Facebook Messenger for iOS Updates with Free VoIP Calling

By Steve Anderson
Contributing TMCnet Writer

Adding value is a smart move for just about any business. It's the kind of thing that can separate a successful business from one whose customers are fleeing, especially in a bad economy, and even more so when several alternatives are readily available to the customer. Facebook (News - Alert) Messenger may well have a handle on this particular topic, as a new update to the iOS version brought with it a powerful new feature: free voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) calling.

The free VoIP calling feature was actually available for Android (News - Alert) devices well before it was available for iOS—Android got its free VoIP calling early last year—but now, iOS devices will be able to get in on the action as well. But Android users shouldn't feel left out; a new update was also made to the Android 4.0 edition, bringing in some new features like group messaging functions, some shortcuts, and forwarding capability.

Both calling apps, meanwhile, were designed mainly for those who are operating near a Wi-Fi network, as trying to connect to this through a 3G or 4G network would likely do terrible things to bandwidth limits. Both are designed to make calls to other users a fast and easy affair that allows for just pushing an icon on the touchscreen and being connected almost instantly. A huge help for those living—or just traveling—internationally, the new calling capability adds a huge boost to Facebook's perception in the marketplace as a communications vector, and joins a string of moves made previously to assist on exactly that front.

Facebook has been seemingly eager of late to cement such a status, having dropped a massive $19 billion to purchase WhatsApp, and at last report, WhatsApp is set to join Facebook in bringing out support for VoIP calling. That puts a rather large pool of users potentially together in the VoIP calling stakes, and joins a wide number of users who are already putting VoIP calling to work, whether it be through services like MagicJack or even just through Skype (News - Alert) or Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) services.

VoIP is a rapidly growing market. There are some who even project that the land line phone will be rendered obsolete before too much longer has passed, though that's a bit of an optimistic projection considering how many places don't have access to high-speed Internet of sufficient bandwidth capacity to support such calling. Leave aside that legacy land line calling still generates plenty of revenue for the telephone companies engaging in such markets; think again of all those rural folks without even DSL, and figure that each one with a phone is about $30 a month to a phone company and the picture becomes clearer. We have many more videos on this and other subjects at this link.

Still, VoIP is likely to make inroads, especially as broadband capability expands with things like Google (News - Alert) Fiber and the increasing presence of AT&T U-verse fiber, bringing more bandwidth and faster access to individual citizens. That's going to shake up the communications world as we know it, and Facebook may be at least near the tip of the spear.

Edited by Alisen Downey