Google Hangouts Gets Google Voice Integration And Free VoIP Calls

sfcrazy writes Google will integrate Voice and Hangouts with the launch of its redesigned Hangouts apps for Android and iOS, as well as on the web. Amit Fulay, Product Manager at Google says, "Starting today you can make voice calls from Hangouts on Android, iOS and the web. It's free to call other Hangouts users, it's free to call numbers in the U.S. and Canada, and the international rates are really low. So keeping in touch is easier and more affordable than ever."

Comments

Hangouts is, in turn, part of plus, right?

[i kan reed]

So... doesn't that mean that yet another useful google service is trying to be shoved into their one size fits all social network people have repeatedly and widely rejected?

Re:Hangouts is, in turn, part of plus, right?

[PopeRatzo]

The Google Voice thing has been a godsend for my wife calling her mom in Belgrade. It's really cheap, easy to use and beats messing around with the sketchy long-distance cards you can buy in liquor stores. It also has some nice features for voice mail and when I want to give out a number that is not my home number, but will ring at home. Yes, I still have a landline in the house, because I'm old and wear an onion on my belt.

Deprecating the telephone system

[MobyDisk]

Many Slashdotters have been saying for years that voice is just another protocol that can run on top of IP. The schism between "phone service" and "data service" is artificial at this point. The only feature it brings right now is that it is standardized. I wonder how long before nobody uses it anymore? I fear a world where I have to install 10 different apps to talk to people. But at the same time, if we can choose some standard protocol then we can get rid of the telephone system entirely.

Re:Deprecating the telephone system

[ArcadeMan]

What's funny is that Apple is pushing for it so gradually that the carriers still haven't realized what's happening. The sooner they wake up and realize we only need data (and a lot more of it), the better.

Re:Deprecating the telephone system

[Opportunist]

Haven't realized? Are you kidding?

They fully realized it. But they'd be first admitting to eating babies alive before they'd willingly talk about that. And they'll fight tooth and nail against anything that could come close to merging "phone" and "data". The reason is very simple: Phone IS already data to them. But data they can sell very, very, VERY expensively.

Ponder for a moment how much data a voice call is. Realize just how well it can be compressed.
Ponder for a moment how much you pay per minute for cell plans.
Now take a wild guess how expensive a kb of that data is for you.

Multiply by a few thousand and you come close to the real value of "voice data" to your carrier.

magicJack alternative?

[ArcadeMan]

It's free to call other Hangouts users, it's free to call numbers in the U.S. and Canada.

Wait, you mean you can call from iOS, over Wi-Fi, to a real phone number? And it finally works in Canada too?

Good-bye magicJack and the others.

edit: oh wait, that Google service will work fine for 18 months and then Google will remove it because, hey, no profits in it.