Google to allow free to low cost international voice calls from Hangouts

Google yesterday announced that it would allow users in India to use the Hangouts app for mobile devices and Gmail to make free or low-cost international voice-calls over the internet, NDTV reported.

Announcing the news, Google India in a Google+ post said, "Starting today, the Hangouts app on your phone will help you stay connected with your family and friends around the world in more ways than ever. Now you can make voice calls to phone numbers outside of India on Android, iOS, and the Web from Hangouts in Gmail."

The service was already active on the iOS app and on the web (Hangouts in Gmail, Google+ and the Chrome extension).

According to the search giant people in India can now call international numbers in the US and Canada for free, while for other countries the rates  would be "really low."

Google Hangouts users in India using Android devices would need to install the Hangouts Dialer app from Google Play to turn on voice calls. Meanwhile, users on iOS and the Web would get the option to make voice calls automatically.

Google said, "On Android, just install Hangouts Dialer to turn on voice calls. On iOS and the web, voice calls will be available the next time you open the app."

Though users can call phone numbers in US and Canada free, according to Google, calls to certain phone numbers in these two countries would cost $0.1 per minute.

Google Voice account, which would be required to set up a Google Voice number, was not yet available in India, and when users called someone their number would appear as 'unknown' on their caller ID. Without the Google Voice account it would also not be possible to receive phone calls, text messages, and voicemails in Hangouts.

Skype is the primary competitor in international voice calls from Hangouts, but it last month announced that from 10 November onwards Indian users would no longer be able to make voice calls to landlines and mobiles within the country.

However, it said users could continue to make free Skype-to-Skype calls within India, make calls to mobiles and landlines in India from outside the country and make International calls from India to mobiles and landlines in other countries.