News:

On Tuesday September 6th the forum will be down for maintenance from 9:30 PM to 11:59 PM PDT

Main Menu

Hangouts now offers free phones calls & MMS

Started by FormerYooper, September 10, 2014, 10:22:18 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

FormerYooper

Just a heads up folks ... Google Hangouts is rolling out an update to Hangouts which now offers free phone calls & MMS.

http://androidandme.com/2014/09/news/google-hangouts-now-offers-free-voice-calls-and-mms/

RFC3261

Quote from: FormerYooper on September 10, 2014, 10:22:18 AM
Just a heads up folks ... Google Hangouts is rolling out an update to Hangouts which now offers free phone calls & MMS.

http://androidandme.com/2014/09/news/google-hangouts-now-offers-free-voice-calls-and-mms/

And so it goes (the continued integration of Google Voice features into Hangouts).  This is likely to be good news (in the long run) as WebRTC is the "replacement" for XMPP, and Obihai has already stated they were integrating WebRTC functionality.

jonsid

So do I still need an Obi if I can make and receive calls and texts via WIFI on my cellphones for free here at home?

RFC3261

Quote from: jonsid on September 10, 2014, 01:57:27 PM
So do I still need an Obi if I can make and receive calls and texts via WIFI on my cellphones for free here at home?

I presume this is an rhetorical question?  Without more details as to your exact situation and requirements, the answer is always "maybe".  And that would be the same answer as before this announcement.

dircom

Ask yourself if you want to put up with the lower call quality of a cell phone call.

SteveInWA

You can read the official, first-hand details of this announcement here, and note that nothing in this announcement changes anything, one way or the other, on the use of OBi devices with GV:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/call-me-maybe-introducing-free-voice.html

and here:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/hangouts/S8afS2dJBnI

and here:

https://plus.google.com/106717946845088683921/posts/eaZ9wzPxtmm

If you have any non-OBi questions or problems using these new features, please feel free to join us over on the Google Hangouts Help Forum, where we have a large contingent of Googlers and volunteers helping.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/hangouts

Once again, this is another step toward integrating the user interfaces and features of Hangouts and GV, but all the features already in Google Voice will remain, and will continue to be offered.  In other words, yes, your GV numbers are safe, and yes, you can get a new GV number, and so on.

nlurker

I have tried both sending and receiving Google Voice calls with the new Hangouts on Android, and the quality seems to be the same as with Obi.  The sound is clear and the lag is low.  Much superior to forwarding Google Voice through Callcentric to Obi, which was unacceptable when I tried it a few months ago.

I think I have found my solution if/when Obi stops connecting to Google Voice.

jonsid

Quote from: dircom on September 10, 2014, 02:41:02 PM
Ask yourself if you want to put up with the lower call quality of a cell phone call.


Call quality is excellent on my two Nexus 4 and there is no lag either.  Remember, I'm not using a cell tower, I'm using  wifi. I have an older HTC Virgin Mobile phone and call quality on wifi is good on that one too. Maybe better than my cordless phones I have been using with Obi.  I had been forwarding calls coming in on my Google number to another service and that service was ringing my Obi which in turn rang my cordless phones.  So far, so good.

dhobi

Can the new Hangouts app be set so that it does not allow calls over cell data, but only over wifi? Does anyone happen to know how much data is used per minute? I'm concerned about cell data use and whether a 3G connection (poor at times, thank you Sprint) can still be used for phone calls.

SteveInWA

Quote from: dhobi on September 11, 2014, 12:54:54 PM
Can the new Hangouts app be set so that it does not allow calls over cell data, but only over wifi? Does anyone happen to know how much data is used per minute? I'm concerned about cell data use and whether a 3G connection (poor at times, thank you Sprint) can still be used for phone calls.

This is a function of your Android or iPhone's combination of mobile carrier and device manufacturer's configuration and customization, not of the Hangouts app.

The Hangouts app is just another app that uses data.  It doesn't have a setting to control the access method to data.  The phone determines which provider to use to carry that data (WiFi or 3G/4G).  For example, my Sprint Android phone uses a feature in the Qualcomm hardware and firmware to give priority to WiFi.  It periodically looks for previously-used WiFi access points and automatically switches over to them when able.  So, you just need to do whatever is appropriate on your phone to manage your data connections.  Be aware, as with any app that uses data, to not run into a nightmare scenario of using 3G data on international roaming for example.  Put your phone into "airplane mode" with WiFi turned on, or disable mobile data, as appropriate for your location, WiFi availability/reliability, wireless data plan with your carrier, and phone brand and firmware.

It's probably too difficult to give an estimate of KB or MB used per interval, because it will depend on the CODEC in use.  Hangouts supports multiple CODECs, and it will negotiate behind the scenes with the other end to pick the best one for call quality and available bandwidth.

dhobi

OK, but with apps such as GrooveIP you can select to allow calls over cell data or wifi only. No such setting in Hangouts I take it. Apps can tell which data path will be used and I suspect they can even force one or the other if they want to.

Crow550

Right now it's a bit cumbersome to do....

You want to tell Google Voice to not forward calls to your Cell Phone number when using Hangouts over Wifi /Data. With the Google Voice app installed you can install the Toggle Widget to disable and enable phone number call forwarding if you are in a low data area.

It would be nice to have an option to automatically switch on forwarding to your phone number when on E data and disable phone forwarding when on 3G/4G/Wifi.... <-- Really need this!


dhobi

It may be possible to do with some automation tool such as Llama or Tasker and some plugins.

Crow550

Quote from: dhobi on September 12, 2014, 01:01:56 PM
It may be possible to do with some automation tool such as Llama or Tasker and some plugins.

Sure there is tweaks and hacks to do it. However they need to make it easier for the average folk.

SteveInWA

Understood.  It's a known issue, and hopefully a future release will address this.

vtsnaab

Good news here for Android users...perhaps ??

GV has never ceased working on my Obi110, though I did change SP2 to another provider when the rumours were flying fast & furiously.

I also got into using an Android phone via Wifi exclusively - which works rather well.

It uses the GV app and things don't integrate quite natively; having one app for voice & SMS would be an improvement if it works well for both.

My query:
I have 2 GV numbers - does the Hangouts app allow users to set it up with existing GV numbers while still leaving other conduits (i.e. Obi...) as they are, totally unaffected ??

Thanks.

nmstough

All this is good for calling, but how can I set up Hangouts to receive calls to my Google Voice number? 

SteveInWA

Hangouts receives calls made to your GV phone number by default. 

On a laptop or desktop computer, using a supported web browser, you can make or receive calls in Gmail or Google+.  If you use the Google Chrome browser, you can also install the Hangouts extension to make or receive calls.  Chrome has built-in WebRTC support for Hangouts; Firefox, Safari or MS IE need the Google Voice & Video browser plugin installed (also known as the Chat or Hangouts plugin).

https://www.google.com/tools/dlpage/hangoutplugin

You can also make and receive Hangouts calls on Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone), and on Android 4.x devices, using the Hangouts apps from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

If you're having problems getting this to work, come on over to the Google Hangouts Help Forum, and somebody will walk you through your issue.

vtsnaab

My Android phone is stuck at V2.3.6 so I gather it cannot use the hangouts app which needs a newer version...?

My query remains:
I have 2 GV numbers - does using hangouts allow users to set it up with existing GV numbers while still leaving other conduits (i.e. Obi, GV, etc...) just as they are, totally unaffected ??

I want to be sure that IF hangouts is placed into use that existing usages of GV remain just as they have been.

Thanks.

SteveInWA

Quote from: vtsnaab on September 26, 2014, 10:14:27 AM
My Android phone is stuck at V2.3.6 so I gather it cannot use the hangouts app which needs a newer version...?

Correct.

My query remains:
I have 2 GV numbers - does using hangouts allow users to set it up with existing GV numbers while still leaving other conduits (i.e. Obi, GV, etc...) just as they are, totally unaffected ??

Correct.  Hangouts works independently from legacy Chat/OBi.  It will use your GV number's caller ID for its outbound calls, and it will act as an independent forwarding destination for your inbound calls.

I want to be sure that IF hangouts is placed into use that existing usages of GV remain just as they have been.

Thanks.