer.