Hike Messenger introduces free voice calling

Within a month of making its first acquisition, homegrown chat application Hike Messenger has introduced 'hike calls', a feature that permits users to call each other for free. The calls can be made over 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi networks to about 200 countries in the world.

On 8 January Hike Messenger acquired US startup Zip Phone, which allows users to make and receive calls through the internet for an undisclosed sum (See: Hike acquires voice calling company Zip Phone).

Hike Messenger, an Indian application, allows users to exchange texts and images over the Internet using smartphones.

''While building free hike calls, we kept two things in mind; Firstly, India is a very cost sensitive market and as a result we've ensured that our service is extremely efficient on data," said Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder and CEO, hike messenger. "It means our users can pack in more minutes per MB when calling on hike.''

''Secondly, we've made Hike's free calling service available globally in over 200 countries. Hikers from India can now speak with their loved ones in India and across the world for free,'' he added.

Hike calls are optimised to consume very little data, giving its users more calling minutes per MB of data. Given that a majority of the mobile-internet users of India are still experimenting with data and are not on a high-bandwidth connection, this optimisation becomes critical for the Indian market.

The free Hike calling feature has been launched in beta on Android, which contributes to over 90 per cent of hike's user base. The iOS and Windows versions are slated to release by the end of this quarter.

Launched in December 2012, Hike has over 35 million users as in August 2014 and has raised $86 million from Tiger Global and BSB till date.

The application has a young user base with more than 90 per cent of its users being under the age of 25 and residing in India.

The chat application has localised features, which are developed keeping in mind the infrastructural and cultural requirements such as Hike Offline, which lets users message thwue friends even when they're offline; Hidden Mode that allows users to hide their private chats with a password; Regional Stickers to help users express more in their own language, amongst others.