Some law firms eschew social networking sites due to their potential as time-wasters and block access to them from work.

Other lawyers or law firms see social networking sites as a way to build or fortify relationships or find smoking gun evidence to win cases (e.g., in divorce matters). Usually, these are the firms that also take the time to draft careful social media policies to guide attorneys and staff members on how to use these sites.

Which one has it right? Well, in general, it’s hard to say without knowing the costs – including the opportunity costs – and benefits. When it comes to social media, it becomes even trickier. The costs – especially the opportunity costs of attorneys or staff members billing clients or doing other tasks – are incurred immediately. On the other hand, the benefits usually take months to become apparent. Even then, the benefits may be too intangible to assess a value.

And then Google steps in and changes the game.

Gmail users may now place calls directly from Gmail to any telephone in the United States for free. Telephone calls abroad are relatively cheap as well. Read the official announcement here or, if you prefer, watch the commercial. (I think it’s cute and clever.)

Disregarding what this means for VoIP in law firms or international communication, this is social media with immediately realized benefits(!), especially for small firms. For one, Gmail calls save cell phone minutes. For two, it makes it much easier to “pick up the phone” and keep in touch with people – clients, the associate down the hall, colleagues at other firms. Okay, okay, I’ll admit that this is not a scientific observation but rather personal opinion: Most of us who have grown up on web or video chatting did so to keep in touch with family and friends. This association makes the technology much more casual and less intimidating.

I’d be interested to know how firms are reacting to this announcement:

• Are they encouraging members to use this new tool?
• Are they scared to have associates make phone calls from personal gmail accounts?
• Will this encourage similar corporate solutions?
• In the future, will firms give out Google accounts rather than Blackberrys?

Further reading:  Gmail Phone Calls Are All About Facebook, Not Skype (Wired)