The first minute is free for Hangouts voice calls to 25 countries

Google recently brought Voice calling to its Hangouts app, making it possible to make local or international calls without switching apps. Voice calling is already free in the US, but for calling abroad, you still have to pay a per-minute fee.

Now Google is making free the first minute of calls to 25 countries around the world. The promo is valid for “most calls” to the destinations listed below, until the end of 2014:

• Australia
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada: Most calls will be free. A few destinations will cost USD 1 cent per minute after the first minute. The 1-cent rate may vary depending on the local currency. You can look up the cost through the calling credit page for your Google account.
• China
• Dominican Republic
• France
• Germany
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Peru
• Poland
• Russia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States: Most calls will be free. A few destinations will cost USD 1 cent per minute after the first minute. The 1-cent rate may vary depending on the local currency. You can look up the cost through the calling credit page for your Google Account.

A message will be shown before calls that qualify for the one-minute free promo; if there’s no message, the first minute will be charged. All minutes after the first one are charged normally. Even if the one free minute doesn’t impress you much, the ability to call users in the US and Canada for free or just one cent per minute is a great deal in itself.

There are some limitations to the promo – you will need to add some credit to your account, you can’t get the free minute on more than one call at the time, and Google reserves the right to not offer the promo if you make a large number of calls per day. Check out more details here.