Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

I'm using a sip provider with much better international call rates than this, however I understand that free calls in the US is really good. I don't have contacts in the US though.

I'm using voipstunt.com now with qutecom (after I really fed up with Skype) but there are many similar providers. I'm making phone calls 0.01 EUR/min + VAT to mobile in Hungary (where I live) which is not free but still much better than other providers here.

Also I could bind my phone number so others can see my number when they receive my calls so they can call me back. I don't know if hangouts handles that.

You would think they only view it as data networks!

Instead, Verizon for example, likes to charge per minute, text message, and media message if you are not on an "unlimited" (which is actually limited unless you are truly grandfathered in from an unlimited plan)

I think a lot of people would welcome a 'data plan bill' only and get rid of the nickel and diming

I end up missing incoming calls because of this - it takes 3-5 seconds for the call to be answered from when I click the accept button. It was much better before.

Are we to assume that with this update, we can finally get rid of the old "Google Voice" app to do text messaging and playback voicemail?

For my use case, I ditched my iPhone 4S last year and got a Retina iPad mini with a prepaid Verizon data plan. It's pretty good, though there needs to be better integration between Hangouts and iOS. For example, if I get an incoming call notification, it sometimes will not automatically open Hangouts to receive the call. It would take me to the Home screen, then I have to open Hangouts in hopes that I can answer the call in time. If iPad's locked, then I have to act fast to enter the passcode and launch Hangouts manually.

This many not really be a problem with Hangouts than it is that iOS doesn't support deep integration with 3rd party telephony, so that the experience is no different from receiving a native phone call on an iPhone. Other small complaints are that the push notification (incoming call) sound persists for a few seconds after the call's connected, and that it only shows me the phone number of the incoming call and doesn't display the contact's name if it's in my contacts.

Considering I don't use the phone much, and have saved a lot of money by not subscribing to a smartphone plan, this overall was a good experiment. But I'll be going back to an iPhone soon because it's been a burden carrying an iPad everywhere for the past year. With Wi-fi calling now available in iOS8, I'll probably try out T-Mobile's test drive and if the coverage is good enough in my area, will probably sign up for it since they have the cheapest plans.