Wifi Calling on Samsung S7

[Zammo76]

Hi 

I bought a Samung S7 on Vodafone through Carphone Warehouse about 5 months ago and recently tried enable Wifi Calling. After much messing about and callling and chatting to customer services it turns out that I can't have this feature as I ddin't buy my phone directly from Vodafone. In fact the option to turn on Wifi Calling doesn't even show up on my phone, presumably because it hasn't been flashed with the correct firmware.

Has anyone else bought their phone from Carphonewarehouse and has the same problem? Or do they have the option available?

I was thinking of maybe paying to get the phone unlocked and then updating it to see if it pulls through the correct firmware update to enable wifi calling, but i'm not sure if this is even possible?

[63johnw]

Hi. Have you checked to ensure you have the latest firmware?

[smynio]

Yes I have.

[smynio]

Just contacted Vodafone chat customer service and they have no clue about it. They told me to go to wifi settings and enable wifi calling.

[Retired-LouiseE]

Hello @smynio

This sounds very odd, especially if your phone has the last updates and you purchased the device directly through Vodafone - and not through a third party like Carphone Warehouse. 

The best way forward is to head into a Vodafone store and our in-store team will take a look at your settings, and if necessary they can then raise this with Vodafone or Samsung. 

Louise

[Arctor]

I have just received my S7 from an internet vendor (who I believe is a subsidiary of carphone warehouse) and have been trying to figure out why the option for enabling wifi calling was not where Vodafone said it would be.

While I now understand that Vodafone reserve the feature for customers who purchase the phone direct it is slightly annoying that the only reason I've been wasting time activating the feature on the network and then trying to do the same on the phone is because Vodafone texted me to tell me it was available. As I am sure they have many customers who source their phones elsewhere it does seem poor form to goad them into wasting their time in this way.

As an aside, my previous phone, an HTC one, was not supplied direct from the Three network but wifi calling was available to me by downloading their Three in Touch app.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @Arctor

Totally appreciate finding out this type of information after you've invested in a new handset is frustrating especially when the phone can use this feature. 

Vodafone are strict when it comes to this particular model of phone as the Vodafone branded firmware is required. 

Independants must know this when selling this phone and IMO opinion hsve a duty of care to explain. 

[jeffkinn]

and there are apps that work on Vodafone as well - Whatsapp, BT Smarttalk, Viber to name but three

but of course none of them allow you to receive phone calls.

[Nabs]

@Arctor Vodafone's Wi-Fi calling implementation integrates seamlessly with the Android operating system. This has benefits of being much easier to use and not requiring additional applications like the Three version.
The downside is of course you need to have Vodafone's version of the OS which will contain the required settings to allow access to the network.

[63johnw]

Hi. This does come up quite often on here and had been raised with the forum team as to why this message is sent out.

As you say you are now aware of the stipulation that the device must be purchased direct from Vodafone but if they are going to send the message out it should include that information to save customers wasting their time.

[Arctor]

Thank you to all for the replies. I am fine with the fact that Vodafone reserves the Wi-Fi calling feature for direct customers (indeed they might do well to point out this benefit in their advertising) and the feature played no part in my purchasing decision. I'm lucky enough to live/work in areas with a good network signal so, unlike the original poster, don't really need it.

My only gripe is that Vodafone contacted me to send me on the goose chase here. I, like many people, enjoy getting a new gadget set up to get the most out of it so having the feature dangled got my interest only to waste my time chasing after software updates that aren't available to me. Other than this I've so far been impressed with Vodafone's service and have no complaints.