WiFi Calling on EE (Coming Soon)

wagon_2

Wifi Calling is coming to EE soon..


http://ee.co.uk/ee-and-me/network/wifi-calling


Great news for when Phone Coverage is poor and Wifi is available

lee111s

O2 have had something similar for a while now. It's an app that allows you to call and send text messages over wifi and it comes out of your allowance, ideal for when you're abroad!

redux

Three also has such an application, though I can't use it yet as they won't support rooted phones, which includes the cheap import I have.

But I think these will all still use inclusive minutes, fine if you have plenty, but it might be worth using separate VoIP applications in wifi coverage

dealer_wins

Are these "apps" an excuse for bad coverage!!

If they allow them when abroad it would be great, but due to the operators greed I wont hold my breath.

Quiet_Spark

dealer_wins wrote: »

Are these "apps" an excuse for bad coverage!!

It does have that advantage, but it's highpoint is that you can have your mobile phone running on up to 5 devices at once including tablets and PC. The O2 version (TuGo) runs quite happily on rooted devices.

lee111s

dealer_wins wrote: »

Are these "apps" an excuse for bad coverage!!

If they allow them when abroad it would be great, but due to the operators greed I wont hold my breath.

You can definitely use o2's Tu-Go app abroad when on wifi.

indesisiv

This sounds like it will just do it automatically though does it not?
The drawback with tugo is that it takes over from your normal texts etc. If this would still allow you to use you current apps to send and receive automatically then I would be tempted to move to EE.

sparky93

it says
"
No apps, no hassle

You don't have to download an app. All you need to do is make sure your phone is connected to a WiFi network."

so hows it going to work then...

is it going to be for new devices with a tool in firmware (like uma).

cant see a normal device (smart) working without a app of sorts to tell it what to do....

J_B

Me and Mrs B both have the Three app, can't remember it's name.
We have both concluded that it's not worth the hassle and have disabled it - it's ok for texts *but* doesn't integrate with the standard phone's texting app, and it's fairly poor for voice using our 2 meg broadband

Three say it's not available for use abroad.

neil40

Three's app is probably a lifesaver for some as their lack of 2g backup & 3g cannot penetrate some buildings.

cklass

sparky93 wrote: »

so hows it going to work then...

is it going to be for new devices with a tool in firmware (like uma).

cant see a normal device (smart) working without a app of sorts to tell it what to do....

No, for a lot of recently released smart phones, it will simply require a software update so that the device knows what to do with the data. All iOS 8 supported devices should be able to use the service as well as various Android devices.

Engadget explains how it works in broad terms:

Once you connect your smartphone to WiFi, EE immediately hands off communication from its voice network to the broadband provider. Incoming/outgoing calls or texts are then broken down into packet data and routed back to EE's core network, completing the circuit. Because EE utilises tech (IP Multimedia Subsystem or IMS if you're interested) already supported by many of the latest smartphones, calls are automatically encrypted and can't be eavesdropped upon by a public WiFi provider.

Currently, EE is the only network that has put the infrastructure in place to support this feature, but the other networks won't be far behind.