In an effort to make Hangouts a standalone app, Google has integrated Google Voice features into the Hangout app for Android and Web users with a promise for the same on iOS devices soon.
As a result of the integration, the voicemail transcripts and text messages to the user’s number will be displayed in the Hangouts. Users will be able to reply to the text messages from Hangouts, without exiting the app. The option to place VoIP calls through the app is also made available as part of the integration.
While placing calls to any number within the US and Canada are free, the international calls will be charged as per previously announced rates. With this move, Google Hangouts becomes a direct rival to Microsoft’s Skype with all its video, voice and text messaging features. Although most of the features of Google Voice are now integrated with the app, there are still some features that have not made their way into it.
Google is expected to completely integrate all Google Voice features within the Hangouts app and kill Google Voice eventually. Until then, Google Voice will continue to be a standalone app with all the features unaffected. Google has, in the past, cut rates for the calls placed through the service from $0.02 cents to $0.01 cents for some countries while users from other countries paid the same rates.
The company said that it will consider further price slashing for international calls from Google Voice and that it is constantly negotiating rates to pass on the savings made through this service back to users.
Google also assured that the users’ numbers will be retained even when it decides to kill the service in future and that users can continue using the number through the Hangouts app after it becomes official.
