Need help with making calls via Gmail

[Done by Forty]

So I've been making free calls through the little phone icon in Gmail, which just brings up a little phone pad and lets you type in a number to call (free in the US).  Well, today I foolishly took Google up on their offer to "upgrade" to Google "Hangouts", which doesn't seem to let you type in any number unless the person happens to be in your "circle", or whatever, and they'd have to join Google Hangouts, too.

Anyway, I am already addicted to making free calls through my computer and can't seem to uninstall this Hangouts crap or revert back to the normal call from Gmail option.

Any tech savy folks out there?

[Sri C.]

Do you have an Android you can use? Else the gtalk desktop app allows you to call as you are used to as well so try that out.

[Done by Forty]

False alarm -- in the settings it appears there is a way to revert to the old chat.  Thank you!

[iamsoners]

If you stick with hangout, you can use "Invite People" in the upper left hand corner and then invite a telephone number. You can also turn off your video so that's its basically a phone call...

[YK-Phil]

By the way, you can use Gmail to call Canada as well, and if you travel abroad, you can also call any telephone from abroad to Canada (not sure about the USA but it should also work). Recently, I was able to call Canada from Germany, France, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong, so I assume it will work from almost anywhere in the world. However, when I told a friend in Hong Kong to install it so she could call my cell phone via Gmail, Google did not let her install it from her location.

[hinsy]

That was actually just a shortcut to the tools at voice.google.com. If you go there, you can select a phone number and make calls OR texts (and receive them)