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Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

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Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#81

Post by wiredfool »

wiredfool wrote: post #19

Please please please don't screw up Google Voice.

Tap on Send Message or Start a Call

  "Type an name, email, number or circle"
me: ok, [home landline number]

  Find on hangouts: [Home landline number] is not 
  on hangouts, would you like to invite via SMS?
me: wtf.

[edit -- it appears that I still haven't been gifted with the new Hangouts.]

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#82

Post by Encosia »

nunb wrote: post #65
cantbecool wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Same here. I tried very hard to transition to Hangouts to get a jump on what will probably be unavoidable at some point anyway, but I had to revert back to the old interface after a few weeks because GV/VoIP is so unusable on Hangouts.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#83

Post by blacksmith_tb »

untog wrote: post #27
furyg3 wrote: post #11

Maybe it's just me, but I've had this functionality on the iOS version of Hangouts for a while (I already have Google Voice). Outgoing phone calls from Hangouts show my GV number as caller ID. Incoming calls also ring on my Hangouts app. I did not know that that wasn't available for Android users... Anyway, it's very handy. I have a US Google Voice account, but live abroad. Calls from hangouts are the primary way I t…

Yes, amazingly, this has been available on iOS and not on Android.

Maybe GOOG didn't mind testing the beta on iOS users?

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#84

Post by Encosia »

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.

You can still revert back to the old GChat interface and get the old (better) VoIP functionality back.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#85

Post by dragonwriter »

Pxtl wrote: post #78
dragonwriter wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Smartphone plans with unlimited text and limited data with a high surchage for overages are easier to find than ones with limited SMS and unlimited data, so its not really clear that "SMS is overpriced" anymore, especially whe…

Wifi is free and Hangouts messages are tiny anyways. The bigger concern is avoiding accidentally sendning a message to a user who isn't connected to Hangouts through their primary device - I've often found Hangouts messages waiting for me on my tablet at home.

> Wifi is free

In places that have free WiFi (or where you've already paid for it), WiFi is free or at least has a zero marginal cost per byte. But that's usually not everywhere people use phones.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#86

Post by miah_ »

abcdefidk wrote: post #8

So..... Why are we paying for ginormously expensive cell phone bills again? With a wifi connection, you can now: Talk Text Send MMS (think Snapchat) Do everything else smartphone-wise. I know a few things that might run into issues - you can't take a call while on the road without cell service. GPS would be a no-go. Things like Google Maps and Nike Running wouldn't work. But aside from that.... what good reasons stil…

Been able to do that for a _long_ time.

CuSeeMe came out in 1992, and Email has been around since the early 60's. Yes; now we have 'nicer' versions of these features, and internet connectivity is almost ubiquitous.

You can offload Maps by downloading geographic areas to limit the amount of connectivity you really need.. But ya. GPS is still _HORRIBLE_ on my Android.

Anyways; my point is: All this technology has existed for a long time. Once people started getting broadband speeds at home 'phones' could have been made completely irrelevant.

The reason is; Cable / Phone industry oligopolies.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#87

Post by MichaelStubbs »

mcintyre1994 wrote: post #62

"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'?

I'm from the UK and have tested this out. From what I see, you have to pay international rates to call UK numbers. I'm keeping it on my phone as a "just in case", but I definitely won't be using it on any regular basis.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#88

Post by scrollaway »

mcintyre1994 wrote: post #62

"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'?

You'll pay international rates, sadly.

It's annoying they're not rolling out to more countries but then again, I can't really complain - I still get to call any number in the US for free and I use my regular operator for local calls.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#89

Post by Pxtl »

duskwuff wrote: post #80
pouzy wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the people I contact are way less reactive on hangouts (if they ever look at it) than they can be through SMS. I've been a few times in the situation where I realized that I was contacting them through hangouts involuntarily, and that's why they weren't answering. I've never had a Windows phone or IOS, so I don't know how they do, I just hope that it's easier to use

I can't speak for Windows Phone, but iOS displays messages from iMessages -- their private messaging service -- almost identically to normal SMS. (There are some subtle indicators of which one's being used, but it's not obviously different.)

Oddly, the "official" messaging system baked into WinPHone 7 was actually Facebook messages. It didn't switch-over between FB and SMS messages silently, but it did intertwingle the messaging thread between the two platforms and there was a toggle to select which you were using to contact them.

Dunno what they do in WP8.

Re: Introducing free voice calls from Hangouts

#90

Post by ejr »

Karunamon wrote: post #35
ejr wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think widespread 3G is making the range less of an issue now. I can see providers - third party or not - using existing cellular networks offering data-only plans that make this far more feasible.

Widespread is one of those relative terms... finding a carrier that understands people use their phones outside of population centers has always been a challenge for me.

Fair point. I'll add that carriers also selectively drop speeds for certain mobile users based on arbitrary data caps and, in some circumstances, type of phone. Ex: My Blackberry inexplicably loses speed after the first week of the billing cycle.
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