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Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

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Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#61

Post by Pxtl »

pouzy wrote: post #46

Well, this took a while. It's been the most frustrating experience having Hangouts since it rolled out, because of this exact issue: I based everything on GrooveIP at the time, having a small voice plan but unlimited data. Then Hangouts showed up and everything became messy (I still hate hangouts, putting SMS and web chat at the same place is very confusing for the average user) I wrote this a bit more that a year ag…

> (I still hate hangouts, putting SMS and web chat at the same place is very confusing for the average user

Apple and WinPhone do this fine and it's an excellent idea in a world where SMS is overpriced that the app should automatically look for free ways to get the message to the target seamlessly.

I look at Hangouts the same as I look at Plus - great idea to integrate the myriad things into one place and consolidate a zillion balkanized Google products... but Google just isn't good at doing that.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#62

Post by mcintyre1994 »

"it’s free to call numbers in the U.S. and Canada"

It's great that expensive international calls are a thing of the past by now but is this really the right way to go? I'm in the UK - do I have to pay international rates to call UK numbers or will I just not be able to call from the UK 'yet'?

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#63

Post by jacquesm »

chrisan wrote: post #53
jacquesm wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd just be exchanging your 'cell phone bill' with a 'data plan bill'. The phone company really doesn't care if you stick that SIM in a tablet or in a phone. From the phone company's view there are only data networks, voice networks are dying out. Voice is just another form of data.

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

Of course they do. That's abusing peoples misunderstanding of how this all works under the hood. The whole notion of 'air time' makes 0 sense with a cell phone, the phone is off the air more than 90% of the time even while a conversation is in progress.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#64

Post by gk1 »

smeyer wrote: post #34
gk1 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gchat is now called Hangouts.

So did they take the ability away and then bring it back or was it persistently available?

I have no idea. The gchat/gmail/hangout integration has been confusing me for many months. To this day I'm never really sure where I'm signed in to any of them or just some of them or none of them.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#65

Post by nunb »

cantbecool wrote: post #47
untog wrote: post #6

According to /r/android this also finally brings Google Voice into Hangouts: http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2fz6hh/hangouts_and... I haven't seen the update yet to try it, but am hoping I do soon. This is long, long overdue. All this said - Hangouts on desktop is still so much worse than GChat was - and GChat had free calls too. I'd type a number, two seconds later it would be ringing in the bottom right co…

I stand 100% behind your statement. I can't stand to use Hangouts. I remember when you could simply have a video chat plugin installed in Google Chat with HD feature enabled in labs and CPU usage wouldn't be a quarter what a video chat in Hangouts is now. I dream that they still had the option to use the older video chat functionality.

I believe you can opt out of it. I was annoyed for a while at having Hangouts foisted on me but now (in Gmail at least) I've gone back to the old interface which, while not jazzy, is perfectly functional.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#66

Post by zaphoyd »

mncolinlee wrote: post #60

Who needs a voice plan now? You can also receive calls on your Google Voice number in Hangouts. This means that if you have data service, you can make and receive calls. It seems the best argument for a voice and SMS plan nowadays is for traveling in areas where data coverage is poor or spotty.

How do I not get a voice plan? (tablet aside) Nearly all decent data plans (in the US at least) have a mandatory unlimited voice/SMS bundled.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#67

Post by nunb »

Smudge wrote: post #54
driverdan wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GChat in Gmail still does voice calls as you described them. I use it all the time.

Not if you upgraded to hangouts.

I believe you can opt out of it. I was annoyed for a while at having Hangouts foisted on me but now (in Gmail at least) I've gone back to the old interface which, while not jazzy, is perfectly functional.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#68

Post by mncolinlee »

zaphoyd wrote: post #66
mncolinlee wrote: post #60

Who needs a voice plan now? You can also receive calls on your Google Voice number in Hangouts. This means that if you have data service, you can make and receive calls. It seems the best argument for a voice and SMS plan nowadays is for traveling in areas where data coverage is poor or spotty.

How do I not get a voice plan? (tablet aside) Nearly all decent data plans (in the US at least) have a mandatory unlimited voice/SMS bundled.

Several carriers offer them and the ones that do will win price-sensitive customers.

T-Mobile: http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/mobile-internet.htm...

U.S. Cellular: http://m.uscellular.com/uscellular/plans/data-only-plan.html

http://www.popsugar.com/tech/Data-Only-Plans-26912644

Also, T-mobile offers free international data in many, many countries. This may offer a cheaper option than international voice calls for callers with traditional plans.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#70

Post by untog »

mncolinlee wrote: post #60

Who needs a voice plan now? You can also receive calls on your Google Voice number in Hangouts. This means that if you have data service, you can make and receive calls. It seems the best argument for a voice and SMS plan nowadays is for traveling in areas where data coverage is poor or spotty.

IMO voice over data still has plenty of caveats and issues - not to mention spotty coverage means that there are plenty of areas where you'll have a <3G data connection but still have crystal clear voice reception.
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